The Not so Obvious and the Code

Most people associate film, and code with opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to academia. Film is "art" and code is not associated with anything creative. However, Bellour breaks down a one scene in The Big Sleep, in a very methodical way, exhibiting that the director and cinematographer did much more than throw this scene together--in fact each cut, each line of dialogue, is intentional, making what Bellour considers a near perfect scene. He mentions that if you were to ask someone after having seen the scene how many cuts there were, they would probably say 2-3. This was a totally accurate assumption seeing as I also did not realize the 12 cuts when I was watching. The Big Sleep, especially in this one scene, is incredible at conveying meaning to the audience without them even noticing the film form. Some would argue (realists) that being able to do that is the most important part of film.