Principles of Continuity

This clip is from Marc Webb's 2009 Romcom 500 Days of Summer. At the beginning of the sequence our protagonist Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is seen swinging open a door and smiling smugly whilst walking towards the camera. He turns his head to the left and the scene cuts to a different angle, cleverly using match on action as we can see the door still shutting behind him. He struts forwards as the camera reverse tracks to follow his movement. The next shot is a steady cam POV so we can see that everyone is smiling back at him and his happiness is infectious. The sequence then cuts to a VLS a fountain which spurts magnificently as Tom walks past. In every shot he is walking from left to right so we are given the impression he is travelling away from where he started. We then go to a MS/LS so we can see his expression and body language- one of triumph and confidence. The camera is even at a slight low angle making him look even more powerful as he shimmies off screen. The next shot is another reverse track as he walks towards the camera, greeting people, high-fiving and kissing women’s hands. He embraces a man in a boiler suit and points at him cutting sharply to a match on action from a different angle continuing his movement. The camera crabs alongside him from a mid shot distance so we see his facial expressions as he interacts with the other extras. We cut back to the master reverse track as Tom turns away from the camera, throws his bag off the screen and dances. He turns around and strikes a pose to the beat of the music. The sequence then cuts to one continuous master ELS as the strangers in the park join in with his routine in a tongue-in-cheek faux-cheesy musical spoof. He is chucked a baseball bat and hits a home run and the crowd lifts him up as he celebrates. The routine is carefully choreographed to the music: Hall & Oates song You Make My Dreams features the lyrics ‘twist and shout’ at which point the mass does just that. We cut to a different angle, another example of match on action as he boogies forwards. We cut back to the master shot as a marching band enters from both sides accompanying the trumpets in the song before cutting to a MS in order to see them playing their instruments and marching in time to the beat. The sequence cuts back to the master shot and jump cuts to a MS/LS of Tom as a cartoon bird enters on screen, reminiscent of Mary Poppins and other typically upbeat Disney films. As Tom lets the bird go, he looks up and the camera cuts to an aerial shot featuring the people dancing merrily. Someone hands Tom his bag and again we jump cut to a MCU as he sighs merrily and exits left. The continuity is consistent as he enters the next shot from the right though from the rapid change in location (back to the initial street setting) we can deduce that perhaps it was all his imagination and simply a day dream as he wandered down the street. He salsas into a lift and the doors close.