Glen Montgomery the Third
Posts tagged Thriller
Scene Breakdown: Drive
Apr 2nd
I feel like I was the last person on earth to see this movie. Positive reviews were flowing all over twitter while it was in theaters and I could never seem to drag myself to the theaters, even though it seemed right up my alley. Crime drama, slow burn story, awesome actors, intense violence, fast cars, 80′s vibe. Whatever the case, I didn’t get to see this until it finally came out on blu ray, and it completely decimated me. The artistry of it is kind of hard to believe in this day and age, where the people with money can’t seem take a risk to save their family’s life. A lot of industry talk with the film has centered around its use of dissolves, and that is what really struck me as well. Personally, I am not a big fan of them. They have to be used sparingly, in my mind, and only at specific times. This comes from a lot of abuse early in my career due to a producer that required them on every transition. Well, this film just threw that ideology back in my face, and time and time again proved that the dissolve needs a More >
Scene Breakdown: Blue Velvet
Oct 23rd
I knew I would get to this movie eventually, but initially I had a different scene planned. Recently, I got to see a screening of Blue Velvet at the Starz Filmcenter and my intentions changed. Part of it was the other scene, upon further review, carried more of a performance punch rather than an editorial one; and I think part of it was that my sensibilities have changed a bit in the time since I last saw the film a couple years ago.
David Lynch’s work holds a special place in my film vernacular, and led me to his stylistic counterparts Brian De Palma and David Cronenberg, who have also become favorites of mine. Blue Velvet is a “surrealist mystery”, as many film historians have deemed it, but I’m drawn to the dark, twisted intrigue of the classic thriller. It starts with a college boy, Jeffrey, who while visiting home finds a severed ear that leads him down a dangerous road of sex and violence. Ok, so sorry for the cheesy ass synopsis. Most of my analysis is from a film editorial perspective but there will certainly be comments that deal more with directing and the other disciplines. First, I have to More >
Scene Breakdown: The Dark Knight part 2
Sep 13th
Where did we leave off? Oh ya, Gotham City, interrogation room, Batman, the Joker, booya. If you haven’t read Scene Breakdown: The Dark Knight part 1, then do yourself a favor and check it out to get a background on where we are now. The two guys have just sat down and are getting to the nitty gritty. Here is the last shot we looked at.
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33) We continue the back and forth of close ups with the orbiting camera moves on the Joker. He finishes his line with, “You have changed things, forever”, and we immediately cut.
34) Batman comes right back with, “Then why do you want to kill me?” and then another direct cut out.
35) The Joker instantly starts howling with laughter. Then continues another long line of dialogue with, “I don’t want to kill you.”
36) We get a reaction shot of Batman listening. This one feels like a patch for two different line reads, but also allows us a pause from looking at the Joker. It also allows us to see Batman while the Joker says the line, “What would I do without you?”, which seems an appropriate time to see Batman’s face.
37) Back to the Joker More >
Scene Breakdown: The Dark Knight part 1
Sep 7th
In the second installment of my series of breakdowns, I chose something a little more modern and with a little bit more action. There were two other films that crossed my mind but I decided to hold off on them till later and went with a flick that has been sitting out on our desk for while. I knew that I wanted to look at a scene with a little bit more action motivated cutting, but at the same time didn’t think I was ready for a complete action scene. I feel this scene from The Dark Knight has the elements of action that I wanted but also has long sit-down dialogue editing as well. From numerous film editor interviews I have read and listened to, a common thread appears; although fast cutting action scenes and montage are fun to put together, the simple conversation scene can be the most challenging and rewarding. When you don’t have images flashing and speeding around to hold the audiences attention, even more care must go into the pacing and rhythm of the conversation to keep the viewer enthralled. This scene has a bit of both, an intense back and forth between our hero, More >