(1) The matching of details that allows shots taken at different times to appear to be recording a single, continuous event; the impression that conditions established in one shot continue to exist in later or related shots. (2) A list of the details - such as the length of a cigarette, the condition of a tablecloth, or the number of buttons left unbuttoned on a shirt - that have to be matched from shot to shot, either within a scene or from one scene to another.
"Flash Gordon. Quarterback. New York Jets!" (That's who!)
Okay. I had way too much XO-Cognac and Turkey last night to put sentences together.
Therefore, this will be a Blog-Lite.
Tastes great, less filling.
Enjoy the Holiday Weekend!
Flash - a-ah - saviour of the universe Flash - a-ah - he'll save everyone of us Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Flash - a-ah - he's a miracle Flash - a-ah - king of the impossible
He's for everyone of us Stand for everyone of us He'll save with a mighty hand Every man every woman Every child - with a mighty flash
Flash - a-ah Flash - a-ah - he'll save everyone of us
Just a man With a man's courage He knows nothing but a man But he can never fail No one but the pure in heart May find the golden grail Oh oh - oh oh Flash
The chatter dies as the audience stands at full attention.
Footsteps.
A lone figure, dwarfed by what we now see as a 25-foot American Flag, stands ready and salutes the audience as the bugle plays "To The Colors."
The bugle continues as we see...
Close-Up ("CU") shot of General George S. Patton's saluted hand and his right eye.
CU of Patton's left-hand holding his glove and military baton.
CU of Patton's left-breast heavily decorated with medals of every kind and color. Notice that a Purple Heart stands-out, signifying that this general has been wounded in battle.
Medium Shot ("MS") of Patton, shoulder-to-shoulder, saluting the audience and looking like an American Bald Eagle, especially with those white, bushy eyebrows.
CU of Patton's ivory-handled pistol.
CU of Patton's helmet, with his four general stars.
To The Colors ends and Patton lowers his saluting hand as we go back to the master shot.
"Be seated," Patton commands.
The chairs screech as the soldiers sit down.
Patton starts his monologue (with shot breakdowns)...
Master: "Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you're heard about America not wanting to fight - wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung."
MS: "Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never and will never lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team - it lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world."
CU: "You know, by God, I actually pity those poor bastards we're goin' up against. By God, I do. We're not gonna' shoot the bastard, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel."
Long Shot ("LS"): Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood, shoot them in the belly."
MS: "When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do."
Master: "Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything..."
LS: "...except the enemy. We're gonna' hold onto him by the nose and we're gonna' kick him in the ass. We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we're gonna' go through them like crap through goose."
MS: "Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: 'What did you do in the Great World War II?', you don't have to say: 'Well...I shoveled shit in Louisiana.'"
CU: "All right now, you sons-of-bitches, you know how I feel and I will be proud to lead your wonderful guys into battle...anytime...anywhere. That's all."
We go back to the Master shot of the American Flag as Patton walks down off-stage.
------------------------
This is one of the most audacious opening sequences in film history.
From the towering American Flag, to the American Bald Eagle-esque Patton galvanizing his troops with tough-love pep-talk, to the bugle-call montage.
It perfectly captures the humungous ego of Patton. Here's a guy who believed, as he stood by the Roman ruins, that he was actually THERE as three Roman legions defeated the Carthiginian Hord two-thousand years ago. As he says, "I was here!".
It is almost as if the 25-foot American Flag is not big enough for Patton. He towers over the scene. The American Flag is the opening act and Patton is the main event.
He talks to the troops about whipping the "Huns", a derogatory gesture to the German Nazis, reducing them to their Germanic Barbarian roots.
He tells them, graphically, that he would use the Hun's guts as grease for the tread of their tanks.
Then, he becomes emotional, telling them that we would be proud to lead them in battle, anytime, anywhere.
But most importantly, he embodies the American Bald Eagle...
Cutting Room Floor is a new, ongoing segment to Continuity Film that examines "deleted scenes", or scenes left on the cutting-room-floor.
"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991)
The T-1000 walks down a long hallway that leads into John Connor's room.
He stops at the door threshold and looks around. He hears water percolating and he looks left as the camera pans and follows him.
The source of the water is a fish tank. The T-1000 bends down to take a closer look at the fish. His face falls behind a large magnifying glass.
His face is distorted and elongated through the glass. This is a quick character "plant" by James Cameron to show the T-1000's liquid-metal elasticity.
The T-1000 starts touching books, cds, and other material items that belong to John Connor with his fingertips. He is searching for clues. He is gathering information.
The T-1000 is then seen through a mutli-pane prism. Again, another plant by Cameron to remind the audience of his elasticity.
The T-1000 continues touching the computer keyboard and monitor. He runs his fingers along an unmade bed and a Walkman headset.
Finally, he touches the "Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet" poster on the wall. This is what he is looking for. Instead of shredding the poster, the T-1000 takes it down to reveal:
A shoebox labeled "Messages from Mom" that fits into a cavity in the wall.
The T-1000 opens the box and rifles through pictures of John Connor's childhood, mother, friends, and most importantly, his past.
This gives the machine the necessary ammunition for his quest to hunt-down and kill John Connor.
He decides to find Sarah Connor...
...where John and the T-800 (Arnold) are destined to be.
James Cameron called this scene a "classic case of underestimating the audience." He was concerned that the audience wouldn't "get" that whatever the T-1000 "touched or made physical contact with, he could sample molecularly."
Originally, the point of this scene was two-fold: a) Show the audience how the T-1000 functioned, how he was able to "read" items molecularly in order to gather information, and b) Show the T-1000 attaining the information he needed in order to track-down John: the whereabouts of his mother, Sarah.
Cameron decided, after having seen the rough cut, to delete this scene because it disrupted the narrative pace of the film.
What is interesting about this scene is the approach taken by Robert Patrick. Patrick decided to touch the items as if he was "reading Braille." It was important for him, and his character, to be tactile oriented. So, instead of just tearing the place apart like Axl Rose in a Motel, he skims the surface of the item, he reads its history.
His programmed curiosity leads him to touch every item so that he can gather information even though he can never "feel" what it means to be human.
Ultimately, this is the downfall of the machines. Their Artificial Intelligence may be far superior to ours, but they can never be human, no matter how many new upgrades that come down the production line, no matter how many T-1000's can morph into a human being.
Cameron's post-production instincts are correct. His decision to cut this scene in order to maintain the narrative pace of the film was the right decision.
Although it may add detail to the T-1000's character, time is better spent following the father/son bonding of the T-800 and John Connor.
On Bespin's Cloud City, in a class three chamber, carbon freezing is used primarily as a way to capture Tibanna gas for transportation off-world.
Tibanna gas is commonly used as a conducting agent in blasters and other energy weapons and people paid handsomely for Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian's expert services.
He had the market cornered and he was finally making an honest living while deflecting the Mining Guild and the eyes of the Empire.
Even though Calrissian complained about having "supply problems of every kind and labor difficulties", he was proud to be a responsible businessman, and as he said:
"It's the price you pay for being successful."
Carbon freezing was never supposed to be used on living objects...until Darth Vader "suggested" the idea to Calrissian.
Originally, the chamber's function was to capture and carbon freeze Luke Skywalker for his journey to the Emperor and presumably the Dark Side.
Darth Vader, however, decided to test it...
...on Captain Solo.
Carbon steam billows in all directions as the mighty Chewbacca, with a dismembered C-3P0 strapped to his back, anchors the procession that is led by the formidable Boba Fett.
Princess Leia Organa and a bound Captain Han Solo follow Boba Fett up a platform as they are basked in an ominous blue back light.
We see a full shot of a carbon-freezing chamber. A huge mechanical tong retracts toward the ceiling. Lando Calrissian looks directly into the pit of the chamber.
Steam is everywhere.
Stormtroopers appear at the margins of the frame as the procession nears Lando's position.
The notorious mechanically-assisted breathing of Darth Vader invades the full shot as he makes his presence known.
Han Solo asks Lando what's going on and Lando breaks the news that he is being put into carbon freeze.
A two-shot of Han and Leia looking at each other as they are separated in the background by Darth Vader and Boba Fett.
"The Empire will compensate you if he dies," Vader assures Fett.
Chewbacca lets out a wild howl and attacks the Stormtroopers approaching Han.
Boba Fett aims his weapon at Chewbacca but Darth Vader lowers it in order to avoid further mayhem.
Han calms down Chewbacca and reminds him to save his strength as Stormtrooopers bind Chewbacca's hands (which begs the question, Why didn't they do that in the first place? After all, he is a Wookie, he can pull the arm off a gundark, and last time I checked, he does have a life debt with the man you are attempting to carbon freeze!).
Leia shoots a look over to Darth Vader. She is terrified and she back pedals. Maybe she is remembering how Vader tortured her with that interrogation droid on the Death Star? Or maybe Vader is probing her mind?
Han tells Chewbacca that he has to take care of Leia as she stands by Chewbacca's side.
Han then looks at Leia and they passionately kiss.
Han is forcefully removed by Stormtroopers.
"I love you."
"I know."
The Ugnaught engineers unbound Han's hands.
He looks down into the abyss.
The hydraulic platform slowly descends.
Chewbacca howls.
Lando casts a sympathetic eye to Leia and Chewbacca.
Han continues to lock eyes with Leia.
Chewbacca's howl gets louder.
Darth Vader gives an Ugnaught the signal.
Han winces in pain as carbon freeze pours all over is body.
Steam rises in a flourish.
Appearing beyond the steam is the twisted visage of Darth Vader, the Death's Head, accompanied by his mechanically-assisted breathing.
The mechanical tong locks onto the carbonite.
Chewbacca lets out his final lament.
Lando glares at Darth Vader and then focuses his attention on the rising tong.
Chewbacca whimpers. Leia embraces him.
Two Ugnaughts approach a rectangular monolith. They tilt over the monolith, it crashes to the ground with a thud, to reveal...
...Han Solo, encased in carbonite.
Leia instinctively grabs Chewbacca's arm.
Close-up of Han Solo's frozen, ghastly face.
Leia doesn't look away.
Lando bends down. He is face to face with his old buddy.
C-3PO explains...
"...they've encased him in carbonite. He should be quite well-protected, if he survives the freezing process, that is."
Lando adjusts a readout on the carbonite side bar.
Full shot of Lando, bending over Han, his shoulders pinched with Darth Vader and Boba Fett towering over him in the background.
"Well, Calrissian, did he survive?" asks Darth Vader.
"Yes, he's alive. And in perfect hibernation," Lando reluctantly answers.
Darth Vader tells Boba Fett that Han is now his property. He tells the Ugnaughts to reset the chamber for Luke Skywalker.
An officer enters the scene and tells Darth Vader that Luke has landed.
Everything is going as planned.
Lando walks over to Leia and grabs her arm. Chewbacca pulls her back.
"Calrissian, take the princess and the Wookie to my ship," Vader orders.
"You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision," Lando replies.
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further," Vader warns.
Lando's hand instinctively goes to his throat as he turns to Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO.
Leia continues to look at Han.
Chewbacca whimpers.
Medium-shot of Han. His hands are palm-up in a gesture of peace.
Shot of Darth Vader leaving the chamber.
Lando looks at Lobot, his trusty cyborg.
Lobot returns Lando's stare.
Lando knows what he has to do next. His path to redemption has begun.
He has to give up the responsible life he worked so hard to achieve.
He has to return to the fringes of the Galaxy.
He has to sacrifice his neutral position in the galactic conflict and join the fight against the Empire.
He has to pick a side.
-------------------------
This is one of my favorite scenes of all-time. It just has so many layers and it is critical to the story.
The heroes have hit rock bottom, compounded with Luke's defeat and loss of his right-hand moments later, and you, the audience, just watched your favorite heroes get their butts kicked over two climactic hours.
The filmmakers gave you a hint of this in: a) the title, duh, and b) the opening sequence, when Luke Skywalker, who you knew before this as a wide-eyed-farmer who turned into a galatic hero, gets knocked unconscious by a wampa on the ice-planet, Hoth.
The carbon-freezing scene is perfect. From the lighting (the blue perimeter background, the reds, the steam, the lowlit faces and the hard shadows) to the performances of the actors (Lando's eyes, in particular) to the pacing of the editing and shot selection/blocking of the director, Irving Kershner.
The scene reaches a level of perfection that can only be described as...
Posts
