IntensifiedCon,nuityEdi,ng

Presenta,onbyMariaElenadelasCarreras,Ph.D.

NewYorkFilmAcademyLosAngelesCampus

Friday,April29,2011

Edi,ng

1.  Thetaskofselec,ngandjoiningcameratakes2.Thesetoftechniquesthatgovernstherela,onsamongshots

D.W.GriffithOneofthemostinfluen,alfilmmakersinthedevelopmentofcinemaasanart.Bymid-1910shadintroducedallthebasicconceptsofedi,ng:-  CuVngforcon,nuity-  ParallelcuVng-  Juxtaposi,onofshotsandsequencesUsededi,ngto-breakdownscenesinshotsfromdifferentangles&distances-build&controlnarra,on&emo,onaltempo-createsuspense-drama,zepointofview

SovietMontage

UsingGriffithasamodel,theRussiansdevelopedthetheory&prac,ceofmontageinthe1920s

Montageemphasizesdynamic,o_endiscon,nuous,

rela,onshipsbetweenshotsandthejuxtaposi,onofimagestocreateideasnotpresentineithershotbyitself

Con,nuityEdi,ngAlsoknownasinvisiblecu0ngoredi2ngforcon2nuitySystemofcuVngtomaintaincon,nuous&clearnarra,ve

ac,onRelieson-matchingscreendirec,on-posi,on-temporalrela,onsfromshottoshotTechniquesofcon,nuityedi,ng-axisofac,on-eyelinematch-establishingshot-matchonac,on-screendirec,on-shot/reverseshot

TechniquesofCon,nuityEdi,ng

Con,nuityedi,ngbecomesintensifiedCon,nuityedi,ngreliesonbreakingasceneintomatchedshots

inordertohighlightcharacterac,onandreac,on.Inplacebythelate1910s,itbecamethedominantapproachto

mass-marketfilmmakingacrosstheworldSince1960stheedi,ngstylethatcomestodominateUSfilms

canbedescribedasintensifiedcon2nuity(DavidBordwell)

Characteris,csofintensifiedcon,nuity

-  Averagelengthofshot,shorter2-4seconds-  Scenesarebuiltupbycloserframing-  Moreextremefocallengthsareused-  Thescenesincludeanincreasednumberofcameramoves-  Deepfocushasbecomelesscommon-  Mastershotswheretwoormorecharacterstalkareoutof

fashion-  Tostageawholesceneinoneshotisnolongercommon

ThreeEditorsthatshapedthestyle

VernaFields(1918-1982)MediumCool,PaperMoon,AmericanGraffi4,JawsDedeAllen(1923-2010)TheHustler,BonnieandClyde,Reds,TheMilagroBeanfieldWarSallyMenke(1953-2010)ReservoirDogs,PulpFic4on,KillBill,InglouriousBasterds

Academicapproachtointensifiedcon,nuity

FilmscholarDavidBordwellhastrackedthesechangesinTheWayHollywoodTellsIt(2006),acompanionpiecetoTheClassicalHollywoodCinema(1985),co-authoredwithKris,nThompson&JanetStaiger.

Bordwellshowstheunderlyingcon,nuityoftheHollywood

system,butalsodemonstrateshowcontemporaryfilmsrefine,elaborate,andrethinkthetradi,on.

Intensifiedcon,nuityisonesuchchange.

Casestudy:TheShoparoundtheCorner(1940)&You’veGotMail(1994)

Parallelscenesfromtwofilms–anoriginalbyErnstLubitsch&itsremakebyNoraEphron–illustratethetwoedi,ngstyles.

Cafésequenceinbothfilms–roughlysamelength:8minutesShotbreakdown1.  Outsidethecafé–Lubitsch,2shots;Ephron,41Averageshot:Lubitsch,82seconds;Ephron,4.31.  Insidethecafé–Lubitsch,14shots;Ephron,84Averageshot:Lubitsch,21seconds;Ephron,4.3

Classicvs.NewContras,ngac,ngstyles:longershotsallowssubtleuseof

languageinLubitsch.InEphron,ac,ngisdonewithfaces.Subtlety,drama,cpausesinShop;broadgesturinginYou’veGotMail.

Lubitschusescloseshotssparingly.Hesavesthemtoshowthe

couplesquabbling.Thischoicehasagrada,oneffectandbuildstheemo,onalclimaxofthesequence.

OtherDifferences

Lubitschusesmusicdiege,cally,withcomiceffect,rela,ngittoprevioussequences.Ephroninsertsnon-diege,cmusictooverplayemo,ons.

ThefastcuVng&relianceonOTS&singlesshotsinEphron

createafran,cpacethatcontrastswithLubitsch’sinsighoulcharacteriza,on.

N.B.Thecasestudyofthispresenta,onisbasedonDavidBordwell’sessay‘Intensifiedcon,nuityrevisited’,availableonhisblog,Observa4onsonfilmart,datedMay27,2007.hrp://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2007/05/27/intensified-con,nuity-revisited/