I will be analyzing the first scene in the Avengers and talking about how it succeeds. Here is a link to the scene in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OJqPJRjHkE (Only goes to about 0:44)

This scene’s strongest trait is it’s use of parallel editing. Black Widow and Agent Coulson are clearly in two different areas, but the film is able to create a strong sense of them being together even though they are apart. Black Widow begins this clip already on the phone, being “interrogated” by the Russians. She is trying to learn as much as possible from them by listening to what information they simply give her. She knows she has the upper hand and once she learns that Hawkeye has been compromised and her help is needed, she begins fighting while attached to the chair. The fight scene is badass on it’s own, as she takes out all of the men on herself while strapped to a chair, but this isn’t the biggest deal in this scene. That would be while Phil is on the phone, hearing all of the fighting. It creates a nice sense of humor, since you imagine Coulson sitting there and simply listening to her fight. The cut to Coulson staring at the ground while listening is just a hilarious situation that a viewer could not help but laugh. Using techniques like parallel editing, one can achieve a well placed and paced joke like such. I’m not sure how much Whedon actually uses this editing device, but I will make sure to look for it more in his work to see if it is a trope of his.