ABSTRACT
Unity of time, place, and action in Aristotle’s Poetics. Passage of time in theatre and film. Real time in film (the Before trilogy, Locke, Birdman, The Conversation, Children of Men). Passage of time in the story and in the film. Flow of time continuous or fragmentary? Connectivity vs. unity. Time and parallel action (The Godfather). Editing and the passage of time. Tarkovsky and Sculpting in Time: time vs. montage. Sequence shots, cutting in camera. Use of steadicam. Relationship, or not, of real time and real space (Goodfellas). Linear/non-linear storytelling. Emotional involvement stronger with linear approach. Linear time and narrative POV (Chinatown). Non-linear time and the nature of audience engagement (Pulp Fiction, Arrival, Atonement, Inland Empire, Oldboy). Reverse passage of time (Memento, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Expansion and contraction of time. Modulation through the filmmaking process. Use of disjointed time and space (A Hidden Life). Repeated action (The Wolf of Wall Street). Expanded time within action. Transitions. Danger of using transitions as avoidance — of story or character problems, of pain. Merits of transitions as ellipses. Articulation and communication of passage of time (Boyhood). Time in TV (24). Time in short films — benefits of real time (Before Dawn, Wild Tales). Modulation within the shot. Tense — always present in film and TV (exception — In Sound We Live Forever).
