continuity editing in erotikon
TRANSCRIPT
Two consecutive shots taken from Mauritz Stiller’s 1920 film Erotikon.
“Continuity Editing in Erotikon”
Erotikon, the 1920 film by Mauritz Stiller, was born in a time when editing was a hot
new topic in the film industry. Editing techniques became popular circa 1900-1910 when
filmmakers were beginning to experiment with the ways in which editing could support the
progression of the narrative. Continuity editing in particular was becoming increasingly
popular among filmmakers as a powerful tool, which, along with the mise-en-scene and
photography of the film, could present the story in a clear and effective way to the
audience. Erotikon is a prime example of continuity editing. The two consecutive shots
shown on the previous page will be used to analyze the way in which Mauritz Stiller utilizes
this technique.
In the first shot we see two men standing outdoors on a patio, one with a pair of binoculars
and the other pointing to something in the distance. The lighting is high key, filling the
entire shot and acting as the sun in this outdoor scene. A yellow gel was also used here to
support the idea of warm sunlight in the daytime. This is a medium shot that was taken
straight on at about eye-level. The movement here is also a very important element of the
mise-en-scene. The man in the white coat is seen squinting into the binoculars he is holding
up to his face; and the man in the hat is seen pointing very adamantly in the direction in
which the binoculars are facing.
At this point a jump cut takes place from the first shot to the second. The new shot
contrasts the previous shot quite dramatically. The new shot is somewhat high angled and
is a long shot. The frame is filled with an airplane and a crowd of people, both of which
oppose the intimate feeling of the last shot, which was populated by only two people. This
indicates a large spatial shift for the audience. The new shot appears to be in an entirely
new space than the previous one.
The differences between these two shots would seem to disorient the audience and
completely contradict the point of continuity editing to most people. This observation is
valid, but Moritz Stiller masterfully avoids this discontinuity by adding elements that
connect the two shots in a unmistakable way for the audience.
The temporal dimensions are related between the two shots by using the yellow
gels and high key lighting in both shots. Furthermore, the new shot appears just as the man
in the hat finishes raising his hand to point into the distance. From this, the audience can
assume that the two shots are both taking place during the same day and in consecutive
order. Also, the large, binocular-shaped border practically yells at the audience “We are
looking through the man in the white coat’s binoculars!” This justifies the shift in space for
the audience, who now understand that they are sharing the man in the white coat’s optical
viewpoint, which would be above and at a distance from the people around the plane since
he is on the patio. This is a classic example of point-of-view cutting, which relates one shot
to the next based on a character’s point of view.
The continuity editing used in these consecutive shots generates meaning between
two otherwise unrelated photographs. The audience assumes that the second shot’s
purpose is to show what the characters in the first shot are looking at. By manipulating the
movement of the mise-en-scene, Moritz Stiller indicates a motivation for the next shot to
appear and justifies the spatial shift. And by manipulating the lighting in the mise-en-scene,
he relates the temporal dimensions of the two shots. The audience now has a clear
understanding of the relationship between the two shots and what they mean to the
progression of the narrative.
In Mauritz Stiller’s Erotikon, we can see how continuity editing drives the narrative
forward one shot at a time and clarifies for the audience the relationship between two
consecutive images.