In Thursday’s online class we discussed the concept of Decoupage. We analysed and discussed two single take scenes from different French directors. Arnaud Desplechins’s “My Sex Life, or How I got into an argument” (1996) and Eric Rohmer’s “Full Moon in Paris” (1984). Both scenes definitely do have multiple frames within the shot. Despelechin’s scene has multiple sized frames within, going from medium shots, MCU’s, to Close ups all within the same take as the camera moves through the scene with the characters. “Full moon in Paris” on the other hand is a static shot and allows the characters within to move, to create the different frames and dynamics. I think Despechins’s frames are visually more interesting with the movement of the camera motivated by the actor’s movement through the crowd. However, I think Rohmer’s frames are much more comedic and allow viewer to focus on the actors movements within the frame rather than the movement of the camera.

In Exercise 7, we began to analyse definitions of Decoupage to get a more comprehensive understanding of the term. After Analysing the readings, I found Luis Bunuel’s definition of decoupage seemed, for lack of a better word, vague. Perhaps it’s the way I personally digest knowledge, but I prefer things to be more direct. Having said this, I did like a few things he said which did in turn add to my understanding of Decoupage. Things like “Dividing a thing to turn into something else” and “A landscape, if it is to be recreated in cinema, must be segmented into fifty, a hundred and more bits.” I also like Tim Barnard’s quote “It divides in order to join”. It’s digestible quotes like these that allow me to form my opinion and conceptualise decoupage. I think Tim Barnard has done an excellent job at breaking this term down and I find his reflections on the definitions extremely helpful. Henri Agel’s quote was also quite helpful. “The choice of shots and of camera angles and movements is called Decoupage. The order and length of the shots correspond to the task we call editing.”

It’s interesting that there is no real consensus on decoupage and every filmmaker has their own understanding of what it is. But I also think that’s what makes the term so intriguing and worthy of further discussion and analysis.