Intensified Continuity Visual Style in Contemporary American Film Author(s): David Bordwell Reviewed work(s): Source: Film Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Spring 2002), pp. 16-28 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2002.55.3.16 . Accessed: 29/01/2013 22:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Film Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:25:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions DavidBordwell IntensiéedContinuity VisualStyleinContemporaryAmericanFilm ormanyofus,today’spopularAmericancinemais entationsandeyelines,andtheshots,howeverdiffer- Falwaysfast,seldomcheap,andusuallyoutofcon- entinangle,aretakenfromonesideofthataxis.The trol.Whatcomestomindareendlessremakesandse- actors’movementsarematchedacrosscuts,andasthe quels, gross-out comedies, overwhelming special scenedevelopstheshotsgetclosertotheperformers, effects,andgiganticexplosionswiththeherohurtling carryingustotheheartofthedrama.4 atthecamerajustaheadofaéreball.Today’smovie, Still,therehavebeensomesignificantstylistic weliketosay,playsoutlikeitsowncomingattrac- changesoverthelast40years.Thecrucialtechnical tionstrailer.Pickingupontheseintuitions,someschol- devicesaren’tbrandnew—manygobacktothesilent arssuggestthatU.S.studioélmmakingsince1960or cinema—butrecentlythey’vebecomeverysalient,and sohasentereda“post-classical”period,onesharply they’vebeenblendedintoafairlydistinctstyle.Far differentfromthestudioera.1 Theyarguethatthehigh- fromrejectingtraditionalcontinuityinthenameof conceptblockbuster,marketedinevermorediverse fragmentationandincoherence,thenewstyleamounts waysandappearinginmanymediaplatforms,hascre- toanintensiécation ofestablishedtechniques.Inten- atedacinemaofnarrativeincoherenceandstylistic sifiedcontinuityistraditionalcontinuityampedup, fragmentation.2 raisedtoahigherpitchofemphasis.Itisthedominant Yetthesejudgmentsaren’tusuallybasedupon styleofAmericanmass-audienceélmstoday. scrutinyofthemovies.Scholarswhohaveanalyzeda rangeoffilmshavearguedpersuasivelythatinim- StylisticTactics portantrespects,Hollywoodstorytellinghasn’tfun- damentally altered since the studio days.3 If we Fourtacticsofcameraworkandeditingseemtome examinevisualstyleoverthelast40years,Ithink centraltointensiéedcontinuity.Somehavebeenre- we’recompelledtomuchthesameconclusion.Inrep- markeduponbefore,oftenbyirritatedcritics,butmost resentingspace,time,andnarrativerelations(suchas haven’tbeenconsideredclosely.Aboveall,wehaven’t causalconnectionsandparallels),today’sélmsgen- sufficientlyappreciatedhowthesetechniquesworkto- erallyadheretotheprinciplesofclassicalélmmaking. gethertoconstituteadistinctsetofchoices. Expositionandcharacterdevelopmentarehandledin muchthewaystheywouldhavebeenbefore1960. 1. Morerapidediting Flashbacksandellipsescontinuetobemomentarily Everybodythinksthatmoviesarebeingcutfasternow, teasingandretrospectivelycoherent.Creditsequences, buthowfastisfast?Andfastercomparedtowhat? openings,andmontagesequencescandisplayèashy, Between1930and1960,mostHollywoodfeature self-conscioustechnique.Inparticular,thewaysin élms,ofwhateverlength,containedbetween300and whichtoday’sélmsrepresentspaceoverwhelmingly 700shots,sotheaverageshotlength(ASL)hovered adheretothepremisesof“classicalcontinuity.”Es- aroundeighttoelevenseconds.AnA-featurewould tablishingandreestablishingshotssituatetheactors seldomboastanASL oflessthansixseconds;5 far inthelocale.Anaxisofactiongovernstheactors’ ori- morecommonwereélmswithabnormallylongtakes. Film Quarterly, Vol. no. 55, Issue no. 3, pages 16-28. ISSN: 0015-1386. © 2002 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. 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This content downloaded on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:25:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JohnStahl’sBackStreet (1932)hasanASL of19sec- pershot.Hasrapidcuttingthereforeledtoa“post-clas- onds,whileOttoPreminger’sFallenAngel(1945)av- sical”breakdownofspatialcontinuity?Certainly,some erages33secondspershot. actionsequencesarecutsofast(andstagedsograce- Inthemid-andlate1960s,severalAmericanand lessly)astobeincomprehensible.9 Nonetheless,many Britishélmmakerswereexperimentingwithfastercut- fast-cutsequencesdoremainspatiallycoherent,asin tingrates.6 Manystudio-releasedélmsoftheperiod theDieHard, Speed, andLethalWeapon movies.(The containASLsbetweensixandeightseconds,andsome illegibilityofsomeactionscenesispartlytraceableto havesigniécantlyshorteraverages:Goldénger (1964) misjudgingwhatwillreadwellonthebigscreen,asI’ll at4.0seconds;MickeyOne (1965)at3.8;TheWild suggestbelow.) Bunch(1969)at3.2;andHead (1968)ataremarkable Moreimportant,nofilmisonelongactionse- 2.7seconds.Inthe1970s,whenmostélmshadASLs quence.Mostscenespresentconversations,andhere betweenéveandeightseconds,weéndasigniécant fastcuttingisappliedprincipallytoshot/reverse-shot numberofstillfasterones.Aswe’dexpect,actionélms exchanges.HowelsecouldOrdinaryPeople (1980) tendedtobeeditedmorebrisklythanothertypes(and attainanASL of6.1seconds,Ghost (1991)oneof5.0 Peckinpah’sseemtohavebeencutfastestofall7),but seconds,andAlmostFamous(2000)oneof3.9sec- musicals,dramas,romances,andcomediesdidn’tnec- onds?Editorstendtocutateverylineandinsertmore essarilyfavorlongtakes.TheCandidate (1972),Pete’s reactionshotsthanwewouldéndintheperiod1930- Dragon (1977),FreakyFriday (1977),NationalLam- 1960. poon’sAnimalHouse (1978),andHair(1979)allhave Admittedly,bybuildingdialoguescenesoutof ASLsbetween4.3and4.9seconds.Midwaythrough briefshots,thenewstylehasbecomeslightlymore thedecade,mostélmsinanygenreincludedatleasta elliptical,utilizingfewerestablishingshotsandlong- thousandshots. heldtwo-shots.AsKuleshovandPudovkinpointed Inthe1980sthetempocontinuedtopickup,but out,classicalcontinuitycontainsbuilt-inredundancies: theélmmaker’srangeofchoicenarroweddramatically. shot/reverseshotsreiteratetheinformationaboutchar- Double-digitASLs,stillfoundduringthe1970s,vir- acterpositiongivenintheestablishingshot,andsodo tuallyvanishedfrommass-entertainmentcinema.Most eyelinesandbodyorientation.Forthesakeofintensi- ordinaryélmshadASLsbetweenéveandsevensec- fyingthedialogueexchange,élmmakershaveomit- onds,andmanyélms(e.g.,RaidersoftheLostArk, tedsomeoftheredundanciesprovidedbyestablishing 1981;Lethal Weapon, 1987;WhoFramedRogerRab- shots.Atthesametime,though,fast-cutdialoguehas bit?, 1988)averagedbetweenfourandéveseconds. reinforcedpremisesofthe180-degreestagingsystem. WealsoéndseveralASLsinthethree-to-foursecond Whenshotsaresoshort,whenestablishingshotsare range,mostlyinmoviesinèuencedbymusicvideos brieforpostponedornonexistent,theeyelinesandan- andinactionpictures,suchasPinkFloyd:TheWall glesinadialoguemustbeevenmoreunambiguous, (1982),StreetsofFire(1984),Highlander(1986),and andtheaxisofactionmustbestrictlyrespected. TopGun (1986). Atthecloseofthe1980s,manyélmsboasted1500 2. Bipolarextremesoflenslengths shotsormore.Theresoonfollowedmoviescontain- Fromthe1910stothe1940s,thenormallensusedin ing2000-3000shots,suchasJFK(1991)andTheLast featureélmmakingintheU.S.hadafocallengthof Boy Scout(1991).Bycentury’send,the3000-4000 50mm,ortwoinches.Longerlenses,from100mmto shotmoviehadarrived(Armageddon, 1998;AnyGiven 500mmormore,werecommonlyusedforclose-ups, Sunday, 1999).Manyaverageshotlengthsbecameas- particularlysoft-focusones,andforfollowingswift tonishinglylow.TheCrow (1994),U-Turn (1997),and actionatadistance,suchasanimalsinthewild.Shorter SleepyHollow (1999)cameinat2.7seconds;ElMari- (wide-angle)lenses,commonly25mmor35mm,came achi(1993),Armageddon, andSouthPark(1999)at intousewhenélmmakerswantedgoodfocusinseveral 2.3seconds;andDarkCity (1998),thefastest-cutHol- planesorfullshotsofacrampedsetting.Duringthe lywoodélmI’vefound,at1.8seconds.In1999and 1930s,cinematographersincreasinglyreliedonwide- 2000,theASL ofatypicalélminanygenrewaslikely anglelenses,atrendpopularizedbyCitizenKane torunthreetosixseconds.8 (1941),andthenormallenswasthereafterredeéned Today,mostélmsarecutmorerapidlythanatany asoneof35mmfocallength.Bytheearly1970s,many othertimeinU.S.studioélmmaking.Indeed,editing anamorphicprocessesallowedélmmakerstousewide- ratesmaysoonhitawall;it’shardtoimagineafeature- anglelenses,andthelens’scharacteristicdistortingef- lengthnarrativemovieaveraginglessthan1.5seconds fects(bulgingontheframeedges,exaggerationof 17 This content downloaded on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:25:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1. JerryMaguire: AsJerry, nowéred, leaveshisoffice, a 2. followedbyacloserlongshot, alsoélmed telephotolensprovidesanextremelongshot intelephoto. distancesbetweenforegroundandbackground)were byproducts,suchasthe“wipe-by”cut.13 Herealong- èauntedinsuchinèuentialPanavisionélmsasCarnal lensshotpicksoutaégure,andthensomethingcloser Knowledge (1971)and Chinatown(1974).10 Thereafter, tothecamera(traffic,atreebeingdolliedpast)slides élmmakersusedwide-anglelensestoprovideexpan-