If we've learned anything from the forefathers of montage, it's that editing can be used for so much more than continuity. Each cut and transition is a storyteller that can inform your audience about the story, characters, and emotion of a scene. This is something iconic editor and sound designer Walter Murch understood when wrote In the Blink of an Eye, in which he details how to use editing to build a story, a concept he calls the "Rule of Six." In this video essay, we get to learn about each of the elements Murch talk about in his book, and how they can be used to inform your decisions while editing.
"The ideal cut is one that satisfies all the following six criteria at once.”
Murch talks about six different "criteria" that make a good cut: emotion, story, rhythm, eye trace, 2D plane of screen, and 3D space. However, not all of these are equal in importance in his eyes. For example, emotion is ranked #1 on the list, because he considers it the most critical element to consider when editing. It's the thing he says you should "try to preserve at all costs."
What I’m suggesting is a list of priorities. If you have to give up something, don’t ever give up emotion before story. Don’t give up story before rhythm, don’t give up rhythm before eye-trace, don’t give up eye-trace before planarity, and don’t give up planarity before spatial continuity.
Following the Rule of Six means trying to incorporate all of the criteria, and if you can't, start sacrificing elements from the bottom of the list first and work your way up. It's interesting to look at the percentages Murch gives each criteria, because at 51%, emotion is more important than story, rhythm, eye trace, 2D plane of screen, and 3D space put together.
So, if you're looking at all of your editing options, and some cuts give you a nice rhythm, others make the story a little confusing, and still others really capture the emotion of a scene, Murch says go with the emotion. Even if the edit fails on everything else, cut for emotion.
Poor Things was one of those movies that sent me down a rabbit hole. It made me want tot watch every movie that auteur Yorgos Lanthimos had ever made, and it inspired me to unlock the weirdest parts of myself.
Yorgos Lanthimos is a Greek filmmaker renowned for his strikingly unique films that are at turns bizarre, darkly humorous, and deeply unsettling.
His cinematic style, characterized by a blend of absurdism, stilted dialogue, and an unflinching gaze at human cruelty, has captivated and perplexed audiences worldwide.
Let's dive in.
10 Directing Lessons Inspired by Yorgos Lanthimos
When it comes to directing, I find the best lessons come from auteurs who have unlocked parts of themselves that they're willing to share with the audience.
In my quest to become the best filmmaker I can, I look to Lantjoms as a north star of unconventional ideation and other extreme challenges.
Here's a look at ten directing lessons we can glean from Lanthimos's captivating filmography.
1. The Power of the Premise
Lanthimos's films rest on audacious premises. In The Lobster, single people are forcibly taken to a hotel and given 45 days to find a partner or be transformed into animals. Dogtooth tells of a family who keep their adult children captive, inventing a reality where cats are vicious killers and words have twisted meanings. These outlandish scenarios provide a rich allegorical landscape to dissect social norms and behaviors.
2. Embrace Discomfort
There's an inherent sense of discomfort coursing through Lanthimos's work - especailly Poor Things. This isn't about gore or jump scares, but about a psychological disquietude. Scenes linger a moment too long, dialogue is unnervingly stilted, and violence – emotional or physical – is often stark and sudden. This discomfort makes us lean in, forcing us to pay attention to what's beneath the surface.
3. The Unsettling Power of the Mundane
Lanthimos frequently places his bizarre situations within familiar, even mundane settings. The hotel in The Lobster could be a corporate retreat. The house in Dogtooth is suburban and ordinary. This juxtaposition of the peculiar and the everyday amplifies the unsettling, making us question even the seemingly normal.
4. Dialogue as Weapon
Lanthimos's characters don't speak the way we do in real life. Their lines are formal, stilted, and emotionally distant. This creates a sense of alienation, but it also turns communication into a power struggle. In The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a doctor delivers cryptic threats with a chilling politeness that's far more menacing than yelling.
5. Visual Composition as Storytelling
Wide shots, a clinical color palette, and a predilection for symmetry are hallmarks of Lanthimos's direction. These choices aren't just visually striking, they convey meaning. Characters frequently appear small or trapped within the frame, highlighting their powerlessness or social constraint. The stylized visuals become an extension of the films' themes.
6. Deadpan Humor
A dark, absurd humor threads through Lanthimos's work. In The Favourite, Queen Anne's childish demands and power struggles are grimly hilarious. The incongruous reactions of characters to horrific events become a twisted form of comedy. This unexpected humor makes the films more palatable, even as it undercuts the serious themes at play.
7. Sound as Atmosphere
From discordant strings to the insistent tick of a clock, Lanthimos uses sound design to build tension and amplify unease. His soundtracks aren't background noise; they're integral parts of the unsettling atmosphere his films cultivate.
8. Collaboration with Actors
Lanthimos is known for getting extraordinary performances from his casts. He encourages risk-taking in delivery, often stripping away familiar emotional cues. The result is characters both vulnerable and alienating, like Colin Farrell's subdued awkwardness in The Lobster .
9. The Shock of Violence
Violence in Lanthimos's films frequently comes swiftly and without fanfare. It's not prolonged or exploitative, but rather clinically depicted. In The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the horrifying consequences of a curse unfold matter-of-factly. This casual violence amplifies the characters' helplessness and the cruelty beneath seemingly civilized society.
10. Ambiguity as Invitation
Lanthimos never provides easy answers. His films end with ambiguity, leaving us with lingering questions rather than tidy conclusions. This open-endedness forces the audience to actively grapple with the themes and ideas presented, making the films richer and long-lasting.
What's Next For Yorgos?
Kinds of Kindness
We all love a Yorgos movie—and, lucky for us, another one is happening very, very soon.
Via Indiewire (Via The Guardian), here's the latest on Kinds of Kindness set to release June 21 and starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Euphoria's Hunter Shafer.
Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness” (originally titled “AND”) was filmed in New Orleans while “Poor Things” was in VFX post-production in October 2022, and in case it wasn’t enough having two films back-to-back, the “Favourite” filmmaker revealed to The Guardian that “Kind of Kindness” is a trio of storylines.
“It’s a contemporary film, set in the U.S. — three different stories, with four or five actors who play one part in each story, so they all play three different parts. It was almost like making three films, really,” Lanthimos said. “It’s all shot and we have started editing.”
Excited? We sure are.
Yorgos Lanthimos is a provocateur, and his films won't be to everyone's taste. But his unique style offers invaluable lessons for aspiring filmmakers – lessons in embracing the bold, using every tool in the cinematic toolbox, and trusting the audience to do the work of filling in the blanks.