Blog # 3 - Editing Analysis

Movie Title - Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 
The sequence starts with a low angle silhouette long shot of a fiddler on the roof. Cuts to a medium shot of Tevye, the milkman. The camera follows him on a track as he introduces us to his village, Anatevka and his “Traditions!”.  Symbolism is used in the coming shots by showing religious artifacts and manuscripts to portray tradition. The cuts here are clearly noticeable to create a powerful effect on the viewer. The length of the shots goes hand in hand with the tempo of the music. The faster the tempo, shorter are the shot lengths. We then follow Tevye through Anatevka with long static shots showing the roads and fields of the village. The long shots are used to define the space which is Anatevka. Tevye stops in front of a house and is transferring milk to a smaller container. The shot starts with a long shot (full body figure) but as he walks towards the camera it transforms into a medium shot and then as he goes away becomes a long shot again. This action with the use of the tracking shot and a pan seem very natural and does not interrupt the thought process of the viewer. The images follow the lyrics of the song. As they start talking about the whole village an extreme long crane shot is shown to establish the whole village working. We then follow every individual in that village in close-up or medium shot doing their own work. The cutting of the shots and the actions performed by the individual is in sync with the rhythm of the song. For example in the blacksmith sequence, it seems that they are creating music with their work. There are no transitions between shots i.e. every shot has a discrete start and end point.