A jazz drumming prodigy at a cutthroat conservatory gets pushed to the breaking point by a fiercely demanding conductor. It's an intense look at obsession, abuse and the price of greatness.
At a glance
Whiplash is a 2014 drama and music film directed by Damien Chazelle. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 editing, 1 cinematography, 1 narrative and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Social Network uses several of the same techniques.
Timing the cuts to the rhythm of the action or the music. The fast, precise editing gives a scene momentum you can almost feel physically.
How this film uses it
Chazelle and editor Tom Cross cut the drumming sequences exactly on the beat of the music, so the editing itself feels like percussion. You feel the performance in your body.
Where to see it
The final JVC Jazz Festival performance sequence. The cuts land on the beat of the drumming.
Using extreme close-ups of faces, hands or objects to break up a body or open a scene. The tight framing is intense and withholds the wider world.
How this film uses it
Chazelle's camera keeps showing Andrew's body in pieces: bleeding hands, sweating forearms, a twitching face. After a while, you see him as a collection of strained parts.
Where to see it
The practice sessions. You see blood on the drumheads.
Writing an opponent the film never fully labels as evil. Their motives mix ordinary human wants with real harm, and they may even help the hero grow.
How this film uses it
Fletcher really is abusive, both psychologically and professionally. He is also the force that drives Andrew to transcendence. The film won't fully condemn him and won't fully excuse him either.
Where to see it
The final performance. Fletcher and Andrew have their last exchange in the middle of it.
Shaping volume and clarity to match what a character is feeling or focused on. You hear the scene as they do, including sounds that trigger memory or fear.
How this film uses it
During Andrew's most intense drumming, the sound mix pulls the snare to the front, makes it sharper than real life and separates it from the room noise. That puts you inside Andrew's tunnel vision.
Where to see it
Andrew's practice sessions at night. He runs these on his own.
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