devices, such as graphic matches, it is not concerned with
the narrative experience of cinema. As such, it tends to use
devices that subvert or disrupt the coherence of space and
time in a fi lm.
Discontinuity outside the mainstream
Discontinuity techniques are popular in avant-garde or art fi lms where narrative is not the main concern of the fi lm-maker. Editing will often refer to character psychology, graphic and rhythmic relationship, or comment on the ideological form of the medium.
Many of the techniques of discontinuity editing have now also found their way into the mainstream. Montage and graphic matching are common in music videos, where narrative takes a backseat to the music, or in action fi lms to give images impact to physically affect the viewer.
Un Chien Andalou (dir: Luis Buñuel 1929) is probably the most famous avant-garde fi lm ever made. Using a series of discontinuous editing techniques to fragment space and critique the devices of continuity, the fi lm subverts narrative fl ow, and confronts the logic of space and time. It takes the form of a surreal dream about sexual, political and religious themes.
Fragmenting space
The opening sequence of Un Chien Andalou is a perfect example of how avant-garde fi lms use discontinuity editing without concern for presenting the viewer with a coherent narrative. The shots can be broken down as follows:
1 An intertitle that reads ‘Once Upon a Time…’.
2 A close-up, from an elevated angle, looking down at a man’s hand sharpening a razor. The man’s arms are framed toward the frame right.
3 A medium close-up: the man with a cigarette in his mouth looks down, presumably at the razor. He is framed toward frame left. Spatially, in relation to the previous shot, the man must be on the left side of the razor sharpener, not the right, as in the previous shot.
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4 Return to Shot 2: the man tests the sharpness of the razor against the back of his thumbnail.
5 A medium long shot: the man folds up the razor and the sharpener, opens the balcony window and begins to leave.
6 Matched on action: the man walks out onto the balcony in another medium long shot. He stands for a moment and then leans on the balcony.
7 Medium close up: the man looks up toward frame left. 8 Long shot: a POV of the moon in the sky.
9 Return to Shot 7.
10 Close-up of a woman’s face. A man, standing just to her right, pulls open her left eye and puts the razor toward it. This man, unlike the man we’ve already seen, wears a tie.
11 Return to Shot 8: a cloud drifts across the moon. 12 In extreme close-up: the razor slices an eyeball open. 13 An intertitle that reads ‘8 Years Later’.
This sequence displays some of the key principles of discontinuity editing:
• A lack of concern for logical temporal progression: the intertitles make no sense, they are arbitrary and the man in the opening sequence never returns.
• Little interest in coherent spatial relationships: the man clearly swaps sides of the razor while sharpening it.
• An obsession with graphic matches: the cloud drifting across the moon is graphically matched with the slicing of the eyeball. • Surreal logic and dream states: the eyeball slicing is a daydream,
and the progression of the narrative is alogical (not just illogical, but lacking logic altogether).
Lack of narrative
As the list of shots shows, discontinuity editing may use some of the same devices as continuity editing, such as shot-reverse-shot, match-on-action and graphic matches, but there is little or no concern for narrative. Instead the fi lm-makers are concerned with using the medium to explore subjective mental states and to investigate the artistic properties of the medium.
Discontinuity editing could be thought of as ‘bad’ editing because it breaks the rules of continuity editing. However, we need to consider why fi lm-makers might break those rules and what meanings are uncovered by their transgressions.
C o n ti n u it y e d it in g > Discont inuit y edit ing > M o n ta g e Recommended viewing
Jean-Luc Godard mixes realist long takes and discontinuity editing in Breathless (1960) to create a contrast of styles. Notice how jump cuts are used as a distancing device to remind the viewer of the unnaturalness of the fi lm text and the arbitrary rules that govern most continuity editing.
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C o n ti n u it y e d it in g > Discont inuit y edit ing > M o n ta g e Un Chien Andalou (dir: Luis Buñuel 1929)
As one of the most important and signifi cant avant-garde fi lms, Un Chien Andalou can show us how discontinuity is used to fracture a fi lm’s space. The slicing of the eyeball is also a visual pun on editing as cutting.
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