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Post by spiderwort on Apr 23, 2017 23:11:45 GMT
Editing is one of the most critical components of film production. It is required to focus the audience's attention and lead them through the narrative. From simple dialogue scenes to much more complicated sequences in which the editing almost becomes the star, though remains in the service of the narrative, a film can't exist without it. This thread is dedicated to particularly amazing editorial sequences. Some sequences enhanced by spectacular editing that have deeply impressed me include: Joan being driven to recant in "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" (1928) - one of the most dazzling editorial constructs in the history of cinema. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlI3hmI89bw (39-41 min. in) The first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) - a masterpiece of neo-realistic editing. The Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potempkin" (1925) - perhaps the most brilliant evocation of montage editing in existence. Abel Gance's multiple tryptichs throughout his masterpiece, "Napoleon" (1927), in which three visual stories are told in three images simultaneously displayed in a split screen technique. The final tryptich is particularly dazzling. The stunning final sequence of Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), which I won't describe because of spoilers. The mirror sequence in Orson Welles' "The Lady From Shanghai"(1947). Its genius is almost beyond comprehension. The very long opening sequence of Baz Lurhman's "Moulin Rouge" (2001), a brilliant marriage of moving camera montage, music, and performance. Your thoughts, suggestions for similar sequences? |
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Post by mattgarth on Apr 23, 2017 23:17:06 GMT
The moment before 12 o'clock in HIGH NOON that reviews all the people and places in the town of Hadleyville before the train arrives and everything changes.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Apr 24, 2017 1:22:05 GMT
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cineastewest
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Post by cineastewest on Apr 24, 2017 1:58:12 GMT
Submarine sinking in "Ice Station Zebra." It's about a fifteen-minute action sequence.
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Post by salomonj on Apr 24, 2017 2:05:37 GMT
Saving Private Ryan opening 20 minutes.
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Post by movielover on Apr 24, 2017 6:06:24 GMT
The climatic hotel scene from Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway (1972).
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Post by movielover on Apr 24, 2017 13:24:20 GMT
The opening bank robbery scene and the final shootout scene at the end of The Wild Bunch.  |
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Post by movielover on Apr 24, 2017 13:47:00 GMT
How about the less violent Dark City? Alex Proyas used an exciting new style of editing I'd never seen before. One of the shortest average shot lengths of any modern narrative production at 1.8 seconds.  |
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Post by mattgarth on Apr 24, 2017 14:33:53 GMT
The moments before 12 o'clock in HIGH NOON that review all the people (marshal, wife, gang members, townsfolk) and places (church, saloon, empty street, station) in the town of Hadleyville before the train arrives and everything changes. Sorry, meant to include this wordless, tension-filled 2-minute clip in my earlier post on HIGH NOON. Editor Elmo Williams won the Oscar in that category for the film, largely on his assembly of this sequence (Dimitri Tiomkin's music helps too). www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MooNISe8aM&t=16s |
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Post by movielover on Apr 24, 2017 15:24:02 GMT
How about the less violent Dark City? Alex Proyas used an exciting new style of editing I'd never seen before. One of the shortest average shot lengths of any modern narrative production at 1.8 seconds. I didn't see this one, movielover. I'd be interested to see it, however, for the uniqueness of the editorial construct, though honestly I might not be pleased by cuts that are that short on average for a whole film. I think that technique can be very useful for certain kinds of sequences, but I'm afraid it might lose my interest and become monotonous if it were a constant. I assume that you really appreciated it, however, based upon your post. If I ever have the chance, I'd love to give it a try, just to see what my response would be.
Pertaining to this idea of short cuts, however, in my OP I put in a link for Carl Dreyer's masterpiece, La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc. If you watch at the times I posted for that link (about 4 minutes or so), you'll see a sequence that's a stunning compendium of very short cuts in a brilliantly constructed editorial sequence, which galvanizes the narrative to the point of making you want to choke - it's absolutely mesmerizing. Might want to see what you think of that. And I'll certainly give Dark City a look, if I have the chance. Thanks for the suggestion.I know it seems like the short shots would not be enjoyable for an entire movie, but it's so skillfully done, I think you would like the movie. The movie is basically an eerie mystery (albeit a science fiction one) involving a protagonist with amnesia who frequently has fragmented flashbacks. The mystery and flashbacks are greatly enhanced by the short shots, as is the action. Don't worry, there are still some longer shots. The 1.8 seconds is only an average (mostly due to quick cuts of less than half a second, which naturally brings the average down). Bottom line, it's an entertaining and fascinating sci-fi mystery movie. Roger Elbert voted it the best movie of 1998. If you go to Film General (pg. 3 at the moment), there's an entire thread dedicated to the movie entitled "Dark City is so underrated." |
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Post by telegonus on Apr 24, 2017 17:40:22 GMT
Editing is one of the most critical components of film production. It is required to focus the audience's attention and lead them through the narrative. From simple dialogue scenes to much more complicated sequences in which the editing almost becomes the star, though remains in the service of the narrative, a film can't exist without it. This thread is dedicated to particularly amazing editorial sequences. Some sequences enhanced by spectacular editing that have deeply impressed me include: Joan being driven to recant in "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" (1928) - one of the most dazzling editorial constructs in the history of cinema. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlI3hmI89bw (39-41 min. in) The first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) - a masterpiece of neo-realistic editing. The Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potempkin" (1925) - perhaps the most brilliant evocation of montage editing in existence. Abel Gance's multiple tryptichs throughout his masterpiece, "Napoleon" (1927), in which three visual stories are told in three images simultaneously displayed in a split screen technique. The final tryptich is particularly dazzling. The stunning final sequence of Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), which I won't describe because of spoilers. The mirror sequence in Orson Welles' "The Lady From Shanghai"(1947). Its genius is almost beyond comprehension. The very long opening sequence of Baz Lurhman's "Moulin Rouge" (2001), a brilliant marriage of moving camera montage, music, and performance. Your thoughts, suggestions for similar sequences? The scene in the restaurant near the end of the 1946 The Killers, with the tension ramping up when hitmen William Conrad and Charles McGraw enter the place, the piano man begins to play some boogie woogie real fast, what was to become the Dragnet theme kicks in, the camera pans down the bar prior to the shootout. Electrifying even to a veteran viewer. Equally effective in a different way: the moment, at dawn, prior to the start of the cattle drive in Red River, the drovers on horseback forming a circle, with only natural sounds of birds and such in the background, no dialogue, then the 360 camera shot, as it ever so slowly moves, the barely audible music rises as we see the face of each cowboy, expressionless, and the camera finally settles on John Wayne's Dunston character, who turns to Monty Clift's Matt Garth and says "Take 'em to Missouri, Matt" and the yahoo-ing begins, accompanied by Dimitri Tiomkin's rousing score. |
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 25, 2017 1:43:58 GMT
spiderwort...thanks so much, I was most interested in your introduction about the editing process and the wonderful examples you shared...
Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera , Lemonade Joe (1964)
Brilliantly directed by Oldřich Lipský , the film is a highly stylized , technically dazzling , outrageously funny, manic, multi layered parody of the American Western and capitalism.
A triumph of production design, which features jump-cuts, sped-up motion, shifts from objective to point-of-view shots, the striking colour scheme has each scene awash in monochromatic yellows, blues, greens, or reds, which frequently change mid-shot .
There is an incredible level of inventiveness in just about every sequence, the film opens with a highly spirited barroom fight moving to the incessant honky-tonk piano and player in the background,
singling out one "great edited sequence"...
The wonderfully edited shootout with the bad guys sees our hero Joe swing into action, one of the best gunfights ever...
Joe appears in stop-action shots on rooftops, in doorways, on the street, guns blaze from all angles and directions, it is a hilarious scene not just for the visual dynamics, the parody here has layers of depth.
An incredibly entertaining film... a must-see for anyone interested in filmmaking, a film to see multiple times to catch every bit of the ingenious detail. 10/10
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Post by mikef6 on Apr 25, 2017 3:58:18 GMT
How can anyone talk about editing and not have Alfred Hitchcock at the top of the mountain. Here is the Albert Hall sequence from his 1956 "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Sheer brilliance. So many other examples from his work could be offered.
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Post by mattgarth on Apr 25, 2017 14:14:13 GMT
A great example, Mike -- and thanks for posting the clip ... enjoyable to watch all over again.
At the AFI tribute to Hitch, Stewart says that he prepared the long speeches of explanation for that sequence when he enters Albert Hall -- staying up half the night to practice them to perfection. But when he arrived on the set, the director told him to fake the speeches and just look tense -- that the scene works better without them. The actor grumbled a bit, but had to admit it worked much better.
While making REAR WINDOW, Hitchcock gave Stewart an example of the power of editing. He showed the actor two sets of scenes, both involving Stewart putting binoculars up to his eyes, and then taking them down and smiling. Then he inserted two views of what Jimmy was looking at. In the first, it was the father across the courtyard, preparing his young daughter for her night's rest. For the second, it was the pretty dancer in a skimpy outfit. The first reaction smile showed a benevolent watcher, while the second revealed a dirty old man.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Apr 25, 2017 15:22:42 GMT
At the AFI tribute to Hitch, Stewart says that he prepared the long speeches of explanation for that sequence when he enters Albert Hall -- staying up half the night to practice them to perfection. But when he arrived on the set, the director told him to fake the speeches and just look tense -- that the scene works better without them. The actor grumbled a bit, but had to admit it worked much better.
That was one of those "mostly for fun" stories that Stewart liked to tell not only because it made an entertaining anecdote, but for being illustrative of Hitchcock's emphasis on the visual. I heard him tell a slightly different version of it about six years earlier at an audience Q&A before a screening at LACMA's Bing theater that went something like this: "I had pages of dialogue where I explained to various officials about the assassination and everything that led up to it. And when I saw the finished picture, all that dialogue was gone and there was only music. So I went to Hitch and said, 'Hitch, wha-wha-what happened to all my dialogue? Y-y-ya took it all out!' And he told me, 'You were talking too much, and I wanted to hear the music.'"
As Stewart told this (to great audience amusement), Hitchcock sat quietly next to him in his characteristic, Buddha-like impassive manner (he knew not to get in the way of the telling of a good story, either by a colleague and friend or on the screen). But if either of those versions had been true, it would have been antithetical to the director's established practice of having planned such a sequence completely on paper before a foot of film was ever shot. I don't want to say the story was entirely apocryphal, as screenwriter John Michael Hayes may very well have written dialogue for Stewart to give him something to say other than ad-libbing, just as some scenarists would do in the days of silents so the actors would have something of substance to play, even if it would never be heard or even seen on intertitle cards. Here's something else I remember about that evening: whenever Hitchcock mentioned Stewart in the context of some personal experience, he referred to him as "Jimmy" ( "When Jimmy and I were in London, I took him to my favorite restaurant..."). But when it had to do with anything that had been a part of the film, Hitchcock referred to him as "the actor" ( "As the actor walked into the scene, I instructed him to..."), and it was then Stewart's turn to sit quietly without reaction or comment. I found that quite striking, as it seemed to suggest that, once he was before the camera, Hitchcock considered him as being simply one among other anonymous objects that were to be moved around in service to the action being photographed. |
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cineastewest
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Post by cineastewest on Apr 26, 2017 5:59:52 GMT
Editing is one of the most critical components of film production. It is required to focus the audience's attention and lead them through the narrative. From simple dialogue scenes to much more complicated sequences in which the editing almost becomes the star, though remains in the service of the narrative, a film can't exist without it. This thread is dedicated to particularly amazing editorial sequences. Some sequences enhanced by spectacular editing that have deeply impressed me include: Joan being driven to recant in "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" (1928) - one of the most dazzling editorial constructs in the history of cinema. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlI3hmI89bw (39-41 min. in) The first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) - a masterpiece of neo-realistic editing. The Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potempkin" (1925) - perhaps the most brilliant evocation of montage editing in existence. Abel Gance's multiple tryptichs throughout his masterpiece, "Napoleon" (1927), in which three visual stories are told in three images simultaneously displayed in a split screen technique. The final tryptich is particularly dazzling. The stunning final sequence of Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), which I won't describe because of spoilers. The mirror sequence in Orson Welles' "The Lady From Shanghai"(1947). Its genius is almost beyond comprehension. The very long opening sequence of Baz Lurhman's "Moulin Rouge" (2001), a brilliant marriage of moving camera montage, music, and performance. Your thoughts, suggestions for similar sequences? That's a tough act to follow. Excellent work, Spiderwort. In my heart I would like to see the Parallax Test in there. The work of Thelma Schumacher (sp) The pacing of "Solaris." if there is any. The Indiana Jones truck chase. "Poltergeist" was especially kinetic. "The Tree of Life" Wait, "sequences?" Any fight scene from "Raging Bull." The train attack in "Lawrence of Arabia," the attack on Tippi Hendren in "The Birds," and you name it from "Das Boot." Keaton was editing in the can. |
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