'Vertigo' incorporated many film techniques in order to capture a disorientated feel that coincides with the eponymous vertigo that the protagonist, John, suffers from. The most iconic technique is the contra-zoom used when John is climbing the bell tower.
The entire point of the film is the sense of vertigo that not only does John sense but also that the audience is conveyed with through the use of camera.
A prominent scene for snappy editing is the opening scene which features a chase along the rooftops which sees John get is initial fear of heights.
The way that this scene transpires is mostly down to the focus. It begins naturally following the action as the chase Until John slips and grabs the pipe, it stays with the chase. Once John slips, the focus of the scene changes and stays on him as the police officer reaches for him. We cut to where the action is located. An interesting point is how the perspective changes when the officer falls off the roof. Most films would switch to a extreme long shot and capture the fall itself however 'Vertigo' goes for a point of view shot to put us in John's place as he watches his associate fall to his death. The perspective makes the death more personal and shocking.
I was surprised by 'Vertigo' because of the narrative. From all that I had heard about the film, I was under the impression that the film would be focusing on John Ferguson's crippling fear of heights however I instead was presented with a tragic love story where the same mistake by the characters is made twice. What engaged me was not only James Stewart's performance but the good twist involving the death of his lover and how it was put together. It's tragic, mean spirited and ultimately blurs the lines of morality because John goes from a sympathetic, heart broken man to what would be considered now an abusive boyfriend. 'Vertigo' offers very good character study.
For this exercise, we initially watched a video about a camera made from a van that was driving around capturing people in their environment. We were tasked with also taking photos of people within a fitting environment conveying it as a snapshot of life rather than a self aware photo. After doing so, we then took to Photoshop in order to edit the photo in a manner that we liked. I decided to blur the background so that the subject was the only bit of the photo in focus in order to make him stand out more.
I'm happy with how the image turned out. It's interesting to see the contrast in the source photo and the final edited picture as the blurred background really does make the subject stand out. In terms of the content, I think I fulfilled the brief as seeing a student captured in college makes sense. I did have initial problems as I wasn't too sure which parts to blur out such as the table in front of the subject or the chair to his left but I ultimately put all the focus on him and him alone.
There are lots of interesting editing techniques incorporated into Apocalypse Now with a notable use being as soon as the film starts by way of having the helicopter propellers fade into a ceiling fan with the sounds also blending together. The most notable for me is the scene where helicopters prepare to fight against a small village.
What resonated with me here was the sound editing. We hear them start playing Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' as they go into battle however when it cuts to show the village, the music stops abruptly. It's jarring and regains the audience interest. The notable use of sound comes in here as we hear school
children singing after the music was cut
off in the edit however as the shot lingers on the village, we can here the
Wagner music slowly rising in volume as the helicopters approach. What I take
from this is, through the use of the Wagner music slowly engulfing the children
singing, that makes me feel like it is a representation of the American’s take
over and attack over the civilians. The way that the action also cuts between
the helicopter’s attacking and the civilians defending themselves gives equal
time to each side in an effort to humanise both sides.
The sound editing is well done as the music works very well in combination with the diegetic sound of explosions and gun fire. The music acts as a skeleton for the sound editing to follow as the explosions line up with the blasts of music. In a way, the music goes from diegetic to non-diegetic because we know that it is part of the scenario however it ends up covering over it and entwines with the rest of the sound.
‘Apocalypse Now’
should feel too long (I watched the Redux which is over three hours long)
however the way that the film progresses almost makes each portion of the film
feel self-contained. The Wagner scene I picked out as well as the scenes the
set it up and the aftermath feel like its own story anyway however the way that
it follows Willard on his journey to Colonel Kurtz makes it feel more akin to
the likes of a road trip movie with a war film coat. It does follow a
travelling narrative with meeting characters such as Kilgore and Lucas however
it does have direction. Even moments such as USO show feel like they add to the
experience of Willard’s journey.
'Blade Runner', being a sci-fi film, allows itself to be full of editing techniques in order to capture the world that the film creates as well as deliver it's own feel and rhythm. 'Blade Runner' takes its time to get into faster editing as it originally begins with a slow montage of the futuristic world until the narrative begins and it takes a quicker pace of editing when more and more characters are introduced.
The most notable scene that stuck out to me was the final monologue delivered by the antagonist Roy after the climax. Even the climax itself is well edited as, despite being a chase through a dilapidated building, is still slow and subtle. As a result, the suspense is heightened and the audience has no way of knowing what trick Roy is going to throw and Rick it becomes one of the most tense and thrilling climaxes. The aftermath, however, is the most memorable scene for me.
Right from the start of this scene, the way that the shot is
put together makes it surprise when Roy saves Rick from falling off the roof
because of the fact that it’s so quick with the editing that the moment comes
out of nowhere. Especially shocking considering that we had been seeing extreme close ups of Roy's face covered blood, clearly in no position to help Rick. After Rick is brought back on the roof, the editing becomes a back and forth between close ups of Roy's face as he delivers his final monologue and Rick's face for sake of reaction cutting and variety of content on screen. It also goes from an long shot of Roy as he begins until it finally sticks with a close up. Even when he dies, it is still ambiguous as the shot remains the same so all you see is him putting his head down. The audience only has it's one imagination based on information about Roy's life expectancy and the fact that he saved Rick in the first place. He knew he was going to die so he saved Rick in order to vent his life frustrations in the form of a fantastic monologue.
Overall, ‘Blade Runner’
is a very thought provoking film. I labelled Roy as the antagonist but in truth
it is hard to place him as such. Despite being artificial, he is still
searching for the same thing that humans are and that being longevity in life.
The contrast in the artificial reploids and humans is very interesting despite
their ultimate goal. The humans in the film seem much more unpleasant than the
relpoids and the sympathy from the audience is actually aimed at the supposed
‘antagonists’.
The aesthetics and iconography of ‘Blade Runner’ is where I feel the real strengths of the film come
from. Even though the film came out in 1982, it still looks great and holds up
well today. The characters are fleshed out enough to hold the film with Rick
being an engaging protagonist against Roy’s insane yet sympathetic demeanour.
It blurs the line in morality. The set pieces and backgrounds also look
fantastic with character costumes fitting in nicely. The opening of the film
sets the tone very well with slow editing to help the audience get accustom to
the sci-fi setting.
My final film idea began when I realised that I would be
better suited to make a film about my passion for acting and why I chose to
pursue acting initially. I toyed around with many ideas and ultimately came to
the conclusion of having myself prepare for an audition where the other person
was another version of me. As I played both characters, this meant that the
editing will be more interesting that my previous idea as, while it is one
location, having a snappy dynamic between two characters means that there will
be much more cutting for cuts such as reaction shots as the bulk of the film is
their conversation across a table. The idea of having a civil conversation with
characters going from standing to sitting and vice versa was inspired by the TV
series ‘Hannibal’ as the way the two
protagonists, Will and Hannibal, have their meetings had the feeling I wanted
to aim for. ‘Hannibal’ is also a well
edited show which is the reason I took after the show for this project.
With the idea of acting in mind, I need a good way of conveying this and I believe using a monologue I used for acting auditions will be this. I used a monologue from 'Henry V' by William Shakespeare, specifically Act 4, Scene III which sees Henry on the battlefield with an opposing messenger standing before him. The monologue resonated with me and I want to use it because of my history with it and one of the first things I think of during my time of acting was the monologue.
From all of the films recommended on the course, I found Oldboy to be the most interesting and the film I took the most away from. Oldboy is most notable for having one of the best long takes in any film which sees the protagonist Dae-su fight against a gang of people in a hallway.
The way that the scene is shot is especially memorable. Most films now have action scenes filled with quick edits that jump between angles and close ups as well as using 'shaky cam' in order to signify the intensity of the fight scene. Oldboy averts this by having a single shot track Dae-su as he makes his way through the hallway without a single switch. It's refreshing to see it and the side shot of the fight reminded me of a side-scrolling fighting game such as Final Fight or Street Fight which also conveys a character taking on many people with ease.
The sound in the scene is also worth noting. The way that the Foley sound effects are mixed in with the real audio from the footage makes more a much more impactful experience and allows the audience to really feel every punch or kick thrown by the characters. Because we aren't distracted by constant cuts or shaky cam, we can also see every hit connect and, with the sound, makes for a satisfying fight sequence and one of the best long takes in any film.
In a very similar fashion, the recent Netflix series Daredevil showed off a action scene clearly inspired by Oldboy. This scene follows Matt Murdock under the guise of Daredevil break into a criminal hideout and the entire sequence is also one take. Even athsetically with the colours of the shot and the mixing of sound does it match Oldboy. The big difference between the two is the shot itself. Rather than sticking to a rail from the side, Daredevil looks down the hallway like someone's point of view and follows the action as it goes from room the room.
My first film idea was based on my experience with moving
home locations back in 2013. I initially had the protagonist walking in the
country side before the background began to switch from the country side to the
city, a reverse of what I had to go through as my family moved from Taunton to
rural Cornwall. I decided to not follow through with this idea as I felt that
obtaining the footage would require a lot of skilled planning and time
management that I might explore when time is more available. It would also
require an abundance of green screen in order to have the actor instantly
travel from country to city. In terms of editing, the main strength would be
editing the green screen effect behind the actor but wouldn’t be that strenuous
in terms of cutting between scenes at it would only be between two locations. I
also felt that it didn’t really fulfil the criteria for the assignment as it
wasn’t really about me, rather just a general thing most people experience.
Transitions: Fade in/out Dissolve Cuts Cutaway
A cut involving action suddenly cutting away to a different scene and back to the original clip. Jump Cut
A sudden cut within the same scene on the same subject. Reaction Cut
A cutaway to show a person's reaction to action or another person making conversation. Eyeline Cut
A cutaway is used between two people interacting to show a change in perspective. Action Cut
A simple cut to a different angle while keeping the action the same as the last shot.
Cutting Rhythm
Used when a film cuts deliberately to create an emotion or reaction in the audience using at least three consecutive clips.
Cross Cut
Used in films with multiple narratives which the film cuts between, Audiences can see the stories come together at the same pace so that each narrative builds naturally. Example from 'Inception' where the narrative has split off, following separated characters.
Match Cut
A cut that incorporates similarities between two shots such as where the subjects are positioned in teh shots. Example from 'Lawrence of Arabia' where the shot changes between a lit match and the sun rising.
A scene that indicates time passing rapidly through the use of cuts in order to get rid of the waiting time. Example from 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' which sees Peter waiting at Gwen's grave with the film using weather and clothing to indicate the passage in time.
Insert Cut
A close up shot that allows the scene to focus on a particular detail.
Long Takes are shots in films that follow a certain scenario or scene without a single cut. It allow the scene to play our more naturally and makes the scene stand out as the audience can appreciate the effort of the cast and crew to not make a mistake for long periods of times. Long Takes have many uses and I'm going to explore these through the use of certain scenes of Children of Men, Birdman, Atonement, Shaun of the Dead and Avengers Assemble.
With the long take in Children of Men, I was surprised at just how easily they could have not made it into a long take. There are plenty of opportunities to cut in order to show off the oncoming attackers or show off just how big a threat the characters were under however the film makers decided to do a long take. I feel the purpose of this was to capture the reactions of everyone in the car as well as let the scene escalate naturally. We go from friendly banter to murder and yet it feels like it progressed at a good pace. Had it cut every know and then, the scene would lose tension and would probably feel too fast paced. The scene benefited from having a long take.
I could use any scene from Birdman as the entire film is shot to look like one take. As one might expect, there are very subtle cuts or transitions however every individual scene flows from one to another. The scene I picked in particular has a good sense of location as the audience follows Riggan and Mike through every step of the way, therefore making them more immersed in the natural feeling that the film is conveying. Even their petty fight is in the same take with no cuts. This is also more likely because of the more comedic tone of the fight as opposed to what one might expect from an action film. Despite being one take, we do get a good variety of shot types such as an intense close up as Riggan pins Mike against a locker before stepping away so that both actor's bodies are in shot for their fight. The moves are so subtle that it feels very natural, like a person is watching the entire scene play out.
The 2007 war/romance film Atonement features a beautiful long take that captures the moment of soldiers waiting at Dunkirk in 1940. It starts off by simply following Robbie as he starts walking through the beach before the camera takes a tangent in order to see the soldiers. It takes its time and there is never a dull moment in shot. The moment that really emphasizes the beauty of the scene is the pan across the soldiers singing the hymn 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' as it shows a humanised side to them and is wonderfully mixed with the background music that had already been playing throughout the shot. The shot finishes with the camera reuniting with Robbie as he walks up stairs and looks out at the beach we had walked through. We now see a far out view of the beach and the entire shot summarised, the soldier still heard singing in the background. The purpose of the long take is about capturing the scope and feel of what it would be like waiting on the beaches of Dunkirk.
Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead saw a great use of a long take. Interestingly, the shot was used twice (the example above is the second time) as it created great contrast due to the fact that they were the same sequence with differences added in order to emphasize the zombie apocalypse. I really appreciate how steady the shot is as most shots in film that follow a character try to emulate more realistic movement however the clarity of the shot allows the audience to notice each detail of the sequence in order to get the changes between each version.
It is expected of action films to have their big action sequences shot close with shaky cam however this was averted in Avengers Assemble which, albeit prominently CGI, is still worth noting. The aim of the film was the bring together existing characters and have them face a threat together and this shot easily captures this. The way the shot tracks different subjects in the image is satisfying as we get to see every Avenger fighting with their special skills. The shot effortlessly captures what the film was out to accomplish as well as deliver on showing what the characters are capable. The 2015 sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron opens with another long take to accomplish the same thing and start off the film with the same sensation we were left with 3 years prior.
