Montage:

Snowy Valentines at the Waterfront during sunset.

(Still working on continuity and infinite loop)

Montage: with Rylan

Loop: with Neely

Update:

I shot the video with my phone, freehand, but I didn’t like it so I will be rerecording with my friend’s nicer camera and monopod to hopefully get the feeling I pictured in my head. Below are my storyboards for the video:

Brumes d’automne (Autumn Mists), a 1928 silent film by Dimitri Kirsanoff, is a masterclass in early cinematic language. Even now, almost a century later, its experimental editing techniques remain captivating. Kirsanoff utilizes fast cuts, rhythmic montage, and close-ups to draw us into the internal world of a woman navigating a landscape of memory and emotion.

The film’s power lies in its ability to evoke a distinct mood. As the woman’s face, framed by dark eyes and porcelain skin, flickers across the screen, we are struck by a sense of unease. Her carefully sculpted eyebrows and pulled-back hair give her an unsettling, almost doll-like appearance. This, coupled with her restrained expressions, creates a feeling of something not quite human, like a porcelain doll animated by a lingering spirit.

Kirsanoff’s intention was to depict a state of mind through images of nature losing their “density and unity.” He achieves this through distorted perspectives, fragmented images, and scenes of nature in a state of flux, mirroring the woman’s inner turmoil. The fast-paced editing, innovative for its time, mirrors the fragmented nature of memory and thought. As new scenes appear, the accompanying music shifts, creating a symphony of visual and auditory cues that guide us through the woman’s emotional landscape.

However, the film’s impact may differ greatly depending on the viewer’s cultural context and experiences. While Kirsanoff’s editing was groundbreaking in 1928, modern audiences accustomed to rapid cuts and visual effects might find the film’s pace slow and its imagery dated. Furthermore, the woman’s doll-like appearance, coupled with the film’s melancholic tone, could easily be reinterpreted through a modern horror lens. Imagine the same footage with a sinister score – suddenly, the film transforms into something quite different.



This raises an interesting question: Does the meaning of a film remain fixed over time, or can it evolve alongside cultural perceptions and technological advancements? Brumes d’automne serves as a reminder that art can be a fluid and dynamic entity, its interpretation shaped by the lens through which it is viewed. While Kirsanoff’s intentions are evident in his masterful use of montage and evocative imagery, the film’s impact ultimately rests in the hands and minds of its audience

Run Lola Run isn’t your typical heist film. It’s a vibrant, 90’s gamification experiment in cinema storytelling, where the protagonist, Lola, races against time to save her boyfriend, Manni. The film’s discontinuous style, blending film, animation, and polaroid photography, could easily become chaotic. Yet, the director, Tom Tykwer, masterfully maintains coherence and momentum, keeping us on the edge of our seats through three iterations of the same 20-minute sprint.

One key to this coherence is the repetition of Lola’s quest and driving motivation to obtain $100,000. While the broader narrative shifts with each “run,” familiar elements ground us. We see Lola repeatedly leaving her apartment (in animation) and navigating the same Berlin streets (in film), encountering recurring characters that aren’t essential to the main plot, like the older woman with her baby and the nuns getting in her way. This repetition creates a rhythmic structure, allowing the audience to anticipate certain events while remaining alert for deviations.

But repetition doesn’t mean stagnation. Tykwer cleverly uses these recurring encounters to explore the butterfly effect. Each time Lola interacts with someone, even in passing, their lives, and ultimately hers, are subtly altered. A bumped shoulder here, a different reaction there, can lead to vastly different outcomes, visually conveyed through rapid-fire flash-forwards of their potential futures as Polaroid still photography.

Driving this narrative is Lola’s fierce determination to save Manni, a desire born from love and a questioning of her own devotion. This propulsive energy fuels the frantic editing, mirroring her racing heartbeat and the ticking clock. The urgency is palpable, heightened by the recurring motif of clocks and timepieces.

Tykwer manipulates time not just through editing, but also through pacing. The first run feels incredibly compressed, bombarding us with information and new faces. This mirrors Lola’s initial panic and the audience’s own disorientation. As the film progresses, time seems to stretch and contract. The final run, with Lola’s casino gamble, feels almost suspended in time, building suspense as the roulette wheel spins.

Furthermore, the intimate scenes between Lola and Manni, bathed in red light, provide a crucial break from the frenetic pace. These moments, detached from the external chaos, offer a glimpse into their emotional connection, reminding us of the stakes involved.

Run Lola Run is a testament to the power of cinematic storytelling. Through innovative editing, visual motifs, and a compelling narrative, Tykwer crafts a film that is both thrilling and thought-provoking, leaving us to ponder the nature of time, chance, and the choices that shape our lives.