EDITING ANALYSIS

Run Lola Run: an Editing Technique Analysis

 

Run Lola Run or Lola rennt in German, directed by  and released in 1998, is a fast-paced action-thriller flick. This could be considered one of the most successful German films that brought back the brilliant reputation of German filmmakers on their cinematic excellence in film exhibition. This paper discusses the editing technique of the said film using a particular scene, that is, when Manni ( ) tells Lola () how he lost the bag.

Editing is one of the most fundamental yet crucial steps in the making and overall appearance or quality of the film (, 1999).  and  (1997) distinguished editing as the usual feature that differentiates cinema from theatre. On the case of the selected and apparently liked scene, the editing is rated superb. According to the records documented by the  (2007), Run Lola Run consists of “about 1581 transitions (edits, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc) in 71 minutes of action (i.e. excluding the credits, and pre-credits sequence)”. On related equivalence, it has “an Average Shot Length of about 2.7 seconds”. The selected scene itself constitutes a portion of this total computation. Run Lola Run is an example of recent narrative experimentation on the worldwide development of contemporary cinema. One has only to glance at a directory of contemporary international films to get a grasp on the new trends and see that playing with movie narration has gone global and among the included list is ‘s cinematic masterpiece (, 2006).

On analysis, the scene selected was characterized with an outstanding continuity in relation to the elements of shots, music and sound, space as well as rhythm, pace and timing. It must be remembered that the scene specified is a series of recollections on what happened and how the incident happened. Thus, the critical arrangement and synchronization of shots, sounds, and the rate of transition is on proper places considering the kind of reaction or effect being exuded by the scene and expected to be experienced by the audiences or viewers. The editing technique used on this scene is the cut-to-cut or montage sequence as one incident is connected with what the characters are saying. The scenes fall properly on places as dialogues are spoken at the exact rate. This was done to give the audience a chance to have a brief narrative of what happened. Using montage sequence in editing primarily works and directed for a condensed cinematic description. To enhance the effectiveness of this technique and also the mood as applied in the specified scene, background music was added. The actions were repeated twice particularly relating the experiences of different characters. Editing cuts back and forth among simultaneous story strands. As the narrative develops, a more detailed and organized sequence is presented just to give the audience the complete ‘slice of the cake’. This type of continuity was argued to be short-lived. Yet it explores on the potentialities of trying something else like the “meanwhile” or crosscutting narration, where the editing employed a repeated, partly covered continuity around the given time and space. For example, the idea of using the shots of the train moving were not choreographed in any clear-cut continuity as simultaneous action takes place.

In Rudi Fehr’s Key Largo where there are so many characters in one room, the director said that there are no continuity problems because “You have to keep every character “alive.” You have every possible choice. Cutting is so flexible, you can do so many things” (, 1991, ). This is similarly apparent in the selected scene. Additionally, the elements of style were very well incorporated in each frame and the viewers can visibly notice it. According to  (2001, ), the elements of style that are most noticeable to the viewers are compositional elements (i.e. camera placement, movement, juxtaposition of foreground and background people or things, light, sound, etc.) and editing. Interestingly, even if the film contained numerous transitions, the editing is reasonably slower towards the closing stages of the film. This is the opposite standard or convention of most contemporary films as commonly characterized with faster editing towards the finale.  (1999, ) reiterated that the editing must not be noticeable, at least to the point where viewers try to notice scenes changing more than the overall film. Although the editing is noticeable on this particular scene due to the montage sequence, the film editor(s) considered the smooth flow of the story from beginning to end. The editing contributed to the clearer understanding of the viewers in terms of the theme, characters, plot, and other components of the film. The essence of editing is the unified series of scenes, shots, and other essentialities of film production (, 1999). This was seen all throughout the presentation.

In conclusion, Run Lola Run is an outstanding example of the basic application of different yet exact conventions of film editing. Looking over the genre as well as the plot of the film, it is therefore concluded that the fast-paced editing techniques is expected as the action is concurrent and the element of time matters. An effective editing is measured through continuity and completeness as manifested on the film’s totality. Finally, analyzing film editing techniques by using identified segments depends on the structural foundations of the overall motives of the film itself.

 

References

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