Rhythm
Rhythm editing describes an assembling of shots and/or sequences according to a rhythmic pattern of some kind, usually dictated by music. It can be narrative, as in the clip from Woody Allen’s Bananas below, or, a music video type collage, as in the second clip from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. In either case, dialogue is suppressed and the musical relationship between shots takes center stage.
See below for detailed examples plus video clips
In Allen’s Bananas, the use of a vaudeville-esque tune recalls Charlie Chaplin and early cinematic comedy. Like Chaplin’s characters, Fielding Melish’s actions and adventures continually result in humorous misadventure. In the sequence below, he heroically expels two thugs from a subway car. The length of the shots is determined by the quick tempo of the piano recording: as the villains’ abuse of innocent passengers reaches a climax, the shots become shorter and shorter. The quick editing builds suspense before the hero unpredictably rises and throws them off the train.
In the next sequence, from Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, the only logic connecting the shots is that provided by Bow Wow Wow’s song, “I want candy”, and a few graphic matches. The sequence is a hallmark of Coppola’s style – interweaving period decadence and frivolity with a contemporary youthful exuberance – which is also distinctively feminine.
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