The Invisible Cut
Page 21
frame grab 18
frame grab 19
This climactic, giddy shot sets the audience up for a surprise, when the editor cuts to a farmer’s boots (the “in” frame is Frame grab #20). It is here that the last musical note plays out, effectively bringing them, and the audience, down to earth. This shot also plays out in real time, not sped-up motion, as the camera pans up to the farmer, showing the Beatles in the background. There is dialogue for the first time as well, when the farmer scolds the band members for trespassing. The shot ends as the Beatles walk off, not at all contrite about breaking the rules.
frame grab 20
THE MONTAGE
A montage is an impressionistic sequence of silent, disconnected images that are linked to tell a condensed part of the story. A montage can show the passage of time, a change of place or event, a change in a relationship, or even the internal transformation of a character — his unspoken thoughts or subconscious feelings. Because music almost always binds the images together, the visuals are, in essence, dictated by the music and cut to its rhythm. Usually the screenplay is not specific about what pieces of film should be used, and often it’s not clear until the end of the editing process how much of the story needs to be told and how much screen time can be afforded to show a montage.
The editor has a lot of control in choosing pieces of film that are most effective, especially since he is not restricted by the screenplay’s plot and dialogue. But because a montage takes the audience out of straight storytelling, it can also be disruptive. If it only gives the audience pleasing music and visuals, it can lull the filmmakers into thinking they’re adding something meaningful to the movie even when they’re not. Influenced by the rule-bending movies of the sixties and MTV videos of the eighties, the style of cutting a montage has changed, but it still has to be consistent with the style of the rest of the movie. For instance, a conventional movie shot in a static way cannot suddenly have a hyperactive, erratic montage.
THE FIRST MONTAGE
FRAME GRAB ILLUSTRATION: BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
In Butch Cassidy there are three montages, which were mostly created to show more of the character of Etta (Katharine Ross), who was considered to be underwritten as the female lead. Of the three montages, the one described below probably reveals more about Etta’s character than any of the others. The montage also expresses a lot about who Butch is: a fun-loving trickster with a melancholy edge and an unrequited love for Etta. However, the value of this scene could be questioned, since it’s sandwiched between two exciting bank robberies. In fact, according to music editor Peric, “ In the middle of the film you have this ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ [the song that accompanies the montage] .… It’s important to know how she [Etta] relates to them, but it was kind of strange. The song has absolutely nothing to do with the movie, anything before or after, but it is something that is remembered so vividly from the film.”40
Why did this somewhat incongruous montage become one of the most memorable scenes in the movie? Because the cinematographer created a glowing, magical look, the actors were gorgeous and charming, the song was completely infectious — and the editor was able to somehow put all these elements together to make magic. To this day, you cannot hear “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” without picturing the playful, touching visuals. That’s the best proof that a montage really works.
The setup:
Etta is asleep in bed with Sundance, and is awakened by Butch’s voice calling her name, as he circles around her house on a bicycle. He invites her to join him, and she runs out of the house and jumps on the bicycle’s handlebars. The montage and song starts with Etta and Butch riding away from her house.
EXT. TOWN — DAY
Long shot of Etta and Butch on the bicycle heading away from the town and down the hill.
“Raindrops keep falling on my head,”
CUT TO:
Long shot of Butch and Etta through fence as camera pans with them and they ride in closer to a medium long shot.
“And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed, Nothing seems to fit.”
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Butch and Etta, shooting past fence as they continue riding.
“Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head,
They keep fallin.’”
FRAME GRAB #1
CUT TO:
Close shot of branch out of focus. Apple starts to go into focus.
FRAME GRAB #2
It is snatched from the branch by Butch’s hand.
“So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun.”
Camera pans down to Butch, who’s holding the apple, until Butch and Etta are medium shot. He hands her the apple and rides with her behind a tree.
FRAME GRAB #3
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Butch and Etta riding toward the camera.
FRAME GRAB #4
Etta takes a bite of the apple, feeds Butch a bite.
“And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done, sleepin’ on the job, Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling. But there’s one thing…”
CUT TO:
Close shot of a tree branch. Camera pans down and over to bicycle for medium long shot of Butch and Etta heading toward camera through grazing cows.
“…I know. The blues they sent to meet me won’t defeat me. It won’t be long…”
CUT TO:
Medium long shot through fence, as they ride down hill past camera.
“…till happiness steps up to greet me.”
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Etta and Butch, shot through slats of wood structure.
“Raindrops keep falling on my head,”
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Etta and Butch, repeated action (another take). until slats become denser and until the screen is virtually black.
“But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red, Cry-…”
CUT TO:
Long high shot inside barn. Open doorway shows Etta jumping off bicycle and entering barn. She climbs up ladder toward camera as it pans over and past her to show Butch down below, riding on his bicycle around in circles.
“…in’s not for me,
’Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining.
Because I’m free. Nothing’s worrying me.”
(The lyrics stop and a circus/vaudeville score accompanies the following.)
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Butch riding on bicycle.
CUT TO:
Medium shot up at Etta watching from the barn.
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Butch clowning some more on bicycle.
CUT TO:
Long shot of Butch riding in foreground, Etta up above in background watching from the barn.
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Butch clowning on bicycle.
CUT BACK TO:
Full shot of Etta watching from barn.
CUT TO:
Medium shot of Butch riding in circle past camera.
CUT BACK TO:
Full shot of Etta throwing hay at him.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Butch as hay falls on him and he rides away.
CUT TO:
Close-up of Etta, smiling.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Butch riding toward camera, clowning.
FRAME GRAB #5
CUT BACK TO:
Close-up of Etta, pinning up her hair, pensive.
FRAME GRAB #6
CUT TO:
Medium close of Butch on bicycle, grinning.
FRAME GRAB #7
CUT BACK TO:
Close-up of Etta, laughing.
FRAME GRAB #8
More shots of Butch clowning around on the bike, with Etta laughing and applauding. Butch backs his bike into a fence and falls off, annoying a cow that then chases him. Butch jumps back on the bike, races to Etta, who jumps out of the barn an
d onto bike’s handlebars.
“Raindrops keep falling on my head,”
Cow chases them, and camera pans over to long shot of Butch and Etta riding off away from camera.
“But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red,
Cryin’s not for me,
’Cause I’m…”
DISSOLVE TO:
Medium long shot of Etta and Butch walking, their arms around each other.
“…never gonna stop the rain by complaining, because I’m free,”
FRAME GRAB #9
CUT TO:
High long shot of Butch and Etta walking.
“Nothing’s worrying me.”
DECONSTRUCTION
Scene edited by Richard C. Meyer
The visual transitions could have been a problem, because the shots of Etta and Butch on the bicycle are either too similar in angle, coming from the same right to left direction, or don’t match in action and physical context. What helped a great deal was that the cinematographer liked to obscure photographic images, so there were many times in this sequence where Butch and Etta were shot through fences, branches, and leaves. The editor took advantage of this by frequently starting and ending shots when the actors are partly or completely hidden, which mostly wipes the shot clean and functions as an entrance or exit cut — and creates visual intrigue. An example of this would be Frame grab #1, where Etta’s face is completely obscured, but Butch’s face is only partly obscured. A few frames later, the “out” frame of the shot shows just a blur of two faces. The following shot functions as an entrance cut, because that shot starts with a blur and soon focuses in on branches and an apple (that frame is Frame grab#2).
frame grab 1
frame grab 2
In the shot of Etta and Butch riding behind a tree (the “out” frame is Frame grab #3), the branches in the foreground help distract the audience from the mismatches that occur from this shot to the next one, where Butch passes the apple to Etta (the “in” frame is Frame grab #4). First of all, there is no side of a tree or shade in the second shot, even though they pass right by a tree in the previous shot. Etta is also holding the apple in a different arm, but the editor made the cut at a point where Etta’s arm bent the same way in both shots. Also, the dramatic angle change from side shot (Frame grab #3) to the frontal shot (Frame grab #4) forces he audience to adjust their eyes and not notice the mismatches.
frame grab 3
frame grab 4
In the sequence where Butch is fooling around on the bicycle, the editor uses the same close-up of Etta three times in order to capture many aspects of her personality. Right after one of the shots, where Butch is clowning around on the bicycle (the “out” frame is Frame grab #5), the editor makes an unexpected transition to a shot of Etta with a more serious expression (the “in” frame is Frame grab #6). The juxtaposition makes her seem especially introspective and more beautiful in repose than in any other shot.
frame grab 5
frame grab 6
In contrast, the other shots show her being charmed by Butch’s boyish antics; she is either smiling, making faces, or applauding. The cut from “out” frame of Butch in Frame grab #7 to the “in” frame of Etta laughing in Frame grab #8 is a clear example of that.
frame grab 7
frame grab 8
After Etta and Butch ride away from the angry cow, the editor dissolves to a shot of Butch and Etta that reveals the most about their loving relationship. The shot starts just as Butch starts to put his arm around Etta, and the editor stays on this shot to give her time to lean in on him as pulls her close (the “out” frame is Frame grab #9).
frame grab 9
Overall, the style of editing reflects the type of the montage — in this case, romantic and impressionistic. According to music editor Peric, “the least editing you do the better, to not to break up that feeling. It’s a very lyrical, pastoral montage. The song goes with the flow; there’s nothing that points to a certain cut.… The tempo doesn’t change, it’s gentle and very melodic, and so the sequence of the ride on the bicycle is as melodic as that song.”41
To achieve this, most of the time entire phrases of the song (and sometimes more than one phrase) remain intact within each shot that the editor used. Actually, the montage was originally cut to a different song, so inevitably the editor had to adjust the length of the shots and the timing of the cuts accordingly. Because even though the composer is influenced and inspired by the mood and rhythm of the song that originally accompanied the montage, he is, according to Peric, “always going to change something, because the songs in their nature are not [as] even as a metronome.… It’s just the human factor that goes into a performance and makes that performance special.”42
THE SECOND MONTAGE
FRAME GRAB ILLUSTRATION: THE BIG CHILL
The editor of The Big Chill was faced with a different challenge: she cut all the montages to existing songs. The Graduate had started the trend in the sixties by using pre-recorded music to accompany the movie. The Big Chill broke new ground in the eighties, because of the extent to which the filmmakers used pre-recorded songs — nineteen Billboard hits in all. Another innovation in The Graduate had been the use of two consecutive songs to accompany a single montage. Again, The Big Chill went further, an example being the movie’s climactic sequence, where the editor used three songs and montages virtually back to back. The songs from both movies were recorded in the sixties, but in The Graduate the music was from the time being depicted.
In The Big Chill, however, the songs played a significantly nostalgic role. The movie is about a group of college friends who met in the sixties and are now reunited fifteen years later over the suicide of a college friend. They miss that simpler, more idealistic time, and the music is used throughout to reinforce that state of mind. Most of the action takes place in a single location, a house, and one song often played multiple roles. Sometimes it is used to link events and various characters in different parts of the house, and then continues as background music when those characters gather in a group.
Lawrence Kasdan and Carol Littleton, the director and editor of Body Heat, also worked together on The Big Chill. (The symbol † refers to quotes from both that were taken from supplemental interviews for the movie’s DVD; all of Kasdan’s quotes come from this source. The rest of Littleton’s comments are from my interview with her for this book.)
BO: The varied use of a song is not that unusual, but what’s unique is the degree and frequency with which you used the songs in The Big Chill and how successful you were at integrating that music into the movie.
CL: Some of it was source, some of it score, some of it would comment on the scene, some of it was contrapuntal to the scene but it would all be one song. Sometimes maybe we just got lucky. We just tried a lot of things.
BO: At the end of the movie you used three songs back to back, which is very unusual.
CL: At the time I didn’t think about it at all, we just knew we wanted the film scored with pop songs that were popular when they were in college, when they were young. It was a challenge, of course. It became part of the fabric of the film.