Kirsanoff’s Brumes d’Automne is a profound vignette of a woman’s sorrowful, pensive state. It begins with shots of bodies of water, towering trees, and overcast skies, setting a melancholy tone that persists throughout the film. The rain picks up as the young woman sits by her burning fireplace and opens a letter. Disappointed by its contents, she places it in the fire, letting it burn. As her eyes drift from the blaze, she slowly looks into the camera, and a methodical blurring effect signifies that the scene is part of her memory.

She stands in a doorway, watching as a man—presumably her former partner—walks away. The scene cuts between shots of her staring longingly, the gate outside the house, and the man’s legs as he leaves. This sequence effectively captures the source of her sorrow. Following this, the montage style continues, showing the letter burning and charring, the rain intensifying outside, and her eyes glossing over as she holds back tears. The interplay of these images evokes a deep sense of melancholy that swells as the memory overtakes her.

The woman leaves her home, wearing a shawl and heels as she walks through mud and puddles. Around 7:45, the editing becomes especially impressive for its time. As she gazes over a large body of water, the film manipulates perspective, twisting the view to encapsulate her mystified state. The landscape continues to warp, indicating that she “can’t see straight.” The film is remarkably effective in allowing the viewer to understand and connect with the woman’s frame of mind. The combination of montage editing and natural scenery evokes far more emotion than if the film had relied solely on continuous editing.

Montage:

Snowy Valentines at the Waterfront during sunset.

(Still working on continuity and infinite loop)

Montage: with Rylan

Loop: with Neely

The Pianist (2002) plays with time while using different transitions during different points of the film. This film follows a Jewish piano player trying to survive after the invasion of Poland in 1939, and follows his sufferings throughout World War II. This film is very real, and very raw, based on a true story. In the beginning of the film, it is focused on the family trying to navigate life as the Nazi’s control over Poland increases, and they gradually loose their rights. These shots are rapid, and the transitions are between large time jumps that are quick and can be jarring. This is ment to show how fast the Polish Jewish people lost their rights, despite it being a gradual transformation. This is a sharp contrast to later in the film when Szpilman is on his own, starving, sick, homeless, trying to hide and survive. These transitions are long fade to blacks. It causes a pause, and takes time to transition from one scene to the next. This is ment to represent that although less time has passed from shot to shot, because of the suffering Szpilman is going through, it feels gruelingly long as he tries to survive with many unknowns about if he is going to be captured or die. These transitions are ment to communicate to the audience how Szpilman feels time passing. Thus, the audience feels it as well. This film’s goal is to help put into perspective what Jewish people went through during the Holocaust, and these cuts add communication to the heartbreaking suffering Szpilman goes through.

Here is my montage loop of me pressing buttons around my kitchen. The action of pressing the buttons tie the shots together, and I tried to keep the location of the button and my finger in a consistent spot.

Here is my endless loop of me pouring a cup of tea.

Here is my continuity loop of me endlessly playing the piano. I did speed it up so it didn’t take so long, but also thought the sound of the sped up piano was quite fun.

This is the Loop I and Qinn Carrick made in class, and edited together in class.

I was having fun, and decided to edit another infinite loop with the footage I gathered from the continuity loop, and thought I would share.

My movements were a bit slow, so it’s slightly longer than 10 seconds.