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  • Essay / Analysis of the editorial choices of Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times

    In Modern Times of Charlie Chaplin, many elements of the film are used expertly to best convey the message of the story. One of these elements, montage, is exploited through the use of its many advantageous techniques in order to create connections with essential themes of modern times, such as capitalism, the Great Depression and industrialization. By analyzing the most important types of transitions used such as fades and cuts, as well as stylistic aspects such as temporality and reaction shots, it is clear that Chaplin succeeds in making the best editorial choices to nourish the setting of the Great Depression and the struggles of the times. industrialization in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To begin with, Chaplin relies primarily on cutaways to tell the story. Specifically in the factory scene, cutaways are used between the control room and the assembly line; for example, between shots one and two of clip 2. Beyond this clip and throughout the scene, however, shots of Charlie are continually interrupted by shots of the control room. There, the boss orders a man to speed up the line. Then the camera cuts to Charlie, who is frantically trying to keep up with the changes. These cuts are used to create anticipation in the audience. By moving away from the assembly line and back to the control room depending on the pattern he's making, it creates a sense of predictability where viewers can recognize that by showing them the controls, something is about to happen. to change on the assembly line and to affect Charlie (there is therefore a criticism between the idea of ​​control and that of being controlled). Compared to the historical context of this film (the 1930s), it is clear that Les Temps Modernes is a satirical portrait of the life of the worker during the Great War. Depression and the impact of industrialization. With this in mind, we can see that these cuts between the two locations not only allow for comic anticipation, but also to emphasize the idea of ​​machines holding great power over people and capable of manipulating them. This is evident as Charlie struggles to adjust to the changing speed of the assembly line, eventually causing him to twitch and act robotically, even when he is no longer working on the line. In this film, such cuts are often shown between the controllers and the controllers. For example, returning to the Boss's office to reveal the "Bellows Feeding Machine". Again, decisions are made regardless of the presence of Charlie (a lower class worker) where the boss and the salesman decide to test the machine on him without asking his permission. Cuts are used in modern times in order to present the working class as puppets while revealing those pulling the strings on a separate platform (upper society and industrialization). Additionally, in modern times, as in most classic Hollywood films of its era, uses "continuity style" editing. This is a “real-time action” temporality in which the shots used in the film (for the most part) follow one another. For example, between shots two and three of clip 2, when Charlie turns to leave the assembly line, the next shot shows him leaving the assembly line, starting at the exact same point where the previous shot ended, only now after the action. from a different angle. Without compromising time and space,.