Re: pacing. . . what is it?

Re: pacing. . . what is it?
I always thought it was what went on in the background, behind the editor (amongst the producers and the director).

A simple example that comes to mind is a brief sequence of 3 shots. 1st is a wide shot of a porcupine occuping about 1/3 of the frame. After about 10 seconds of watching him feed with his fur waveing in the breeze people often question what it is as it looks so docile, peaceful and even cuddely. Cut to a shot of it a little closer with it's menacing quills up and hold for 4 seconds or so , long enough to recognize it's head which confirms it is the same critter but with much different feeling being evoked. Cut to a close up of a dazzed looking dog's head with 127 porcupine quills sticking out of his mouth and muzzle. This short sequence transforms your feelings from warmth to shocked to where you can taste the adrenalin in your mouth. The 2nd clip is key as it breaks the mood of the 1st shot and sets you up for the final shot. It is only there long enough for the viewer to recognize the critter and break the peaceful mood.

A more complex example of pacing is the accident scene in Julie Taymor's "Frida" where you go from a lengthy mood setting shot of them running for the bus. You never settle into the dialog after that as you are shown the bird in the boy's hand, back to the speaker to connect the dialog and now to the gold in the craftman's tool kit. both of these elements come back into play during the actual accident which, after a couple of vehicle passing and horn honking shots, breaks into slow motion and cumulates to the tragic overhead view of Frida lying on the floor (with a tremendous amount of creative cinemaphotography & effects in between). This entire crash sequence was shot from the interior of the vehicle! and it is probably the single most important event in the life of Frida Kahlo. What a piece of film work this movie was.