Editing: Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind, Rewind is a good study in editing as it compresses time in two distinct yet similarly humorous ways. The first is a meandering long shot, while the second is a succession of quick cuts.

            During the most famous meandering long shot of the film, several days worth of activity are condensed not only into one scene, but also into one back lot alley. The camera pans slowly to the right at first, but then begins to swing around and loop in several interesting ways as several different contraptions parodying several different famous movies are strung together seamlessly. Despite what must have been a long period of hectic activity, this scene condenses all of that into a few minutes, highlighting the most humorous portions of the activities portrayed, drawing the viewer deeper into the staged productions shown, and humorously illustrating the long haul of activity that the featured characters went through. This very similar to a longer joke, where one is entertained by the content, but is not truly made to laugh until the entire thing comes together.
            In contrast to this, many of the scenes within the film compress time in a completely different way with quick, snappy cuts. Here again, the aim is to highlight the most hilarious moments of the actions on the screen, where the main characters attempt to break into a friend’s video store. Instead of a long take or instead of utilizing subtle camera movements, the editing is done to convey rapid, humorous bits of information. The effect is a bit awkward and has an improvised feeling, but this perfectly suits the mood as the main characters are far from professional robbers, and aside from acting impulsively, are know for being quirky and awkward.