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The Seventh Seal is a movie from Sweden. Many different elements of editing are used throughout this film. One of those elements of editing are the editing of narrative space. When the editing of narrative are put together well it creates verisimilitude. Verisimilitude is also known as continuity style which has many key concept in the category. The Seventh Seal shows many of these continuity style shots. Some of the scenes show invisible editing. There are also establishing shots and reestablishing shots throughout The Seventh Seal. There are also a few inserts which are created to catch the viewers attention. One important scene in The Seventh Seal shows different point of view called a point-of-view shot.
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Verisimilitude is “( literally, ‘the quality of having the appearance of truth’) in fictional representations allow readers or viewers to accept as plausible a constructed world, its events, its characters, and the actions of those characters” (Corrigan, Timothy 149). In The Seventh Seal the continuity style allows the movie to have a great verisimilitude. Continuity style
“is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots” ("Continuity Editing - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia").
The audience is able to see the film without choppy shots put together. When the director Igmar Bergman put all of the shots together none of the shots were choppy and looked like they did not belong. Each scene and sequence were put together in the right order. Even though Death is not a real person, Bergman was able to personify him. Some of the major continuity styles used were invisible editing, establishing shots and reestablishing, inserts and the point of view point-of-view shots. Invisible editing is pretty much the same thing as continuity style. The viewer is not supposed to know when the different scenes are being switch so the movie seems more realistic.
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Establishing shots are
“The standard establishing shot occurs at the start of a new scene or sequence of film. It is usually a long shot that frames the entire space so as to include all the details needed to understand the ensuing narrative. If, after a series of close-ups, the director then returns to a shot of the entire space, it is known as a re-establishing shot. The establishing shot at the beginning of a film is usually part of a larger establishing sequence. The director will use an establishing sequence to introduce the genre, style, mood and theme of the film. This sequence is generally run in conjunction with the opening credits. A close study of establishing sequences may reveal hints of major themes and motifs that are central to the overall narrative of the film.” ("Parallel Editing").
One example of an establishing shot is when as Jof (Nils Poppe) and Mia (Bibi Andersson) are running away from Death in their wagon. The establishing shots show the whole surrounding area of the scene. Then another establishing shot is when Jof and Mia are watching the other actors being dragged away by Death. Reestablishing shots are shots that help, “making the action perfectly clear to the viewers” (Corrigan, Timothy 149). The viewers are shown a reestablishing shot when they see the actors who portray the people with the Black Plague. They are seen up close and you can see what is happening with them. (The Seventh Seal).
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One type of shot that is used during The Seventh Seal is the point-of-view shot. A point-of-view shot is “A sequence that is shot as if the viewer were looking through the eyes of a specific character” ("Definition: POV or Point-of-View Shot"). The point of view shot is showed mainly in Jof’s point-of-view. In the beginning of The Seventh Seal he sees the Virgin Mary, and we see her through his eyes. Another shot that would be considered a point-of -view shot is when Jof sees Death playing chess with the Knight. However, his wife does not see death. The same thing happens when Jof sees Death leading his victims away. (The Seventh Seal).
The Seventh Seal is shown as realistic as the camera and director could make the movie. He used verisimilitude and continuity style to make the movie more realistic and the scenes less choppy. He also used establishing and reestablishing shots to catch different scenes in the movie, and how they were important to the movie. The point-of-view of Jof is important in this movie since he was able to see what the other actors could not. With out his point of view the Mia and Jof would have been put into a different situation.
Works Cited
"Continuity Editing - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia Barry. The Film Experience: an Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.
"Definition: POV or Point-of-View Shot." College of Liberal Arts : Purdue University. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.
"Parallel Editing." DaVE Digital and Virtual Environments Web Design, Website Hosting and Multimedia Lennox Head Ausrtralia. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.
The Seventh Seal. Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Perf. Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Nils Poppe, Bengt Ekerot. AB Svensk Filmindustri, 1957. DVD.
