Does a portion of a story ever
feel like it is moving too quickly? Or too slowly? One of the most difficult
aspects of storytelling is pacing. But what exactly
does pacing mean? And how do
filmmakers approach it? This is What Is Pacing? Let's slow down to remind you to subscribe to StudioBinder
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the following movies. Now, back to our
regular scheduled pacing. Pacing in narratives refers to
the speed at which a story is told. Most stories do not
move at a single pace. As screenwriting expert Robert
McKee writes, we coach the audience to move like a
long-distance runner. Who, rather than loping at a constant
pace, speeds, slows, then speeds again, creating cycles that allow
him to reach the limit of his reserves. Pacing in film has evolved
over the medium's history. Early cinema often utilized long
takes but featured shorter runtimes. Resulting in slower editing
but faster-paced stories. With the inception of more advanced
editing techniques came more complex and varied narrative structures. D. W. Griffith pioneered cross-cutting using
pacing to affect the audience's emotions. Later, directors like Alfred
Hitchcock used pacing to exacerbate suspense and shock. Today, pacing remains a primary
consideration for all filmmakers. - Must go faster. - Hey, slow down. Safety first. - Pacing can apply to both the micro
and macro aspects of storytelling. Individual scenes
have their own pacing. But you should also consider
the pacing of larger sequences and the entire narrative as a whole. We'll look at the various ways story
tempo can be manipulated including during production
and post-production. But first, let's look at
pacing in screenwriting. - Read. - The screenplay is the first place
where the pace of a story can be dictated. There are several ways a
screenwriter can signal the speed they want their
story to be told. In his screenplay for 'Tar', Todd
Field explicitly states his vision for the tempo with an
opening disclaimer. Writing, 'Based on this script's
page count, it would be reasonable to assume that the total running time
for 'TAR' will be well under two hours. However, this will not
be a reasonable film. There will be tempo changes. The screenplay for 'A Quiet Place'
has action in short bursts broken up by ellipses and line breaks building tension and
emphasizing scares. 'Past Lives', meanwhile, moves
at a steady meditative pace, letting small moments breathe. Writer and director Celine Song also uses
character direction to pace a dialogue. Her lengthy bits of direction give
an actor a keen sense of how to play the moment and extend the
pause between the character's lines. In this scene, she writes, they
just look at each other for a moment. Hae Sung has so much to say
and he would articulate something if he wasn't all too young. Compare this with a rapid-fire
dialogue from a writer like Aaron Sorkin. - You got a 1,600?
- Yes. I could sing in an acapella
group, but I can't sing. - Does that mean you
actually got nothing wrong? - I could recruit, earn a 25 PC. - Or you get into a final club? - Or I get into a final club. - Sorkin deliberately omits any action
lines during most of his exchanges. Letting the dialogue
create a rhythm of its own. - Have you ever tried?
- I'm trying right now. - To recruit?
- To get into a final club. - To row crew?
- No. - Are you like, whatever, delusional?
- No. - The Safdie brothers have made
their name on breakneck pacing. Their scripts, too, hint at
the tempo of their stories. In the opening scenes of
'Uncut Gems', they introduce us to the chaos of Howard's life. - Arnold! Tell him
I'm coming up now. - He ping pongs from
location to location. And they indicate just how all
over the place he is with their scene headings like 30 minutes later. - I'm literally minutes away from closing
the biggest deal of my goddamn life and when I do, you're
gonna be embarrassed. - And soon after. - Howard Ratnick, how are you? - What really creates an urgent pace is
the Safty's management of characters. - What the f*ck is
going on out here? - At any given time, Howard is
having multiple conversations with multiple different characters. He and the audience are getting
pulled several different ways at once. - I have clients in the office. - Turn around and walk away. - All right, David, go back
inside. Everything's fine. - Hello? Open the door. Okay. Geez, is it, uh, you're with KJ? - Narrative tempo can also
be affected by scene length. Most of the scenes in 'Requiem for a Dream',
for example, take up less than a page. These short fragmented scenes
are used to reflect the character's lives spiraling out of control. Once the script is written,
pacing can be further honed on set. During production, a director can dictate
a story's speed through collaboration with their actors
and cinematographer. Deciding to cover a scene with
only one or two shots can often slow the narrative's tempo. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul
is famous for this approach. allowing his scenes to
move slowly and deliberately. These long single takes build
the dreamlike meditative quality that has become the
filmmaker's signature. - The world was stunned today
by the death of Diego Ricardo, the youngest person on the planet. - A single take can also
have a more rapid pace. In 'Children of Men', Alfonso
Cuaron uses a one er to highlight the chaos of the battlefield. Because the camera is handheld
and nearly constantly moving, it imbues a faster pace to the scene than
we are set to call stationary wide. As Cuaron shows, camera
movement can affect a film's tempo. In 'Kill Bill', Quentin Tarantino
uses crash zooms and whip pans to create fast
paced fight scenes. Yasujiro Ozu would largely cover his
scenes with almost no camera movement. The director's locked-off shots
allow scenes to breathe, letting the audience contemplate the
subtle dynamics between characters. A camera doesn't need to
be still to slow down a scene. In 'Stalker', Andrei
Tarkovsky uses a sedate camera dolly to evoke a
character's dream state. - Of course, actors' performances
can also affect the speed of a narrative. - We are in a really big hurry. - Sure. - Actors will often slow down a
scene if they want to convey some inner emotion
of their character. In this scene from 'Nomadland',
Frances McDormand takes her time with a monologue, using moments of silence
to show the emotions she wrestles with while recalling
these memories. - It's like my dad used to
say, what's remembered lives. I maybe spent too much of
my life just remembering Bob. - In 'The Grand Budapest Hotel',
Ray Fiennes employs a long beat or dramatic pause for comedy. - The police are here.
They asked for you. - Tell them I'll be right down. - Okay. - Then moments later, he and Tony
Revolori speed through their dialogue to ramp up the
pace of the scene. - Have you ever been
questioned by the authorities? - Yes, on one occasion.
- What, what, what? - I was arrested and tortured by the
rebel militia after the desert uprising. - Right. Well, you
know the drill then. Zip it. - You've never heard the
word Van Hoytel in your life. - Got it.
- Okay, let's go. - The narrative speed dictated
on set will then be crystallized by the pacing in post. In many ways, the art of
editing is the art of pacing. How long an editor decides to stay
on a shot or in a scene has a direct effect on the speed of a story. Fast cuts are the most immediate
way to increase the tempo of a sequence. Baz Luhrmann has a particular
affinity for this approach. Using speedy editing to
give energy to his sequences. Chantal Ackerman, on the other
hand, uses cuts more sparingly. In her film, 'News From Home',
she lingers on shots of New York. Allowing the
city to play itself. And for viewers to
slowly sink into its world. Most films, however, fall somewhere
in between these two extremes. This scene from 'The Hurt Locker'
begins with slightly more leisurely cuts. And once a shot is fired, there
are several quick cuts underlining the sudden chaos
of the sequence. This famous sequence from
'Platoon' does the opposite. Beginning with more frequent cuts and
then holding on slow-motion shots of Elias. Slowing down the pacing increases
the drama and tragedy of Elias's death and makes it all the
more excruciating to watch. 'The Rules of Attraction'
boasts a four-minute montage of a hedonistic
romp through Europe. Both the edit and the
propulsive narration makes this an extremely fast-paced sequence. - Saw the Tate, saw Big Ben,
ate a lot of weird English food. It rained a lot, it was expensive, and
I'm jonesing, so I split for Amsterdam. The Dutch all know English,
so I didn't have to speak any Dutch, which was a relief. - This montage from 'The Wolf of
Wall Street' utilizes fewer cuts, but speeds through more narrative. In just a few minutes, Belfort
has taught his team how to sell and upgrades his company. Music can also play
a large role in pacing. John Williams's score for 'Jaws'
uses pacing to a masterful effect. If we put this scene to slow
music there is far less suspense. But listening to the actual soundtrack,
which speeds up, braces us for a scare. Hans Zimmer's score for Dunkirk makes heavy
use of what sounds like a ticking clock, adding an urgent
pacing to every scene. Even ones which wouldn't
normally feel rushed. The editing room is where all
the pieces of pacing come together. And if the pacing isn't working, the
editing room is where it must be fixed. Pacing is an essential element
in any form of storytelling. And so it should come as no
surprise that it is vital in cinema. No matter where you are in the
filmmaking process, it is always important to keep in mind. Pacing begins at
a film's inception. Set the pace in your script. Block out scenes
in a storyboard. Design the most efficient
shot list, and more, in StudioBinder's
pre-production software. That's all for now. We hope you get
where you're headed. At the pace you see fit.