According to David Bordwell, explain how and why continuity has intensified in Hollywood cinema. Also consider whether anything has been lost with this change.
Please include a minimum of 3 quotes from the article in your response
According to David Bordell, the author of the article “Visual Style in Contemporary American Film”, Hollywood cinema continuity has intensified throughout the course of film history. The predominant stylistic tactics of intensified continuity includes: increased use of rapid editing, extremes of lens length, close framing during dialogue scenes, and a free-ranging camera.
Rapid editing is the first stylistic technique of intensified continuity. Between 1930 and 1960, the average shot length was between 300-700 shots. In the 1980s, the ASL was about 1500. Fast editing continued to grow in popularity throughout the ages. Bordwell states, "Today, most films are cut more rapidly than any other time in U.S. studio filmmaking.” (2). Bordwell explains that there are few films today that are “long action sequence[s]”. As time passed, artist strayed away from realism and eventually with quick cutting, a more “post classical” style was more predominant. Bordwell explains that “classical cutting contains built in redundancies: shot/reverse shots reiterate the information about character position given in the establishing shot”(2). He believed that Kuleshov and Pudovking agreed that many artists started to distance themselves from realism since the repetition of shots/ techniques began to bore audiences. Rapid editing has intensified in Hollywood because filmmakers wanted to try something that was never attempted before. They wanted to create new techniques/ concepts that they could call their own. Classicism became too unoriginal and to become authentic, filmmakers gradually developed this type of ramped up continuity. Also, to match the face paced life of Americans, quick cuts would force the audiences to pay close attention and make the film more dynamic.
Bipolar extremes of lens lengths was yet another stylistic choice. From 1910 to 1940, the average focal length for normal lens was about 50mm (or 2 inches). Longer lenses ranging from 100mm to 500mm were used mostly for soft-focus close ups and for “following swift action at a distance” (2). The shorter lenses (25-50mm) were used to create a good focus in several different planes or cramped settings in one shot. Bordwell states that “filmmakers used wide-angle lenses to provide expansive establishing shots, medium shots with strong foregrounds/background interplay, and grotesque close ups,"(2). Wide-angle lenses enabled filmmakers to get a variety of unique shots. Wide angles were able to skew images by creating bulging edges that exaggerated distances (foreground/ background interplay) in a frame. Long lens grew in popularity as well because of its advantages. Bordwell explains, “The long-focus lens became and has remained an all purpose tool, available to frame close-ups, medium close-ups, over the shoulder shots, and even establishing shots”. The longer lenses also allowed cameras to stay out of other cameras’ way during the shooting of an interior scene. The longer lenses was useful with rack-focusing and the "wipe-by" cut as well. I think the use of longer lenses became popular in film industries because as the technology became more advanced, the more inclined the filmmakers are to experiment with the interplays between the actors and their environment. The effects of long lenses can contributed to the film’s content (the characterization, plot) and is a way to show and not tell the story.
The third technique of intensified continuity is close framing in dialogue scenes. "Singles allowed the director to vary the scene's pace in editing and to pick the best bits of each actor's performance" (3). Medium shots and close ups were used to highlight the actors’ performances during important scenes critical to the film. A variety in shot scales was utilized to avoid reemphasizing lines or facial expressions in shots. This would decrease the boredom of the audience when watching the repeating switching two shot dialogue. This introduced the over-the-shoulder and medium shots for dialogue scenes. However, filmmakers had a narrower scale to work with in the process. When wide-screens were introduced into the film industry, “filmmakers felt obligated to use long-shots and medium shots” (4). Fortunately, Panavision's sharper, less distorting lenses allowed directors to film closer wide-screen framings. Filmmakers felt more inclined to use closer framing during dialogue scenes because it was important to observe the actors’ facial expressions. A tighter shot meant the audience would greatly connect or sympathize with the character(s) during that scene and throughout the film.
Last, but not least the fourth technique of intensified continuity is using a free-ranging camera. Bordwell comments, "Today's camera movements are ostentatious extensions of the camera mobility generalized during the 1930's" (4). The prolonged following shot, developed in the 1920, is when the camera tracks “a character moving along a lengthy path” (4). Improved technology (Steadicam) throughout film history was a benefit as well. In today's films, crane shots are “casual embellishments” and help "enliven montage sequences and expository moments"(4). They now are used during the exposition or montages. The technique of "push-ins" is used during a moment of realization for a character. The circling shot is a method of introducing all the present characters in a scene. The free-ranging camera was first used around the 1970's when it was popularized in horror films. It gave a “hovering, slightly shaky camera that represented the monster's point of view”. With the advancement of sound came the common use of camera movement, which shows the progression of film. To capture the audience’s attention and maintain their interest, camera movement would be crucial. It indicates the presence of the camera and adds production quality to the film as a whole.
Such stylistic changes occurred because of the changes in culture. With movies, video games, and television already having short ASLs and variations of shots, filmmakers had to match and even go above and beyond the typical media art form to really shine.
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