The dubious edit sequence of the jewelry scene deserves further analysis.
The transitional segment—20 seconds & 4 sentences—was stealth-spliced together to mask the 17-month continuity error via a single photo interlude, and carefully audio-matched to appear entirely sequential.
The transitional segment—20 seconds & 4 sentences—was stealth-spliced together to mask the 17-month continuity error via a single photo interlude, and carefully audio-matched to appear entirely sequential.
Much like the viral "Invisible Gorilla" experiment & video (in which one's focus is so keyed to the story/foreground that their mind completely ignores the background), almost all observers who watch LN will never notice the subtle discrepancies & how scenes have multiple takes.
When we remove the voice-over interlude from this excerpt, the two distinct takes are jarringly disjointed and apparent. Despite James' and Reed's best efforts to apply the same props, hair cut, shave and costume, the seasons were off and specific elements missing (e.g. chair).
During the entire 121 min. P1, James is on-camera for 12 min. via 104 clips (Wade: 13 min via 94 clips; drones: 19 min).
We know Wade & James recorded multiple takes across days/months and can surmise the entire film uses similar stealth-edits between short fragmented clips.
We know Wade & James recorded multiple takes across days/months and can surmise the entire film uses similar stealth-edits between short fragmented clips.
As a side-example, the 1st 2 clips of James in LN come from very different moments in filming. The opening line was filmed much later than the second (daylight & camera position). Yet due to the excessive use of interludes & music the effect is again of a raw, cohesive narrative.
Combining all of the wide shots of James from part 1 helps illustrate how drastically his "continual" footage is altered between the interludes.
It has been sliced, chopped-up and spit back out.
Other interviews were in a controlled environment making it harder to detect edits.
It has been sliced, chopped-up and spit back out.
Other interviews were in a controlled environment making it harder to detect edits.
Returning to jewelry scene, it's based on JS' 2 days of interviews in Feb. 2017 and pick-up interviews in July 2018.
(Side Laugh: In this interview when LN premiered, Dan claimed JS had no haziness re: abuse and "wouldn't get that wrong." This was pre-train station debacle).
(Side Laugh: In this interview when LN premiered, Dan claimed JS had no haziness re: abuse and "wouldn't get that wrong." This was pre-train station debacle).
The pick-up footage shown is strung out consecutively across 13 separate clips, more than any other story-line in the film. In the UK version, this sequence also occurs immediately prior to a commercial break, for maximum viewer impact.
Let's dive a bit deeper w/ this analysis.
Let's dive a bit deeper w/ this analysis.
The format of this ring sequence is similar to the rest used across LN—2 cameras: close-up & wide.
But now comes a 3rd angle focused exclusively on his hands & rings.
6 of the 13 shots are of the close-up ring view, appearing as alternating clips throughout & at end sequence.
But now comes a 3rd angle focused exclusively on his hands & rings.
6 of the 13 shots are of the close-up ring view, appearing as alternating clips throughout & at end sequence.
The ring shots are even more absurd in that they actually depict "B-roll" footage filmed separately from the narration itself. This means that James handles the "don't like to look at" rings at least twice purely so Dan could construct the ultimate voice-over w/ visuals & B-roll.
During all of these close-up ring shots, James' body remains stationary. He is not actually talking during that footage and this is why you never see the camera pan up to his face.
Here we can see James' classic deep-breath sighing while the voice-over from take 1 plays over it.
Here we can see James' classic deep-breath sighing while the voice-over from take 1 plays over it.
We can also see the stark differences between the head-shot and B-roll takes by the persistent continuity problems throughout the sequence at the point of the cuts, despite Dan doing his best to make it seem like a single captured moment.
This is evident in nearly ever cut.
This is evident in nearly ever cut.
Midway through, Dan abruptly reuses the B-roll of the "wedding ring" as part of the dramatic close-up transition to the Rolex ring. The two struggle and fail to match the B-roll mannerisms of the Rolex with the head shot for continuity, resulting in an odd repeating twist at end.
While it is common for filmmakers to capture B-roll and mix with the narration, I am aghast that a "CSA survivor" would willfully do so with "sexual favor rings" that he can't stand to look at let alone touch—even if he did keep them all these years seemingly for this purpose.
Another curious clip is when James talks about "how hard it is to go back" (forced sigh). After silence & his usual "trauma" nods, he looks to his left & extremely subtly nods off-camera as if to signal the director "Cut! We got a good clip!" Did Dan not trim enough of this take?
