Editing Can Make A Film

As you can see, I like The Prestige. I found that the movie to kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I kept trying to figure it out. The excitement the movie brought drove me to look into how it was created to make me so entertained. I found the editing to play a major role in the movies success.

The film does not unfold in a linear format. Instead, it jumps back and forth between two different time periods. For example, the audience will be watching a scene where The Great Danton is performing onstage and immediately the film cuts to a scene in the future where Angier is in jail for the murder of The Great Danton. The plot continues to unfold, jumping between times with no set pattern.

Editing plays a vital role in this films success. The opening scene starts at the present time, while the rest of the movie takes place in the past. The Prestige unfolds through flashbacks and jump-cuts, while revealing the details of the characters fate witnessed in the beginning scenes. By using these flashbacks and jump-cuts, it is easy for the audience to become confused, yet also intrigued as the plot unfolds. Nolan also uses many short takes and rapid cuts to intensify the moment. In the scene in which Angier’s wife dies; many cameras are used to capture multiple shots of the scene. This effect allowed the audience to see Angeir’s wife dying from many different perspectives. Rapidly cutting these images together adds extreme intensity to an already tense situation, thus adding suspense to the film. Another important scene where rapid editing enhances the film is when Cutter, (Angier’s assistant) is teaching Angier a new trick. This relatively boring scene is brought to life by short takes and rapid cuts. The film jumped back and forth several times from Angier learning his new trick, to performing it for the first time.

Parallel editing is another essential editing technique utilized by Nolan in the closing scenes of The Prestige. In these scenes, Nolan cuts back and forth between the two deaths of the main characters. Borden is being hung for the murder of Angier. However, Angier was never murdered. Instead, he framed Borden for his death which later leads to Angier’s real death. The scene takes place in the jail which symbolizes Borden’s confinement over the past several years. Angier’s real death came as a shock to the audience because Fallon, who is disguised as Borden’s friend/assistant throughout the film, is actually Borden’s twin and is revenging his brother’s death. By parallel editing, the viewer saw two things taking place at the same time, although the two scenes are set in different locations. The success of this scene is due to parallel editing, because the audience is shocked by the parallel life Borden and Fallon shared.

I hope that I did not spoil the movie for anyone who has not seen it. If you have not seen the movie I highly recommend seeing it even if you know how it ends. You will be able to put the puzzle together easier now that you have a head start!

Director Info-
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0634240/

Interesting Info-
http://www.worstpreviews.com/review.php?id=139&section=preview

The Cinematography of the Prestige

The Cinematography of the Prestige

The Prestige, released in 2006, tells the story of two illusionists, Robert Angier (The Great Danton) and Alfred Borden that strive to out perform one another. The death of Angier’s wife in the beginning of the movie causes the once friends to become enemies. The plot unfolds as each illusionist works to better their act. Director Christopher Nolan uses many filming techniques to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

The lighting in the film helps create mysterious and somewhat eerie scenes. The Prestige is predominantly shot in low key night scenes. Many of the characters have shadows on their faces and have negative space in their background. By choosing to shoot the film in low key, it adds a level of fear for the audience. If the film had been shot in a high key fashion, it would have lost the depth needed to accompany the story’s intensive plot.

Also important, is the fact that the majority of the film is shot at eye level. Seeing the film at eye level allows the audience to have a connection with the actors, causing the film to appear more realistic. There are no extreme camera angles. The way Nolan was able to capture emotion and feeling was through shot lengths. In many scenes that contained extreme conflict or emotion, the close-up was used in order for the audience to feel what the characters were feeling. In the two separate scenes where Angier and his wife died in the water tank, Nolan captured their struggle against death with a close-up. This close-up shot captured the distress and fear on the characters faces as they struggled for breath. Eventually, the audience sees Angier’s wife, and later Angier, stop fighting and become still with death. If this scene was simply captured with a medium or long shot, the audience wouldn’t have been able to make the emotional connection.

The long-shot was only used a handful of times in The Prestige. It was seen when Angier entered Tesla’s workshop for the first time. The use of the long shot in Tesla’s workshop was used as an establishing shot. It familiarized the audience with a new setting. Another important use of the long-shot was when the illusionists were performing their tricks on stage. The viewer was able to see both sides of the stage, all the props, and a full auditorium with people in their seats. The long-shot, accompanied by loose framing, allowed the viewers to feel as if they were members of the illusionist’s audience.

Tight framing gave the audience a sense of confinement and lack of control. Nolan utilizes this framing technique when Borden is in prison. In this scene, Borden is talking in between the bars to his daughter. The scene is shot with a close-up of Borden’s face surrounded and confined by the prison bars; alluding to his confinement. Tight framing is also used when Angier and his assistant, Olivia, discuss their plan for sabotaging Borden. Angier’s body is blocking the camera, giving Olivia nowhere to go and vise versa.

The choices Nolan along with the Cinematographer made in creating the Prestige allows the audience to truly enjoy this film.

More info on Film
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/

- http://video.movies.go.com/theprestige/

Reviews-

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prestige/