The Eye is Quicker Page 13

  4. Participation: The audience is instantaneously ‘in the scene.’

  HINT: The four (often) rely upon the eyes of the characters: an indication that a character(s) is ‘getting the attention’ of another character(s). Remember the ‘Popeye’ Doyle and Russo ‘Rough-Up’ a Suspect scene in The French Connection?

  TIP: You can use the Double the Dialogue/Checkerboard System when there are more than two characters: Use a cut of each listening (reacting) to the repeated — Off Camera — line(s), cutting last to the next character to speak. Then, repeat the cycle.

  A scene which vividly expresses this: Morant, Witton, and Handcock Meet Major Thomas scene from Breaker Morant.

  A Master Shot is used sparingly [Figure 16.13] to ‘situate’ the soldiers throughout the scene. Its positioning in the scene might have been the last decided upon.

  Figure 16.13

  Witton sits; Major Thomas sits

  The dialogue — in Close-Ups — overlaps reactions with such precise integrity, that the cuts evaporate into the breadth of performance. So much so, that the audience would be hard pressed to recall which of the characters was featured on screen when (specific) lines of dialogue were heard.

  HINT: A sizeable portion of this scene demonstrates the ease of the doubling dialogue technique — when there are more than two characters — to assist in discovering the ‘right’ performance. [Figure 16.14]

  Figure 16.14

  Reactions carry the weight…

  … distributing information, creating surefire conversation — genuine dialogue — and (emotional) subtext.

  Colin and Friend Mock the Minister scene from The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, a scene of exquisite cinema! Reaction/Images ‘minus’ audio. [Figure 16.15] Colin turns off the sound on the “telly” while they view the ‘talking head’ government minister’s address to the nation. They mock the minister’s gestures, ‘breaking into’ out-of-control laughter.

  Figure 16.15

  Such simple ‘expression’ in no other medium

  SEVENTEEN

  ask

  gertrude

  Stein

  “The magicians who bottle the genie are

  the actors. The magician who lets the

  genie out of the bottle is the editor.”

  — Rob Nilsson

  An actor will endeavor to ‘grasp’ a scene by probing the objective(s) of the character he is portraying. Editors will find it helpful to ask, “What is the scene about?” and consider the question(s) every scene proposes: What information is revealed? How is it revealed?

  HINT: In the end these questions get the editor to the discovery of sequence(s).

  The last question: Does the scene include the asking of questions?

  Questions can dictate the rhythms — subtext — of a scene; allow well ‘disguised’ exposition; and assist in constructing sequences. How far from the question is the answer?

  Questions about questions include: Are answers happily given? Are they given at all? What answers are best deleted?

  If a scene concludes with a question, it is usually best to leave the answer for (sometime) later; and it is better than best ‘if the answer is depicted rather than told!

  Deleting an answer to a scene-concluding question, easily and dramatically, fulfills David Mamet’s proposition that the audience must want an answer to “What’s going to happen next?”

  Scene-concluding questions:

  Frau Mozart Seeks the Aid of Salieri from Amadeus.

  Mozart’s wife has brought her husband’s manuscripts. She asks Salieri for his help in obtaining a court position for Mozart. Salieri ‘listens’ to the music in his mind’s ear. He is overwhelmed by Mozart’s genius. [Figure 17.1]

  FRAU MOZART

  Then you’ll help us?

  Figure 17.1

  Salieri does not answer

  Serpico Questions the Prisoner from Serpico.

  Serpico tries to win the trust of the suspect; he takes off the handcuffs and gets him coffee. He asks him to divulge the whereabouts of his cohorts. [Figure 17.2]

  FRANK SERPICO

  You talk to me. Save yourself.

  Figure 17.2

  The prisoner does not answer

  Galvin Confronts the Admitting Nurse from The Verdict.

  After an all night effort to find a ‘missing’ nurse — a nurse crucial to a civil trial in Boston — Galvin goes to New York City to convince the nurse to ‘return’ and testify. [Figure 17.3]

  GALVIN

  Will you help me?

  Figure 17.3

  The nurse does not answer

  Awaiting an answer while ‘resting’ on a reaction shot prompts the thinking/feeling response in the audience: “Oh my! I wonder if he’ll tell.” “I hope he doesn’t.” “I wish she’d help.” It is the simplest of good storytelling — storyshowing — strategies.

  Several of the films in this chapter employ a trial — an examination before a judicial panel. This might give a helpful tip & hint to the editor — and actor. Here is an allegory: To examine through questions, the ‘trials and tribulations’ of the character(s) — as in subjected to suffering, grief, sorrow, or hardship. Why would an audience want to meet the character(s) at this time? What and where are the obstacles confronting the character(s)? And! By way of twists and turns, “What is going to happen next?”

  Pascali’s Island is a near-classic example of this kind of ‘arrangement.’ Basil himself says, “Not some kind; the best kind!”

  I ask the reader a question: What do you get with an answer? Do you really want an answer?

  It is rumored that when Gertrude Stein lay dying, her companion Alice B. Toklas beseeched, “Gertrude! What is the answer?” Gertrude slowly turned toward Alice answering, “Alice! What is the question?”

  Ben is Fired from Leaving Las Vegas.

  Ben sits in Bill’s Office. He is holding his final paycheck.

  BILL

  Have you thought about what you’ll do now? [Figure 17.4]

  Figure 17.4

  BEN: I was thinking I’d move out to Las Vegas

  The proceeding scenes have lost their engaging energy. We know Ben’s plan; and in the end, the (follow-up) sequence demonstrates little more than that Ben wasn’t lying to Bill — and the audience.

  Reverend Hale Demands an Answer from The Crucible.

  Reverend Hale asks the assembled girls to tell him who it was that led them to dance around the fire. One of the girls points to Abigail. Abigail denies responsibility.

  REVEREND HALE

  Tell me who that was. Who? [Figure 17.5]

  Figure 17.5

  ABIGAIL: Tituba!

  The next scene begins with the Town Fathers ordering Tituba from her shelter. [Figure 17.6]

  Figure 17.6

  “Snitching” on Tituba — answering the question — as an end to the previous scene brings up possibilities worth mentioning.

  Ending with the “snitch” might generate greater emotion if the audience then sees Tituba going about her daily chores before the arrival of the Town Fathers. Tituba does not know what the audience knows: The ‘authorities’ will be coming for her! A delay in the Town Fathers Grab Tituba scene might also be of structural service. Had the “snitching” answer been deleted (with or without an extra beat or two), the audience’s thinking/feeling response would have been significantly advanced: “Oh no! Abigail has told!!” Or perhaps: “Good! Abigail has saved herself!!!”

  What if no question ended the Leaving Las Vegas and The Crucible scenes? Think/Feel about that as an answer!

  TIP & HINT: Consider Context.

  Morant, Witton, and Handcock Meet Major Thomas from Breaker Morant. The scene’s last lines are in answer to:

  WITTON

  Do you think they’re going to imprison us or cashier us?

  My father, if he found out….

  MAJOR THOMAS (interrupting)

  They told you! There’s several murder charges. The penalty’s death
!

  Major Thomas’ interrupting phrase, “They told you!” is played with an unusual break (beat) — a postproduction discovery — before his next phrase: A long pause across reactions on Morant and Handcock. The audience is about to get information — “the penalty’s death” — that was already given to, or should have been ‘clear’ to the soldiers. Following Witton’s reaction of the Major’s last phrase there is a reaction on Morant, and another reaction on Witton. Thomas’ ‘answer’ is not precisely a response to the two possibilities in Witton’s question; it establishes a ‘mortal’ apprehension throughout the story.

  A last reaction on Witton ends the scene — it reveals ‘an end’ to his naiveté.

  Much of the dialogue in the scene is constructed with questions. The most decisive directed to Major Thomas. Take note of the pauses — beats — before he answers two important questions:

  MORANT

  1. As a matter of interest, how many Courts Martial have you done?

  WITTON

  2. But you have handled a lot of court cases back home sir…?

  The answer to both questions? [Figure 17.7]

  Figure 17.7

  MAJOR THOMAS: “None”

  I think it fair to deduce that the beats which precede “None” span more time in the edited form than in the dailies. Major Thomas’ answer to Morant is heard on a reaction shot of Morant — ‘opening’ enough beats to permit a ‘double’ asking of the question. Major Thomas then takes many additional beats — with the good help of the editor — to turn his head, and eyes (to pay attention), toward Witton to answer his question. This time Major Thomas is On-Camera. Why ‘delay’ the answer(s)?

  Because Major Thomas does not “happily answer”!

  TIP & HINT: A very happily answered question might call for an — anticipatory — interruption. The answerer ‘can’t wait’ to respond to the questioner. Answering beats and rhythms can help establish subtext.

  Joe and Mary (in a Diner) Question What Went Wrong With Their Marriage scene from Midnight Family Dinner, a thesis student’s (very) dark comedy. [Figure 17.8]

  Two New York City cops ‘bust’ a prostitute and her ten-year-old son — who is (also) her pimp As it turns out, the male cop is the ex-husband of the prostitute, and the father of the ten-year-old. Shortly before the birth of his child, he ‘skipped’ town, abandoning his pregnant wife during a severe New York winter.

  Figure 17.8

  A Diner Dinner Answer

  Midnight Family Dinner

  Director/Editor, Akira Shimokawa

  MARY

  … You really screwed us up… all of us… our whole family!

  And where did you go after you left?

  JOE

  Florida for a couple of years….

  Mary’s opening phrase is delivered with attacking animosity. “And where did you go after you left?” is asked with doubt, and insecurity. It was a difficult task for the actress to ‘shift inflection.’ In each of her Close-Ups, the actress’ eyes revealed that she didn’t remember the second phrase. Then, though her eyes confirmed recollection, the actress looked down — she had to take pause — to ‘gather herself’ for the inflection change.

  It goes without saying that it is unacceptable to let the audience ‘see’ that an actor has forgotten her lines. In film the editor can provide an assist — an actor in theatre will always be vulnerable.

  The actress created a beat by looking down, but it was an obvious component of the performance process — not ‘in character.’ The ‘look down’ had to be deleted. Another beat was needed between phrases: a reaction of Joe? Or two beats? What if the ‘new inflected phrase’ is heard before we see a Close-Up of Mary, after the actress has looked up?

  In all of Joe’s Close-Ups (in the dailies), the actor answered Mary’s question in 2.5 seconds.

  HINT: Actors know each other’s lines!

  Then, ‘in the last take of the last set-up (a short establishing shot meant ‘only’ to be used for a reaction on a character at the diner’s counter) [Figure 17.9] the actor ‘caught’ the rhythm. Joe took 7.5 seconds. Joe was not happily answering Mary’s question, and…

  Figure 17.9

  … It worked!

  The actor’s ‘discovered’ rhythm — and the correct subtext — was now the editor’s responsibility: Make the question and answer work in the Close-Ups.

  TIP: Editors! Keep Gertrude Stein in mind.

  EIGHTEEN

  tipping

  the

  scales

  “For me the creative process is more one

  of discovery than creation.”

  — James Lee Burke

  During the summer of 2002, French anthropologist Michel Brunet introduced the world to Toumai (Goran for “hope of life”), a fossil skull found in Central Africa, belonging to our earliest known hominid ancestor. The discovery of Sahelanthropus tchadensis is evidence that our link to chimpanzees is (for now) some 2-4 million years earlier than previously estimated. Isn’t this further proof that The Eye Is Quicker? I’d say the eye now ‘looks’ much, much quicker! The discovery calls to mind Walter Murch’s analogy of chimpanzees and editors. Don’t laugh! Murch isn’t poking fun at editors — or at chimps for that matter.

  Murch points out that humans share nearly identical DNA with chimpanzees, yet are (apparently) distinguishable. His analogy suggests a correlation between chimp and human DNA, and identical (uncut) dailies in the hands of different editors. The ever-so-slight difference in the genetic code in the DNA that makes a chimp a chimp, and a human, human, clearly makes all the difference in appearance; as would the ‘code’ — arrangements of the film footage — assembled by different editors from identical dailies. Might the differences in the editor’s arrangements reveal identifiable ‘codes’?

  The distinctions are linked to the nine key elements. They may well be considered nine key ‘codes’:

  1. Story

  2. Place

  3. Character

  4. Physical Action

  5. Physical Life

  6. Dialogue

  7. Information first known to audience

  8. Information first known to character

  9. Information learned by audience and character simultaneously

  I know that my former Continuing Ed student from Germany — and perhaps Einstein himself — would urge that my second ‘code’ be Time/Space. This chapter is not theoretical. I use “Place” in its most practical application — not pertaining to any law of physics — to mean locations of scenes.

  The arrangement(s) of these ‘codes’ is of utmost significance: It separates second-rate from inspired editing.

  With Context in mind (at all times), inspired editing will be discovered in the balance of the nine ‘codes.’

  Balance: An instrument for determining weight; comparison as to weight amount, importance; composition or placement of elements; a state of equilibrium or equipoise.

  The definition’s reference to “composition or placement of elements” is familiar in two-dimensional design concepts, as in ‘Formal Balance.’ Formal balance is easily appealing. It instantly — often misleadingly — embraces order and control. Formal balance in film editing can easily miss the breadth of a scene; and in the end, it is the leading contributor to ‘playing’ a filmed synopsis, rather than a presentation ‘in full.’

  For the film editor, the balance of the nine ‘codes’ is exceptionally effective when ‘Informal’: Asymmetrical! Successful asymmetry requires an integration of the nine ‘codes.’

  Let’s go back to the Law and Order editing exercise. In Julia’s Close-Up, Van Buren delivers her last line after leaning forward — and toward Julia. [Figure 18.1] We are behind Van Buren and over her right shoulder. The camera ‘moves in’ with her.

  Figure 18.1

  “He didn’t commit a class ‘A’ felony with his tongue…”

  Julia’s eyes shift to Van Buren. Van Buren’s lean precedes her dialogue; and as it happens, th
e camera has come to rest, and Julia has shifted her eyes. At first glance and listen, the shot looks unusable — it ‘feels’ clumsy, out of sorts; it might even be deemed ‘Out Of Sync.’ The dialogue and physical action — Van Buren’s lean — ‘codes’ are separated, and conspicuous in their ‘production arranged’ combination.

  Shift the audio: We are behind Van Buren; we do not see her mouth: There is no concern for lip synchronization.

  HINT: We’ll see how often being ‘In Sync’ can be ‘Out of Sync.’

  By advancing the audio so that Van Buren’s dialogue is heard just before Julia shifts her eyes, and before Van Buren, and the camera, have finished their moves, the shot is ‘fixed.’ We have integrated Van Buren’s dialogue and the physical action.

  HINT: Julia’s ‘shifting eyes’ following the start of Van Buren’s dialogue works — getting Julia’s attention — the same way as the ‘mismatches’ in The French Connection scene: ‘Shifting eyes’ proceed from dialogue.

  Asymmetry can be established by a rearrangement of beats: ‘Formal’ scene Openings and Closings — entrances and exits — might ‘feel’ tidy, and logical, but they can easily yield sagging-dragging moments.

  In Breaker Morant, a postproduction solution creates an asymmetrical entrance — an integration of ‘codes’ and beats.

  Morant, Witton, and Handcock Await the Findings of the Court Martial scene.

  Peter Handcock stands atop a table to recite a limerick; he ‘kicks-up’ a fuss, striking items on the table. At that moment Major Thomas and another officer enter, [Figure 18.2] not noticed by the three soldiers. Handcock delivers his limerick…