Editing creates dimensions of time and space in film. As montage took hold and became more complex during the silent era, a syntax for place and action was created and defined. Shots became smaller and shifted POV to lend urgency and to widen the canvas on which a story was told.
The static or long shot is rare in film. Such shot either feel flat because the focus is on dialogue, or contrived, as the action focuses on mise-en-scene and frame. Yet a long take is useful. Bazin felt the static shot was more “realistic”, giving the viewer options on where to focus attention (as opposed to forcing the viewer to watch a specific action through editing). Sometimes though, a long shot creates a mood or tension, as the camera hides action occurring off frame.
This scene from Michaelangelo Antonioni’s The Passenger (1975) is actually comprised of two long shots: the first about a minute and 15 seconds, the second an extraordinary shot of more than 6 minutes. As the camera zooms and moves from inside the room to the courtyard, a sense of dread and uncertainty builds. Is the action outside? What’s going on? What story is being told and can we trust it? Unlike other long shots where the camera moves (for example Scorcese’s long tracking shot from Goodfellas), the viewer gets the impression that the world is getting smaller, even as we move from the confines of the room to the open courtyard. The scene’s end is the like the reveal of a magic trick and the images move from enigmatic to haunting.
Filed under: movies, antonioni, direction, editing, film, movies, shot
