Seminar 9

At the beginning of this weeks seminar we reviewed the editing in the car chase scene in the film Bullitt (1968) by Peter Yates.

The first thing we talked about was the use of music within the scene and how at the start when the two cars are just following one another there is a quite low tempo soundtrack that plays underneath that mimics the casualness of the scene. However, it also builds tension with the horn sound that plays in intervals throughout combined with the steady drum beat to let the audience know that something is about to happen. When the main character Frank loses his pursuers and begins to follow them, the music changes again to a more upbeat, cop style show track up until the men in the other car attempt to lose him and start to speed away. At this moment the music is cut out completely for the rest of the scene and is replaced with just the folley sounds of the car engines revving up and down. The superimposed sound of the cars is used here to make the audience in the illusion that the cars are moving a lot quicker than they actually are and also so they are really engaged and immersed with the chase by making them feel as though they are actually in the car with Frank Bullitt. The sound is helped by the constant use of PoV shots in the cars and behind the steering wheel as it increase audience empathy and connection with the characters by seeing it through their eyes. Finally, the fact that there is no dialogue what so ever within this 10 minute scene is very interesting as dialogue is commonly used to enhance audience engagement with the film as well as to develop plot or characters, however, this scene doesn't need it at all as the plot is straight forward and told through the use of geographical space around San Francisco and the movement of the cars, as well as by the performances of the actors and use of a variety of camera angles.

Next, we looked at John Madden's Shakespeare in Love (1998) and its opening title scene to analyse the way the narrative was constructed and edited. The scene follows two characters, Henslowe and Shakespeare, from Will's house through a crowded street and into a shop. First noticeable thing about the scene is that it is extremely dialogue heavy in order to move the narrative along, however, this is masked by the way in which it is delivered and where it takes place. The fact that the two characters have a conversation in a crowded street, where extras are constantly coming in and out of shot would seem on paper as being practically un-comprehendable to the audience as there is so much going on to distract them from the story. However, the way in which it is done in this scene is very effective as it shows the main character Will in the frame at almost all times and then Henslowe keep coming in and out of frame to show the relationship between the two characters as Will being in charge. The camera movement being constant and rarely static until near the end of the sequence also makes the understand the rush and context behind the characters situations and personal interests, Wills being to go to his therapist, and Henslowe needing Will for his business. After this interaction between the two characters ends and we see Will in with the therapist, the camera movement mimics the more relaxed atmosphere and allows the audience to get a sense of the character more easily by slowing the pace right down and allowing them to reflect on the dialogue more. The camera frequently cuts back to Shakespeare as well which subconsciously tells the audience that he is the character of importance within the scene, and he is the one we should be attempting to read, understand and empathise with.