LOOKING OUT from Greg Dennis on Vimeo.
Act I:
Looking Out could be a define as a story of rebirth and an homage to the human spirit. The editor begins with a false sense of serenity. Soft music and a black background. The narrator begins to speak over ambient waves lapping. Clips are slowly cross-fade into one another. It feels calm and collected as we watch our protagonist paddle across the screen. Were very purposefully being lulled into a sense of tranquility. As the narrator describes three aspects humans need to fulfill, our visuals match the voice over. This is repeated throughout the multiple cuts following. With “Autonomy” we view Pa alone. “Competent” jump cuts to a shaky cam shot. The visuals blur more, she appears to be moving faster. The audio brings in the splashes of her paddle as it smacks the water. This editing is giving us a sense of urgency, and we almost feel she’s struggling to prove herself. “Relatedness” then cuts the ambient sound and leaves us on an eerie musical note. Pa is alone, centered in the middle of a hazy shot where the fog almost mixes the sky and sea. There’s a tense isolation where the editor visually brings us into this wide empty space with our protagonist.
Throughout the film we see these methods repeated. Soft music and serene scenes are contrasted by stark jump cuts and loud sudden noises. The editor actually makes some really great abstract choices to change the tone of the narrative. This is probably my favorite shot of the film to see broken down. Light waves lapping audio hastily jumps to harsh buzzed sounds and white noise. A solo shot of Pa in her boat is duplicated and flipped. Jump cuts are interspersed with deep sepia tone instances that only last one frame each. The quick succession of screens and edited footage is purposefully uncomfortable to watch. Is she alone or independent? The visuals seem to foreshadow the duality of this activity as well as our protagonist’s personal relation to solo kayaking. They allowed themselves to have some fun and really experiment with the viewers preconceived expectations.
Act II:
How do you bring your viewer into a trauma? They take Pa to where her accidents occurred. Pa describes going unconscious as ambient music plays in the background. It’s almost as if we’re fading back in from this coma with her. A wide fly over connects to the story showing green fields, matching shots of Pa interacting with large hay bales, anticipatory music, and wind sound effects. Editors place a light echoing effect on Pa’s audio describing the accident, and it feels ghostly with white flashes and one frame cuts. The editing gives us a dream like state, it feels and sounds hazy. The traumatic memories and even the footage appears to have darker levels than the previous shots. Through archival photos she recounts her secondary accident sustaining brain injuries. The tone is slow and heavy, offset by soft audio of a heart monitor.
In the end, Pa regains most of her abilities but still finds speech extremely frustrating. The camera shots now become longer. The editor holds on these clips to make the viewer feel the time and effort Pa must put in to speaking. We’re with our protagonist as she struggles. As she improves her voice over is layered by matched actions of practicing speech. Lots of soft focus shots such as close ups on letters, practicing speaking, her moving lips, and a rack focus from the page to her face. Later a long singular shot is shown while Pa describes how it’s lonely at times. The feeling of isolation as she struggles to speak. The music is somber, again we’re held by the camera to be in this moment with Pa. Suddenly the music picks up as she mentions paddling. We cut to scenes of the sea and boat. It makes her feel strong, and we see her arms plunge the paddle deep into the water. Calm, happy music, and soft audio from the waves come in. A shot of her alone in the water has a completely different feeling from the introduction of the piece. Complimented by her voice over there’s a sense of independence versus isolation when paddling. We match shots from a close up, medium, and wide shot of sea kayaking. Here the editors show us that Pa alone in her boat is less isolation and more meditation.
Act III:
A beautiful overhead shot highlights Pa’s ability to go anywhere she wants, island hopping, in between gaping rocks, and a swell of music to denote her autonomy. Even when Pa is out kayaking alone, she’s encircled by the environment. There’s a connection being created visually to her surroundings. The editors are setting up the conversation around pollution and environmentalism. We began by making the viewer care about this character, now we’re invested in hearing her message. We see a matched action as Pa points upwards, then zoom out to a shot of birds up on a cliff. A shot follows a puffin’s flight as it soars out over the ocean. The next shot of Pa mirrors this, her paddle almost like wings of her own. The editing visualizes that like the bird, they can both fly forward. Descriptions of love and care for nature are complimented by beautiful aerial and environment shots. The wide zoomed out shot then moves to a mid, then close shot – a zooming in to the kayaks. Pa is a part of something bigger than herself. She is surrounded by a team of like-minded people and the music follows this sense of belonging.
Act IV:
The tone changes again as “There’s rubbish all over the place.” We see trash scenes that hop from one to the next, each one cutting faster than before to give the audience a sense of unease. The music is somber, and Pa states she’s “horrified” by the mess they find. This is overlaid by shots of the team collecting the rubbish others have left behind. “It’s pretty hard to clean a beach and not feel good about it.” Team member smile, the music picks up, and these choices yet again change how the audience feels about the scenes unfolding.
There’s a montage of beautiful nature centric shots. It allows the viewer to reflect on the content of this story and inspired by Pa. We see a wide shot as she climbs a cliff side and shot by shot close in on her ascent. Pa’s story is about the Human Spirit, resiliency, and protecting the sea she desperately cares for. “She spends her time not looking in but looking out”. The music is upbeat and inspiring, we fade smoothly from shot to shot. It’s cut to make us feel as though we’re walking side by side with Pa. The team creates this connection to the character that leaves you feeling motivated.
The story ends on the note to help Pa, and to help yourself. Be a better human for the environment, yourself, and others. The cinematography, audio, and the end comment all reflect this throughout the film. The production really exemplifies how easy it can be to guide your viewers emotions through clever editing techniques and sound design. In short, employing contrasting editing properly can create intrigue, suspense, and immersion for your viewers.