Intensified Continuity, By David Bordwell: Contemporary Film Analysis

When studying film, it is expected that we look back for analysis; we can learn a lot about today’s techniques and theories from the past. However, when looking at the last few years of cinematic productions it is clear that Hollywood is doing more than simply looking back. With reboots of films like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Terminator, and Star Trek all surfacing in late 2015, today’s biggest box office hits tend to seem more at home in the 1980’s than the 2010’s. However, what these films show is that contemporary film easily lends itself to not only looking back at previous cinematic concepts, but to adapting and changing them for today’s audience - a topic heavily explored in David Bordwell’s article “Intensified Continuity: Visual Style
When thinking about the current extreme uses of lens length, for example, Bordwell argues that modern cinema has gradually adopted the use of longer and longer lenses to intensify framing and blocking in a shorter amount of time. The use of a longer telephoto lens allows for an interplay of focus and depth of field that helps establish spatial awareness. Furthermore, Bordwell explores how modern films have changed their framing in favor of widescreen closeups over the Plan Américan tradition of framing that features a character cut off at knee height. He emphasizes how modern films, through these close ups, are able to incorporate classical establishing shots into tighter framing that still showcases both the spatial orientation of the shot and the character’s expression. Finally, Bordwell cites how the increase of a free ranging camera allows for something he calls “unmotivated camera movement.” While this movement differs from the more static camera of classical film it creates more establishing imagery through a roaming field of view. Ultimately, while exploring these tactics within the context of classical film techniques, Bordwell convincingly links them to the traditions from which they arose,
And when his analysis of style is examined in context with a very popular, contemporary action film I believe it thoroughly explains the modern changes in style. And while it may not be the most interesting thing to see a film which serves as a reinvention of a pre-existing narrative, I believe the formal changes in style work well enough to practically enrapture us all over again. Part of the beauty of film is that nothing is every new; there exists no completely original concepts or techniques in any form of media, but what Bordwell proves within his article, and which can be seen in a film like The Force Awakens is that the interweaving of style, technique, and content will always fascinate us. And while there will always be someone complaining about a new reboot or the reuse of an old technique, there will still always be those who understand it’s connection and admire