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by ant6n 3877 days ago
;) A classic example that exaggerates the different passing of time of movie vs real time happens in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: https://youtu.be/DPXG4pdPj4w?t=20s
2 comments

Went to school for video/film production and time compression was the subject of a couple of fun projects. In TV and movies, you rarely see things in "real time" unless it's specifically done for an effect (like the gimmick of "24" or to create some level of tension).

Normally, you compress time to a greater or lesser degree because you just don't need to see every single action that someone takes in the course of a given hour or event. Like you point out in the Python clip, you wouldn't normally shoot the entirety of a guy running across a long field. You'd show him start running, cut to a closer shot with him making progress, cut to the person/place he's running toward for reaction or to re-establish the destination, and then cut back to the guy as he's getting there.

When you drag these kinds of things out, it can be a good gag because it's almost like a bad storyteller who includes every irrelevant detail. It makes us uncomfortable and throws off timing. In a more tense scene, time is often screwy because maybe you want to drag things out and show all of the characters' reactions to create anxiety and the feeling that "they'll never make it".

Anyway, thanks for the reminder about the Python bit. Always makes me smile :)

This is also something used in fight scenes, where a person will say, throw a punch, then the camera angle shifts, and the person will be seen to throw the punch again - "The Asian Cut" [0]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ

I love the little touches. Guard: "hey..."