eileen_simpson

Establishing shots and cutaways, are seemingly incidental and occupy little space in relation to the rest of the film, yet they perform an enormous role. They provide a context for all of the action whilst also providing space for the audience to breathe. Encouraged to stand back, this is moment where we take an objective view. The shots only feature for a couple of seconds, cutting quickly back to the narrative, which remains uninterrupted.

The cinema-goer is absorbed into the narrative in the same way they sink into a chair. At the moment of the cutaway, the involuntary action of exhalation can be identified between scenes. No longer absorbed and momentarily thrown out of the narrative the spectator is presented with the bigger picture. Although looking across a cityscape never visited, should provide the ultimate sensation of escape, it is a moment when cinematic escape is interrupted, as the spectator takes a breath and looks around, not just at the landscape before their eyes, but at the light hitting the faces of the people sitting in front, or the fire exit signs at either side of the screen. Like a scene change in a theatre this is a ‘matte moment’, a live-edit, the performance of the cutting together of two scenes.

Establishing Shot from The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Inc)

Rewind to the very first few minutes of a film. The classic establishing shot that directly follows the logo of the film company; the first few minutes when we are still adjusting our eyes to the darkness and our ears to the surround sound and the last few people are scrambling for their seats in the dark. We are still preparing ourselves for the film to begin. The audience surrenders their control to the film and the wait in the opening sequence acts out this relationship. We are kept out, yet can see the whole of the city. The establishing shot must operate to bring us in, closer, towards the action. But the exterior must remain present – set up as a kind of anchor – within which the narrative sits. Barthes reminds us: ‘I must be in the story (there must be verisimilitude), but I must also be elsewhere’.

The dynamism and speed of the city, pictured through the establishing shot and the cutaway, is exported globally by Hollywood. This ‘image’ of the American city is repeatedly projected into cinemas around the world and into millions of homes via TV, DVD and video. An urban experience is simulated and provides the context for all of the action to follow. The audience physically consume this simulation but with a half-eye and it becomes part of the global visual language of cinema. The imaginary space is defined by ‘a location’ (often the city of Manhattan); which becomes the place to house stories, fictions, dreams and even aspirations.

Eileen Simpson is a recent graduate from the MA History of Film and Visual Media by Research at Birkbeck College. Her research concerns the recurring image of the city in the establishing shot and locating cutaway. She is a practising artist that lives and teaches in London.
Email: eileen@groundscape.net

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			Deborah True Matias Viegener, Dave Burns & Austin Young Peter Bond Ayssar Arida Johnny Golding Rosa Ainley Philippa Beale Helen Kerwan & Jane Madsen Eileen Simpson Sarah Ross

			Eileen Simpson
			Establishing The Shot: The Recurring Image of the City in the Blockbuster Film We look down at a city. It is brown and grey and scrubland. We are flying through the air. The journey is at a height that flattens the landscape. From here, the city is reduced to shapes and lines – parallel and horizontal. We are close enough to make out the objects below: telephone masts, industrial containers, docks, car parks, train lines, truck parks, industrial plants. Establishing Shot from Stepmom (1998 Columbia Pictures Industries) It is dusk and the roadside lights shine below. Car headlights snake around the bend in the road. From this height the bleak industrial city is transformed into spectacle. We are not in control of the journey. Sometimes the camera turns 270 degrees, sometimes a sharp 90 degree turn. There is a need to close in, to move to solid ground. The audience waits expectantly for the promised story to begin. Establishing Shot from Armageddon (1998 Touchstone Pictures) Establishing shots and cutaways, are seemingly incidental and occupy little space in relation to the rest of the film, yet they perform an enormous role. They provide a context for all of the action whilst also providing space for the audience to breathe. Encouraged to stand back, this is moment where we take an objective view. The shots only feature for a couple of seconds, cutting quickly back to the narrative, which remains uninterrupted. Establishing Shot from Ghost Dog (1998 Plywood Productions Inc.) The cinema-goer is absorbed into the narrative in the same way they sink into a chair. At the moment of the cutaway, the involuntary action of exhalation can be identified between scenes. No longer absorbed and momentarily thrown out of the narrative the spectator is presented with the bigger picture. Although looking across a cityscape never visited, should provide the ultimate sensation of escape, it is a moment when cinematic escape is interrupted, as the spectator takes a breath and looks around, not just at the landscape before their eyes, but at the light hitting the faces of the people sitting in front, or the fire exit signs at either side of the screen. Like a scene change in a theatre this is a ‘matte moment’, a live-edit, the performance of the cutting together of two scenes. Establishing Shot from The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Inc) Rewind to the very first few minutes of a film. The classic establishing shot that directly follows the logo of the film company; the first few minutes when we are still adjusting our eyes to the darkness and our ears to the surround sound and the last few people are scrambling for their seats in the dark. We are still preparing ourselves for the film to begin. The audience surrenders their control to the film and the wait in the opening sequence acts out this relationship. We are kept out, yet can see the whole of the city. The establishing shot must operate to bring us in, closer, towards the action. But the exterior must remain present – set up as a kind of anchor – within which the narrative sits. Barthes reminds us: ‘I must be in the story (there must be verisimilitude), but I must also be elsewhere’. Establishing Shot from Vanilla Sky (2001 Paramount Pictures) The dynamism and speed of the city, pictured through the establishing shot and the cutaway, is exported globally by Hollywood. This ‘image’ of the American city is repeatedly projected into cinemas around the world and into millions of homes via TV, DVD and video. An urban experience is simulated and provides the context for all of the action to follow. The audience physically consume this simulation but with a half-eye and it becomes part of the global visual language of cinema. The imaginary space is defined by ‘a location’ (often the city of Manhattan); which becomes the place to house stories, fictions, dreams and even aspirations. Eileen Simpson is a recent graduate from the MA History of Film and Visual Media by Research at Birkbeck College. Her research concerns the recurring image of the city in the establishing shot and locating cutaway. She is a practising artist that lives and teaches in London. Email: eileen@groundscape.net