Whiplash
Whiplash won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing in 2014, hence why I decided to do research on it. In addition to the film being released fairly recently, it was also given a very good rating on IMDb (8.5/10). This, along with some of the reviews the film was given, persuaded me to watch it. Whiplash is a 2014 American independent drama film directed by Damien Chazelle which depicts the relationship between an ambitious jazz student and an abusive instructor. Below are the notes I have taken on the film:
The film starts off with a black screen and has the sound of a drum kit being played, which increases in pace until in stops. At this stoppage, the scene immediately cuts to a wide shot of a person sitting at a drum kit at the end of a corridor. This is an interesting shot as the cinematographer has levelled the shot, splitting it into three obvious sections allowing it to comply with the rule of thirds, which makes the shot look clean and aesthetically pleasing to look at. The camera then slowly moves forward while still focusing on the subject of the shot, that being the drummer.
There were a lot of filler shots used after the first scene as it shows Andrew Neiman walking through the city of New York. During these various shots there is a lot of neon lighting used to show that Andrew is walking through the city at night, insinuating that he is passionate about what he does as he finishes it quite late. These filler shots are also used to show the setting of where the scene is taking place, so in this example we can see that it takes place in a busy city. The editing of these filler shots is also done to the music that is playing during this scene. Camera movements in some of these shots include stills and slight tilts up and down.
There are a lot of reaction shots, two-shots, shot-reverse-shots and over-the-shoulder shots used within this film to show the conversations happening between characters. This gives the audience different views and perspectives while also allowing them to feel like a part of the film. These various shots are used to create tension as well as show the reactions of other characters and their emotions. The editing linking these shots is quite fast paced since this prevents the air in conversations, as this air can result in conversations becoming slow and therefore unrealistic.
The film uses a lot of sound bridges and match cuts to maintain the fluidity and smoothness of the film. This invisible editing allows for there to be a coherence between shots, therefore making the film easier to follow as there is no editing that is distracting from the main image. Furthermore, the sound bridges give the audience an idea of what will happen in the next shot. In order for these match cuts to work, the cinematographer needs to take the same shot from multiple different angles or perspectives (e.g. high angle, eye-level, close up, mid-shot, wide shot) as these will engage the audience more due to them examining the scene from different points of view.
The various close ups used towards the end of the film are used to symbolise an intense scene. This is verified as most of the shots include sweat. In addition to this, the music/sound in the scene is slowly faded out/hazed to show the audience the concentration taking place by the character. The editing here needs to be fast paced and rhythmic, as this montage will have an affect on the audience by creating suspense, engaging them even more.
