Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figures 6.52 (left), 6.53 (middle),and 6.54. This scene from Roninappears to be one continuous pan,but in fact when a passing pedestrianwipes the frame, there is a cutthat enables the filmmaker to usetwo entirely different locations asthe beginning and end of the sameshot. This is called location stiching orlocation splicing.immediately to a shot of an explosion. The cut is carried over by theaction, by the idea, and by the sound edit (fist slamming and explosion).Audio often plays a role in conceptual cuts. One of the mostelegant examples is from Citizen Kane. Mr. Thatcher stands next toa Christmas tree hovering over a fifteen year-old Charles Kane andsays “Merry Christmas...” and the next shot is years later. The audiocontinues with “...and a Happy New Year.” The soundtrack completesthe continuity even though the subject of the second shot isa different location and years later. It is an elegant jump over years.This is also an elliptical cut — meaning an edit that skips over a periodof time. Good editing is as much about what you leave out as it isabout what you leave in or the how you arrange it.The Zero CutThe zero cut is a type of match cut that rarely gets mentioned in discussionsof shooting and editing. A variation of this technique isused by John Frankenheimer in Ronin (Figures 6.52 through 6.54).In this case, the camera tracks with a man as he walks down a street.An extra wipes the frame (blocking it entirely for a frame or two)and the character walks on. There is nothing especially remarkableabout the shot. The trick is that it is actually two shots that weredone thousands of miles and weeks apart. The first part of the shotwas done on location in Europe, and the second part of the shot is ona studio lot in Los Angeles. This gives the director the opportunityto use the strong points of two locations combined into one continuousshot. This is actually a form of location stitching (also calledlocation splicing) where footage shot in two or more locations is editedto make it look like the whole scene was filmed in one place.This technique is the same one Hitchcock used in his “one shot”film Rope. It is what made it possible for him to shoot the entire filmso it appears to be one long continuous take, even though a roll offilm in the camera lasts only 11 minutes. Although Rope gives theimpression of one long take, it is a myth that there are no cuts at all;in fact, there are a few, most of them at the reel changes.cinematography102