Introduction to Film Studies Montage

Montage – a French term for ‘editing’, ‘putting together’ or ‘assembling’ shots Editing (English word) – to put together and coordinate shots Frame = a single (still) image, the smallest component of a motion picture fps = a camera lets films run through it at a rate of 24 frames per second and projector lets exposed positive films at the same rate Shot = made of a series of frames and it is continuous (without a cut)

Montage Film stock – frame – continuous run of frames – a shot

Montage The editor discards unwanted footage e.g. The editor of The Net (1995) dealt with 300 reels (3,000 minutes or 50 hours) and culled them to 12 reels (120 minutes or 2 hours) The editor also cuts superfluous frames such as those showing the clapboard from the beginnings and endings of shots. Then the editor joins the desired shots, the end of the one to the beginning of another. David Lean

Montage A shot is joined to another in various ways A Fade-out gradually darkens the end of a shot to black A Fade-in gradually lighten a shot from black Citizen Kane Citizen Kane A dissolve briefly superimposes the end of shot A and the beginning of shot B, while shot A gradually gives away to shot B Citizen Kane In a wipe shot B replaces shot A by means of shot B moving across the screen Seven Samurai

Montage The cut is the most common way of joining two shots by means of splicing them together by cement or tape Early moviola (editing machine) now obsolete and replaced by video transfer on a tape or disc Editing 6.20Editing Instantaneous change from a shot to another without interruption (c.f. other editing techniques)

Dimensions of Film Editing The film editor consider four aspects of editing 1. Graphic relations between shots 2. Rhythmical relations between shots 3. Spatial relations between shots 4. Temporal relations between shots Graphic Relations Editing permits the interaction, through similarity and difference, of the pictorial qualities of shots (lighting, setting, costume, behaviour, framing, photography, and camera movement)

Graphic Relations in Editing Graphic match – shots are edited together through graphic similarities Michael Moore’s Roger and Me (The same location, similar derelict houses, the same light of the day, shot in the same camera movement)

Graphic Relations in Editing Cutting on action or matching on action – the editor cuts from one shot to another in the way that the action in the second shot matches the one in the first. A variation of the graphic match editing technique G.W. Griffith’s Orphans of the Storm 2.50Orphans of the Storm

Graphic Relations in Editing More dynamic graphic matches In Kurosawa Akira’s Seven Samurai, when an alarm sounds, samurais running to take their position edited in match on action

Graphic Relations in Editing In a transitional scene of Alien, a dissolve creates a graphic match between Ripley’s sleeping face and the curve of the Earth.

Graphic Relations in Editing The graphic match in Aliens may have been inspired by a bold editing in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the shaped the ‘star child’ embryo is juxtaposed the shape of the Earth. Star Child Star Child

Graphic Relations in Editing Two people in conversation is typically filmed in one shot showing both without cut, or in shot- reverse-shot (a character shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character). The conversation without editing Play it Again, Sam Play it Again, Sam

Graphic Relations in Editing In a shot-reverse-shot adjacent shots do not have to be continuous graphically Mild discontinuity may appear in widescreen composition in shot-reverse-shot (shots showing characters facing each other) Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas

Graphic Relations in Editing Stronger graphic discontinuity In an over-the- shoulder, shot- reverse-shot in wide screen, a face is placed far left or far right on the screen. Woody Allen’s Manhattan Manhattan

Graphic Relations in Editing More noticeable discontinuity The shot of Menzies looking out of a window on frame left is dissolved to that of Susan Vargas looking at another window towards right Orson Welles, A Touch of Evil

Graphic conflicts between colour qualities In Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas, the hero finds his estranged wife working in a peepshow. Wender shows the conversation by cutting from the customer’s side to the performer’s side and back to the customer’s and so forth. Their separation emphasized by harsh colour contrasts.

Each shot centres on the action (the flaming trail and Melanie’s face), but movements thrust in different directions. Contrasts between stillness and movement Birds

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Acceleration A group of people talking: 1,000 frames, 41 seconds Melanie looking out the window 309 fr. 13 sec. Exterior shot of a gas station: 55 fr. 2 1/3 sec Melanie joined by Mitch and the Captain: 35 fr. 1 ½ sec. The shot length subordinated to the internal rhythm of the dialogue and the movement in the images.

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Melanie’s horrified reaction to the racing flames 70 frames (Flaming car) – 20 frames – 18 frames – 16 frames – 14 frames – 12 frames – 10 frames – 8 frames – punctuate the scene by the two shots with the identical length - 34 frames (Cars at station explode) - 33 frames (Melanie covers her face) – a long shot of the city over 600 frames (pause or reverberation)

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Rhythmic factors include beat, accent and tempo and are supported by mise-en-scène and sound. The tempo of cutting is getting quicker and quicker as the day is getting more hectic in the helicopter sequence of Goodfellas. Jump cuts, rock music with strong beats, clock Goodfellas

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Tempo of cutting is slow matching the lugubrious and lethargic mood of the scene, the slow motion movements, and monotonous waltz music in Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love. Each shot is long lasting over 10 seconds – long take first encounter first encounter

Continuity Editing Graphic qualities must be kept continuous from shot to shot – once composition is fixed, it must be maintained; the overall lighting tonality must remain constant The rhythm of editing has its own rules: long shots are left on the screen longer than medium shots, and medium shots are left on longer than close-ups The aim of continuity editing is to create a smooth flow from shot to shot

The 180° system or rule ‘Axis of action’, the ‘centre line’ or the 180° line Only the shots taken from the camera placed in the 180° area on either side of the axis of action (the white area) must be edited together.

Continuity Editing Once the axis of action is established, the camera stays on the same side. Annie Hall Annie Hall

This ensures some common space from shot to shot. The 180° system ensures constant screen direction. Once upon a Time in the West

Continuity Editing Eye-line Match - in one shot a person is shown seeing off screen in one direction and in the next what he/she is seeing is shown Dario Argento’s The Stendhal Syndrome a girl looks out of frame to her left, and there is a cut to the painting that she is supposed to be looking at. Art gallery

Continuity Editing Eye-line Match - in one shot a person is shown seeing off screen in one direction and in the next what he/she is seeing is shown In Roman Polanski’s The Pianist Szpillman moves in a new hideout. He looks out of the window off screen right and in the next shot the street below is shown. He hears the jangle of keys and next his benefactor is standing with the keys.The Pianist

Continuity Editing At the end of Sergio Leone’s Once upon a Time in America, David (Robert De Niro) visits a graveyard where his best friends from his childhood are buried. POV (point-of-view) shots of David shows all the names of the dead. Once upon a Time in America Once upon a Time in America

Continuity Editing Match on action or cutting on action – the first shot is cut to another shot in the way the action started in the former continues in the latter and matches the action in the latter. In Stephen Soderbergh’s Traffic, a man jumps in shot A and lands on the ground in shot B.Traffic

Continuity Editing In Bringing up Baby, the shot in which Katherine Hepburn strikes a match is cut to the shot in which she is lighting a cigarette.Bringing up Baby The action is continuous and matching.

Continuity Editing The 180° rule and the eye-line match are carefully observed and give the viewer consistent sense of direction in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Jeffrey is a photographer on wheelchair and kills his time by looking into the apartments across from his.