Relationships Between Shots


Call Me by Your Name (2017) - Dancing Scene [HD] 1:00-2:30

Shot 1: Elio looking at Oliver dancing
Shot 2: Oliver dancing
Shot 3: Girls dancing
Shot 4: Oliver dancing solo
Shot 5: Back to Elio
Shot 6: Back to Oliver
Shot 7: Back to Elio
Shot 8: Oliver's feet
Shot 9: Oliver's body followed by Elio joining


I'm not well versed when it comes to the topic of editing methods, but it seems to me that the cuts in this scene from Call Me by Your Name are edited in accordance with continuity editing protocols. In shot 1 we see Elio (brown hair) watching Oliver (light hair), which sets the tone for most of this scene. Although the camera is focused on Elio's face, we're given his point of view in every other shot. While he could be watching the entire dancefloor, it's evident that he's watching Oliver dance because of the camera's constant focus on him (despite the third shot in which a pair of girls dancing are focused on). While Elio's expressions change depending on how he moves or the way he smokes a cigarette, the look on his face throughout these shots express to the viewer that he is either unhappy or deep in thought. Even in the fifth shot when Elio's friends are speaking to him it's obvious that he is uninterested. There is not much of a 180 degree rule at all here, and by keeping the camera on his face and not focusing on his friends who invite him to dance, it's clear to the viewer that Elio and his point of view in this moment are more important than anything else surrounding him, otherwise we'd be able to see more of his friends. The camera loses focus in the same moment that Elio develops tears in his eyes. Even when we see Elio's point of view in the seventh shot, his eyes don't follow his friends. They remain focused on Oliver. We know this because the camera has not moved with the movement of the people. The only moment when the cuts caught me by surprise was in the final shot of the clip, when Elio makes his way into the frame. Because we've seen him sat in a chair throughout the scene, and the cuts are edited in continuity, we expect the camera to be pointed towards him again - in his chair, watching. It's not expected to see him make his way to the dancefloor, but it's a nice surprise to see him finally do what he'd been wanting to the entire time.

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