The Invisible Film-Making Trick You've Seen 1000 Times
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- 🔵 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲: / pentexproductions 🔵
What is a pre-lap? The pre-lap is an editing technique that introduced audience to sounds from a scene before we cut to it, thus creating a sense of cohesion and narrative flow. It is an editing technique used by countless film-makers, but is rarely noticed, let alone analysed. This video essay breaks down the pre-lap as an editing tool, and shows how this simple technique can be used in a surprising variety of different ways - creating humour and tension, emphasising themes, progressing the story and developing characters.
If you enjoyed this video essay, please feel free to subscribe, share it around, and maybe check out the rest of my channel.
If you really liked it, you can find me on Twitter: / pentexp
Also, check out the Art of the Cut podcast, extracts of which I have used in this video for The Batman: anchor.fm/fram...
What's your favourite pre-lap? Or do normal people not have favourite pre-laps....?
The first one you showed, with the alarm clock in the Matrix.
once you sakd train whistle Harry Potter instinctivly came to my mind, so I guess that?
The transition into the Skyfall opening credits is my favourite. As M looks out the window at a rainy London, the sound of the rain seems to amplify till the scene changes to Bond being carried along a rapid river.
The ones I made myself in my Hobbit fan edit
You absolute ledge you learned by doing it too, you uploaded your fanedit right after I commented
The prelap works so well as it prepare the audience for new information and helps move the story on really well. I agree with everything you have said
Nice! This deserves more than 1k views. My one bit of feedback is about the distinction between Pre-laps and J cuts. Pre-laps are a storytelling concept and J cuts are an editing concept. A pre-lap is implemented with a J cut
You articulated it in exactly the way I tried (and failed) to distinguish it in the video - many thanks!
Not all J-cuts are pre-laps, but all pre-laps are J-cuts.
I love Edgar Wright's use/love of scene transitions
This is entirely random but I’d love to see your take on what makes something iconic. It seems just because you see or hear something alot of times, it just becomes iconic. If that were the case, the Minions would be in that category. Shouldn’t iconic be reserved for the greats and not just the overwhelming? Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
Interesting question, I've not really thought about the term in that way. I guess I would respond to your definition by looking at the difference between 'iconic' and 'famous.' The Minions are famous because they're a highly recognised brand that millions of people will recognise. The twin sunsets scene in A New Hope is iconic because that one moment symbolises all of the themes of what Star Wars is. To be iconic, I think something needs to have a deeper meaning or association than simply being well-known. I'd add that being famous or iconic doesn't necessarily mean the thing is good - there's lots of bad things (and people!) that are famous, and just because something is iconic doesn't necessarily mean it's iconic for a good reason. Anyway, an interesting question, and one I am am hoping is not just for a homework assignment :P
@@PentexProductions Very well put. That distinction certainly gets muddled these days, I think. It’s like calling something a classic. What makes a classic? And who gets to say that something is a classic? Is something a classic simply because it’s old? I’ve personally heard too many references to things being “iconic” or “classics” but I’d argue that’s mostly personal preference, certainly when spanning across generations as pop culture evolves. When thinking about it all, I feel like Austin Powers when he says, “Oh, no. I’ve gone cross-eyed.” I’ve just seen too many comments or references to things like the Minions where I question how those words get thrown around. Anyway, thanks for indulging me.
This channel really has a lot of potential. Keep going man.
Thanks, doing my best!
For me it also comes across as a very efficient tool of making it seem like the protagonist is mulling on something or can't get their mind off something.
For example, Peter Parker being shell shocked about losing his pizza delivery job and then being snapped out of it by his boss at the paper.
Or Sherlock rushing back after a revelation, Harry spending time with Sirius, Batman mulling on something. It really works very well to convey something that can be hard to get across subtly
It's a great tool to get us into the mind of the character a bit more
Really appreciate that you didn't just credit the directors, the rest of the crew deserve credit too!
I wonder if it has anything to do with the ability of the human mind to pick up on new visuals faster than new audio clues. Our eyes can comprehend short bursts of things far faster than our ears can register new sounds one right after another.
Interesting idea; I think that could definitely be part of why it helps smooth over the cut and ease us into the next scene by giving our ears just a little longer to adjust.
It’s also less stressful on the viewer, giving them individual elements to process during a transition or cut.
Bear in mind it’s the right tool for the right scene and the right movie.
Excellent video. Was previously unfamiliar with these techniques although obviously had experienced them countless times.
Everyday is like a school day…
The more you know...
I always called these Bridges, I never knew they were known as a Pre-Lap. You have to be careful when doing them though as too much and they can be really cheesy.
Great work. Subscribed because of this video!
The Berlin one is my favourite, pure adventure.
Having watched this video I understand it, but in actual movies I find it distracting because I'm hunting around the scene for a phone/train/siren/whatever until I realise it's actually part of the next scene.
Yes! I can't believe I had to scroll so far down to see a comment like this.
However I have a feeling that it is a bit like with CGI. If it is done really well, you don't really notice it. Or at least it only enhances the experience and doesn't feel out of place.
Great analysis!
that was wonderfully explained! thank you these videos are all great
Thank you, really enjoyed this video!
Thank YOU for watching!
Cool stuff
I think a big piece of why pre-laps are handy is the fact that our dumb ape brains can't process brand new sound *and* brand new visuals at the same time. The _only_ time the brain had to do that before TV & movies was when the person woke up. Imagine the brain's overload when scenes are constantly changing; it would be like getting woken up every few minutes.
My dumb ape brain oftentimes can't process that there is a new noise and no one on screen is reacting to it 😄
Like, when a horn sounds, people usually try to find where it comes from and if the persons in the movie don't, I feel disconnected.
Thank you.
Thank YOU for watching.
It creates an image in the audience that isn't there as well
It's funny that you only talk about the good side of it. For me, a pre-lap is most noticeable when it isn't done well and you ask yourself where is that sound coming from and why is no one in the movie reacting to it?
I think the key factors are the kind of noise you hear and the timing. In the example from Matrix, the noise blends in slowly and could just be part of the music in the club. Here the timing of the visual transition and the sound is perfect.
However, in many other situations, the new sound is just completely distracting. Maybe that is the intention of the filmmaker but I still hate those moments.
I remember this, from the first time I saw this movie… love it
Cute, people must have more respect to Citizen Kane.
If you have a full prelap, you should see a doctor....
seems biological, you hear then you look
Leto comment made this go fro ma thumbs up to a thumbs down. Congrats.
Is it even a technique
Pretty sure it's called a J-Cut and it's common knowledge.
@@Buggaton a J cut is when it's within a scene, a prelap is a scene transition
@@filmishit Ooooh, gotcha, thanks!
@@BuggatonIf you actually watched this video on which you commented on you know that it’s not a J-cut
It's extremely cheesy and tired. Has been since the 90's.
Depends on how it's used.
@@jp3813 Too much. Its lampshaded in everything now, like half the films you see use comedy cuts.
@@ThunderChunky101 Oh, it can definitely be overused. But such things are much more noticeable if done poorly. It's like how critics constantly claim that exposition is bad but don't notice that Doc Brown's dialogue in BTTF is mostly that b/c the script is written well.
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