ABSTRACT
Editors and their directors use dramatic emphasis to point out to their audience that what they are now experiencing-image and sound-is more important to them than what has
preceded it and, possibly, what is to follow. Whether the event is a clue, a revelation, or sim-
ply the feeling state of a character, the dramatic emphasis strategy deployed orchestrates how you and I should feel at that moment. The editor also needs to orchestrate these moments in
the rising action that allows the audience to move along to that peak moment: the resolution
of the film. In this sense, moments of dramatic emphasis tend to be more intense as we move closer to the resolution of the film.
