Editing technique · used in 3 films
Changing the standard way of filming a conversation, which cuts back and forth between 2 speakers. Breaking that pattern makes the exchange feel off and shifts who seems in control.
Examples
Ingmar Bergman · 1966
Bergman's boldest break with convention is the composite shot that merges Elisabeth's and Alma's faces. Their relationship gets more and more unstable. Eventually, the images start to suggest that each woman might be the same person.
Where to see it: The face-merger sequence. Half of each woman's face is joined into one literal composite. It takes the film's play with shot-reverse-shot as far as it can go.
Spike Jonze · 2013
Spike Jonze films Theodore's conversations with Samantha as long close-ups of him alone. There is no cut to the other speaker, since there is no one to cut to. The closeness feels real, and you still notice how uneven the 2 of them are.
Where to see it: The 'date' sequences and the late-night conversations in Theodore's apartment. The camera stays on Theodore.
Park Chan-wook · 2022
Park stages conversations between Hae-jun and Seo-rae in ways that are physically impossible, with one character appearing in the other's space. The editing gives them a shared inner world that the physical world has no room for.
Where to see it: The stakeout, where Park cuts from Hae-jun in his car with binoculars to Hae-jun sitting inside Seo-rae's apartment. The editing removes the distance between detective and suspect.
Questions