Cutting a Comedic Kill

Gosford Park is a comedy murder mystery directed by Robert Altman which entertainingly contrasts the lives of the rich and bored ‘upstairs’ guests with the interesting ‘downstairs’ servants during a shooting party at an English country manor in 1932. The film was edited by Tim Squyres and was nominated for ‘AFI Editor of the Year’ and for ‘Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical’ in 2002.1 In the very centre of this multiple storylined period drama is the crucial murder scene. This sequence has been edited in both a functional and interesting way:

As Sidney Lumet, a highly acclaimed and respected film director, says:

“While it’s absurd to believe that pictures are “made” in the cutting room, they sure as hell can be ruined there.”2

In my opinion this scene was definitely not ruined in the cutting room and by deconstructing it I will attempt to explore just how effectively and skilfully edited it actually is.

Films are unavoidably subjective because they are primarily concerned with emotion. The role of the filmmaker is to draw in the audience so that they feel the film, as opposed to just watch it. Walter Murch, a master of the craft of editing, puts it like this:

“How do you want the audience to feel? If they are feeling what you want them to feel all the way through the film, you’ve done about as much as you can ever do… If you have to give up something, don’t ever give up emotion before story.”3

As I say, films are subjective but I think when watching this sequence we feel a strange and spicy mixture of light humour and sinister seriousness. As the song begins we have that first moment of hilarity:

which is instantly shot down to an awkward fascination as we see the mysterious feet prowling in the darkness.

As the sequence progresses we realise the significance of what we are seeing and when we get exactly halfway through we see the knife:

and by then the whole mood and meaning has flipped and the tension swaps from suspense, to anticipation of the stab.

Yet even as we witness the actual murder we can’t help but view it with an odd amusement as if it’s really not that serious.

Already we can see how cleverly this sequence has been constructed in that it is a perfect snapshot of the genre of the whole piece. Gosford Park is a comedy murder mystery, a rather oxymoronic genre, and the emotion we feel during this sequence exactly matches that idea. We feel like laughing, yet our emotions are conflicted as we are witnessing something sinister. A magnificently messy mix!

This blend of emotions is purposefully achieved by careful cutting. Walter Murch says:

“Frequently, it takes more work and discernment to decide where not to cut…”4

and it is interesting to note that the tension build is not due to increasing frantic or irregular cutting, as the pace remains sedate, or even a crescendo in the sound or music, as this also stays quiet and steady. As proved by Kuleshov two different images cut together creates meaning (A + B = C). This tension is in fact achieved through the intercutting of two contrasting scenarios.

The bulk of our emotion is invested in the progress of the mysterious feet and this is where the feeling of sinister suspense comes from. Here is an example of how it could have been cut:

Clearly this produces a completely different emotion and instantly makes it a completely different film. So by splicing in the silly song, the bored guests and the listening servants a totally new meaning is created and we get our wonderful mix of emotions.

Also worth noting are the actual shots we cut away to in the first half of the sequence. As can be seen from the above clip the shots in the murderer’s narrative show quite a linear journey. The song shots subtly help this narrative along by becoming more and more distant from the source of the music as we become more and more interested in the murderer’s progress.

I mentioned earlier that at the halfway point, when we see the knife, we know what is about to happen. The Master, Murch, says the following about the job of an editor:

“Your job is partly to anticipate, partly to control the thought processes of the audience. To give them what they want and/or what they need just before they have to “ask” for it – to be surprising yet self-evident at the same time. If you are too far behind or ahead of them, you create problems, but if you are right with them, leading them ever so slightly, the flow of events feels natural and exciting at the same time.”5

The mid-point, the reveal of the knife, could potentially be a moment when the audience gets a little ahead of the editor. There is that great shot of the approaching assassin, knife held ready:

suddenly followed by the funniest and most contrasting shot we have seen yet:

This juxtaposition causes a ‘jump’ in emotion which throws us off balance ever so slightly but enough to remind us what type of film we are watching and so that as we finally see the murder the mood is lightened and we feel as if it’s really not that serious.

Of course, what we see is only half of a filmmakers concern; what we hear is equally important. The soundtrack for this sequence is particularly interesting. Production Designer Stephen Altman (Robert Altman’s son) comments:

“It’s not really murder music… Counterprogramming.”6

To counteract the serious and sinister moment of the murder the music needs to be humorous and harmless to lift the moment, and consequently the film, into the comedy genre. Also this song has the added bonus of providing a tempo for the scene. For Sidney Lumet:

“…there are two main elements to editing: juxtapositioning images and creating tempo.”7

This song is a clever choice as it helps with both. The crucial moments are when the tempo of the music changes.

“…it’s the change in tempo that we feel, not the tempo itself.”8

Here’s one major change, it slows to a pause… then regains normal tempo:

And here’s another, a change to a sudden faster tempo:

It is certainly not a coincidence that two ‘tempo-change’ moments are the two moments we have been most interested in; the mid-point when we see the knife and the end when we see the stab. The first change causes us to pause and therefore take more careful note of the information we are seeing, and the faster tempo cued by the STAB heightens the excitement and messes the mood of this humorously horrific climax.

Altman would not deny that this scene is a vaguely “Alfred Hitchcock-esque” moment9 and it is interesting to compare Altman’s murder sequence with the famous murder scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho10:

There are obvious similarities: we never see the murderer’s face, a knife is used, the audience is aware of the murderer's approach whilst the victim is unsuspecting; and also major differences: the music, the rhythm, the stabbing; but this highlights the importance of knowing the original before attempting the spoof. Or in Altman’s words, when being questioned about certain technicalities:

“Oh yes, all of those rules we broke. That’s what rules are there for.”11

The depth and detail of the editing in this one short sequence is just extraordinary and this exploration has greatly increased my appreciation of the scene, the film and the filmmakers. I agree with Robert Altman:

“… when you see it [Gosford Park] the second time, which is the most effective way to see it… and you know all the answers, you know all the ‘whodunits’… the film is really better, because you’re able to deal in the detail of it and see nuances that otherwise escape you.”12

This opportunity to explore the “nuances” of the editing of this sequence has been extremely beneficial and has made me more aware of the centrality of emotion, the significance of style and the power of great editing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books
Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.

DVDs
Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD]. UK: Entertainment in Video
Psycho. 1960. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. [DVD]. UK: Universal Pictures Ltd.

Websites
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/ [Accessed 15th February 2010]
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/ [Accessed 30th January 2010]

* * *

1The Internet Movie Database. 2010. Tim Squyres. [online]. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0820163/ [Accessed 30th January 2010]
2Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
3Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
4Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
5Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
6Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
7Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
8Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
9Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
10Psycho. 1960. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. [DVD]. UK: Universal Pictures Ltd.
11Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
12Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video

Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal)

Ingmar Bergman’s dark fantasy drama follows the journey of a returning crusader knight as he questions God, struggles with his faith and plays a game of chess with Death... I found myself really quite immersed in this world. Although a Swedish film there are undeniable similarities, in terms of visual style and tone, to German expressionism (a form that I find fascinating). There is something about its dark and detailed quality which uncomfortably and effortlessly transports the viewer to another world, somewhere between life and death. For someone who feared death like Bergman this must have been a world his imagination was quite familiar with. This film is bold; he is not a depressive hiding behind a comic’s mask but a fearful man who is honestly and bravely portraying his fear on screen. The Seventh Seal is a priceless glimpse into the mind of its director and there is much fear and doubt to be found there. Yet there were frequent light-hearted moments of bright life. A complex and intriguing journey.

Location Scout

How awesome it is to be on an innovative and practical filmmaking course and to be able to turn up for class of a Wednesday afternoon and use it to scout potential shooting locations in Glasgow. I was struck by the reminder of just how fortunate I am whilst visiting Glasgow University Library and seeing the endless streams of proper students – numbers on a database – go about their routine of lectures, research and essay writing... I feel very fortunate to have narrowly escaped that fate. How different my life would have been if I had not gone to the Academy. It is unfair to categorise and generalise students and I do not mean to undermine or devalue them in any way. All I can say is that I could never be a student, and thankfully never will be. That moment, when I was fifteen, I decided what I wanted to do with my life, and since then I have been a filmmaker... in training. A location scout through the streets of Glasgow was another great step in this training. It’s amazing what art and inspiration can be found in the heart of this city and how exciting it is to think that this beauty can be used to create unique worlds through the magic of cinema.

Wanted

Starring the Academy’s very own James McAvoy this graphic action flick tells the story of a man who discovers he is the son of a dangerous assassin so leaves his mundane office life behind to be trained as a killer himself. I think this is a very interesting idea dealing with sensitive but universal topics. The only danger is that Hollywood can often sugar-coat or glorify subjects and if that subject is murder it could end up communicating a very bad message. I think Wanted only just gets away with it because of the plot twist. I am hoping to view Taken since as far as I can discern this is playing with the exact same fire.

Some of the action and special effects were quite interesting but I was a little disappointed in the writing. It felt sadly contrived and one-dimensional especially in the opening which lazily was nothing more than a voice over listing ‘protagonist problems to be fixed’. Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Chris Morgan (the writers) obviously didn’t have much imagination between them when it came to dialogue. I felt sorry for poor James whose character’s vocabulary was so limited we could hardly make out his lines through all the fffs. I’m not trying to be condescending but this film was an example of business burying the art. Its purpose was to sell popcorn. Dodgy to think that the targeted popcorn-buying audience was probably fifteen year-old boys, yet over here the film was an 18. Did they go too far with the blood? How does this kind of content affect our minds? Hey, it makes money; the studio couldn’t care less about our minds…

This Is England

I really enjoyed this realist film, set in 1983, depicting the life of a down-trodden twelve year-old boy who becomes involved in a Nationalist campaign to reclaim England for the English. I could not believe it was made as recently as 2006. Somehow I had got the notion that this was an older classic made not too long after the time that it was set so my surprise was great indeed on discovering it was a recent retrospect on this period of history. This proves one thing; it has captured that time very successfully without the filmmaking distracting or hindering the story in any way. The same was true of the performances. Not once did I think, “Great acting”. These people were as real as the setting and I’m convinced this could not have been achieved without this director who actually lived through similar experiences and is such a mover of British realism; Shane Meadows.

Thankfully British realist films are another genre, again because of the low-budget, that we here in Britain are actually quite good at. I’d be worried if we weren’t! However, realism is a limited platform in that the most it can ever hope to do is realistically depict a specific society and then highlight the flaws in that situation, and also the positives. I can find this frustrating because in my opinion films, like any good art or literature, should be presenting truths and then suggesting solutions to the problems and ultimately offering hope. If they do not then what is the point? What are they adding to the world? What are they saying? Why even watch them? Social realist films can get away without doing this because they are often simply displaying truth and saying, “That’s how it was”. I got a slight sense of this in This Is England regarding its theme of racism which is a big issue to tackle and very relevant; so it was brave of Meadows. The topic was being served, tasted and chewed but it never went deep enough to enable us to relate it to ourselves just now; or indeed to enable humanity in whatever time or place to swallow and digest some meaningful message of hope.

Its strengths were in how real and familiar it looked and, more importantly, felt. There is a real power to the scrutiny of the real world on the big screen. This Is England led us through humour, sorrow, excitement and anxiety; a real kaleidoscope of emotions. I would definitely like to make a social realist film, though it would have to be about a world that I knew very well indeed… let’s think… the Academy? Who knows!!

Trauma

It’s rather interesting, and somewhat scary, to watch a feature film written by one’s Screenwriting tutor and then to review it like any other film. There is a sort of pressure to be either too kind or too harsh, and it bears a very slight resemblance to ‘telling off’ one’s father! However, Richard Smith is a skilled writer and an even better teacher and I have much respect for him as either. Therefore I feel it would be right and fair to review Trauma as I would any other film since in reality that is what it is.

Trauma tells the story of a man who wakes from a coma to discover his wife has been killed in an accident and as events unfold he begins to fear that he has lost his sanity. It is well-written, with quite convincing performances, and thrilling enough to keep the viewer interested. The psychological thriller is a genre we are able to handle quite well over here in Britain as it is, by its nature, low-budget. It’s a bit like what we do on this course but to a larger scale. We are given some money and instead of trying to replicate what the ‘Big Guys’ (in our case the industry; in Britain’s case Hollywood!) do, we simply make the best film we can with the means and the money at our disposal. So Trauma did what it did, and it did it well; it was a good thriller.

However, my main criticism would be that it did not contain enough significant story. Not enough happened. We didn’t take enough twists and turns; we didn’t travel down enough roads leading to dead-ends; we didn’t start to drown in a sea of confusion which gradually morphed itself into a cohesive and comprehensive beast. It seemed that everything was hinging on the end, the final twist, without there being enough twists within that overarching twist. There were not enough pay-offs set-up, and worse; some set-ups were not paid-off. In fact it was a recurring motif that tension would be built up and then released without anything happening. I felt manipulated for no reason and it felt like there were too many anticlimaxes and not enough resolutions.

Colin Firth in the lead was a huge casting mistake. Clearly a delighted Producer realised there was not much in the script demanding a huge amount of money so made the decision to get hold of a star. In my opinion they got the wrong one. His performance was, as ever, very good but he did not fit the character; partly because of the preconceptions surrounding him as an actor but mainly because, in my opinion, the role required someone with less ability and more charisma. Nevertheless, the structure and the characters were pretty sound and, despite being hyper-analytical because it was my tutor’s work, I was rather impressed.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

The story of a rebellious factory worker who is just out for a good time but gradually is forced to face the consequences of his actions; I rather enjoyed this film. Essentially this is a Rom-com but made during the British New Wave so nothing pink and fluffy here; pure realism. Interesting to see a light-hearted romance played out in the real world, or as close to it as we’ll ever get onscreen, and the serious consequences in the story give it a bittersweet quality. The theme is extremely relevant now, and increasingly so. Our culture is so focussed on the ‘Saturday Night’ state-of-mind with no thought for the ‘Sunday Morning’ which will inevitably follow. This needs sorting out, as I’m sure it did in 1960, and it is important to raise awareness of the warning communicated in this title. We need more films like this…

Funnily enough 17 Again is a film that does this to some extent. There is a particular scene where Zac Efron’s character expounds on the advantages of abstinence to his teenage classmates, which is communicating this same message somewhat unexpectedly but rather effectively. I must admit I was rather impressed! If only The Hangover had added its tuppence worth to continue the good work...