preview

An Individual Detailed Analysis on the Style, Editing Techniques Mise-En-Scene and Cinematography in the Film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

Better Essays

An individual detailed analysis on the style, editing techniques Mise-en-scene and cinematography in the film "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind". Michael Gondry’s Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004) is not your typical Hollywood rom-com. Its cinematic style is very original and by far out of the ordinary for its genre. The use of techniques and the way the film is produced is the reason why it is so memorable. The non-linear narrative is based around a middle-aged guy who falls in love with a woman, who, after a while into their relationship decides to erase every single memory and feeling towards him. The story is told in flashbacks that slowly reveal the time and space the couple spent together and all the events that made …show more content…

There are plenty of examples of continuity editing in Eternal sunshine, both temporal and spatial are used. Discontinuity is used throughout the memory erasing scenes with the deliberate use of ellipsis as Joel relives his memories in flashbacks. Some of the shots from Joel’s memories are put together in a montage edit; this is another example of discontinuity editing. There are multiple uses of crosscutting in the film, which is when there are a series of shots that keep cutting back and forth from one shot to another shot, this occurs in a lot of the flashback scenes. Also there are several jump cuts, which brakes the ”continuity edit” as in order to achieve a smooth and non-noticeable cut from one shot to another the camera must move 30 degrees or more to attain the continuity in the movement of shots. But a jump cut is deliberately shot without using the 30-degree rule. Therefore when you put the shots together they make a “jump” affect and it brakes up the continuity of the edit. In this case, Gondry intentionally directed the crosscutting and jump cuts in order to express Joel’s reactions to the procedure. At the beginning of the film the editing picks up a rhythm and runs smoothly, giving a perfect example of continuity editing, but as the film goes on it begins to switch between continuity and discontinuity as the edit balances

Get Access