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[therealfuster]

your favorite cinematic transition on film, which by imaginative intercutting with another image or images, bridges a difficult gap in the story line and advances the plotline admirably?

 

I say..."favorite" as comparisons are odious, and each person has differing critiques about greatness.

 

In the Dawn of Man sequence in "2001: A Space Odyssey", when the ape's weapon, the antelope bone is hurled through space thereafter becoming the space satellite from Earth in the future, I am always awestruck at Kubrick's inventiveness and cinematic aplomb. Using only filmic metaphor, Kubrick has managed to jump from prehistoric times to millions of years later, in a sequence which is understood by all members of an audience, from scientist to child...in one seamless visual. Neither pandering to a lower common denominator with narration or being too high brow, Kubrick creates this sequence which is understandable to all and needs no foot notes. The cross cutting of the tapir falling, as the ape learns the power of his weapon, is also a powerful adjunct to the final phase of the transition...and makes the whole sequence eternally rewarding to view over and over ad infinitum.

 

I don't want to get too technical here, as this was obviously a very premeditated concept as concocted by Kubrick, his editor, his cinematographer and perhaps even Arthur Clarke, who cowrote the screenplay of his novel. I've always admired transition shots in films, from ones which just show maps as destination markers to where a character is now travelling, to ones where a bunch of ants on a hand, become people down on the street below.

 

So which are your favorite transition type bridges in a film, even in films that you may not like overall?

 

[brackenhe]

I love the first two Godfather movies and in Part 2 I love the way that when they cut between Michael's life and Vito's life there is always a transition between the pose Michael takes and the one transitioned to with Vito. Does that make sense?

[lux0786]

At the end of Beauty and the Beast, there is a transformation, accomplished however by a simple special effect.

 

Maybe a little better example is at the end of North by Northwest where Cary is pulling Eva to safety on Mt Rushmore. Then, without warning, the scene changes to the interior of a passenger car of a train where he is pulling her up to a sleeping berth (ending the movie on a happy note).

 

Neither of these, it seems to me, are as complex as the 2001 example, but still, the idea is for a director to find clever ways to get from here to there.

 

Fuster (do you mind this abbreviation of your moniker?), a minor quibble. You often have interesting and provocative ideas for threads. If an idea comes after a time when the thread is moribund, it?s difficult sometimes to go back and find them because you don?t name them, using (as is your wont) the title section for the first one, two, three words of the first sentence. Just a thought.

 

[ayresorchids]

One that comes to mind is in Top Hat. Jerry (Fred Astaire) has come to Dale's (Ginger Rogers') London hotel room to find her gone. Cleaning women are throwing out the flowers he had filled her room with the day before. When they tell him she has gone without a word, he looks perturbed and seems to stand there thinking of what to do next. A cleaning lady bumps the contents of a vase out into a bin--bump, bump, bump--and suddenly we are at the orchestra stand with a conductor who taps his baton in the same rhythm. It's the night of Jerry's big show, and he's got to go on despite his heartbreak over Dale.

[therealfuster]

it sure does make sense.

 

It's been awhile since I've seen those films, but I do remember the intercutting of both lives, and it was extremely effective.

 

I should have said also, that advancing the storyline does not have to be done only by visuals, but can be in the dialogue or other aspects.

 

Great example and I think I like Part 2 more than Part 1 of "The Godfather" although both are classics!

[therealfuster]

and gotcha on your suggestion about topic headers needing to be visible for revisiting purposes!

 

I am most appreciative of your most salient idea, and no problem with you calling me Fuster, or Miss Bluster or whatever suits you!

 

The Beauty and the Beast example is primo! Speaking of that film, the bit where the beautiful necklace worn by Beauty is given to her "sister" and turns to garlic bulbs I think, is also a great story advancement in a sense, as it shows the deleterious effect of the horrid siblings on any object.

 

But your example from "North by Northwest" is wonderful. What a great leap that transformation takes, and it is carefully structured for maximum effect.

 

Thanks for two very good examples!

[therealfuster]

Reading your synopsis, just makes me want to resee that film right now.

 

Am I alone in this? Sometimes reading some comments about a film I may have already seen many times, makes me just want to immediately get the tape or dvd out, and reexamine at least some parts of the film.

 

I don't know if this is certifiable behaviour, or just like one wanting to go visit a DaVinci at the museum that they live near, to resoak its beauty in.

[ayresorchids]

Thank you. And, therealfuster, I definitely get that experience of wanting to re-see something after someone describes it or gives their opinion of it. I think it may be in part the need for a vicarious first-time experience regarding something you've seen often.

 

Then, too, the way that a friend appreciates some tiny aspect of a film can rub off and become one's favorite, also.

[vallo13]

I remember Hitchcock trying not to show when film changes where made in the 1948 movie "Rope" with James Stewart. He would focus on a ashtrap or lamp and then continue the shot on a continuous 10 minute take... interesting stuff....

[lux0786]

Vallo, I like that one. Mr O once mentioned this in his intro to the movie and it was fun to look for these transitions throughout the movie. They are not difficult to notice if you're looking for them, but they are artfully done nonetheless. As you point out, he wanted the illusion that movie was done in one long, uninterrupted take. Such a neat idea!

 

Note (off topic); Hitch was always looking for a little something different to do in his movies. I believe, for example, that there is not a single note of music in The Birds. And of course he loved to make "personal appearances" usually at the beginning of a particular movie. There are other such things, looking for some unusual and clever thing to do.

[therealfuster]

that was clever and a noble experiment by Hitchcock.

 

I can see that trunk now, which was doubling as a table and burial chamber. Granger and Dall were so good in that film, as was Stewart.

 

Good choice!

[therealfuster]

one not knowing would probably not even notice those transitions to the next roll of film, if they were not aware of the significance of the film, "Rope".

 

From the opposite viewpoint, I bought that film "Russian Ark" to see the exact opposite situation, a film with one continuous camera movement, following the storyline as it roamed around the Hermitage.

 

Very interesting film, but I've only watched it once.

[vecchiolarry]

Hi Therealfuster,

 

I also saw "The Russian Ark" and really enjoyed it tremendously.

I have been to St. Petersburg several times and to The Winter Palace and The Hermitage every time and still have not seen it all. I am going again in September 2006.

 

This whole complex is now called The Hermitage, but it consists from south to north of The Winter Palace, The Grand Hermitage and The Petit Hermitage.

 

I don't know if this qualifies as a lead-in to a new scene (as per this thread) but in "The Russian Ark", we transfer from The Grand Hermitage to The Winter Palace when Catherine the Great leaves her theatre and goes out into the snowy Winter Garden between the two buildings. The Winter Canal also cuts through here.

 

My favourite part of the movie is when all those aristocrats leave The Nicholas Hall and descend The Jordan Staircase out of The Winter Palace. I have been up and down those stairs many times and it's a glorious homage to excess and extravagance. I never cease to marvel at the place.

 

Larry