Introduction
The movie that I will be analyzing is called “Whiplash” and was directed by Damien Chazelle in 2014. After watching it for the first time, it made me think about various relevant topics, even though I do not play jazz. Primarily, I was questioning the issues of what is essential in life, productivity culture, bullying, and the ethics of mentoring. I was moved by the ending, as I did not expect what was coming whatsoever, which I enjoy in the movies. Primarily, I was inspired by the determination of the main character to find the courage to show his abusive mentor that he is capable of being excellent. Chazelle combines fantastic cinematography and editing, vibrant directing, and acting in his critically acclaimed debut movie Whiplash.
Key observations of Whiplash
Whiplash is a significant film because of its spectacular cinematography, editing, directing, acting, and Mise-en-Scene. To begin with, the primary purpose of cinematography is to bring emotions, ideas, and words into a visual verb (Brown 2). The cinematic methods help to bring depth into the movies, and Whiplash is using several of them. For example, the framing shots of Neiman practicing drums are intended to present him as isolated and engaged. Chazelle starts with long shots of Neiman’s drum kit, medium shots of him playing the drums expressively and the extreme close-up of the blood on his fingers, and his pale unwell face (Brown 60). This sequence of shots creates an image of obsession that is hugely representative of the main character. When an abusive mentor is acting aggressively towards Neiman, the camera quickly moves from one aspect to another, adding up to the verbal intensity of the scene. Even in the further scenes that do not involve the confrontation between the two, the camera moves identically, to present this constant power dynamic between the two.
Furthermore, the editing is spectacular in the movie, as it won the Oscars for best film editing. Similar to Neiman and Fletcher’s tension, the camera is moving the same way during the situation with trombonist Metz. Fletcher is exceptionally assertive, and the scene was edited to zoom closer with each shot slowly. This editing technique was done to create a sense of threat to the audience (Brown 71). The editors also regularly bring Neiman into perspective, even though he does not say a word. The idea of cutting him into the shot shows viewers his reaction to the situation, as he is the protagonist of the movie (Haq et al. 9271). Therefore, the editing techniques were used to intensify certain scenes and to bring Neiman into perspective.
Furthermore, Whiplash featured high-quality directing and acting. Although the movie was the director’s debut, Chazelle indeed proved his professionalism (Plumb). The iconic phrases, such as “not my tempo,” were written by Chazelle, because the movie was inspired by real-life experiences (Plumb). Additionally, Whiplash won the Oscar for the best supporting actor, making acting one of the main highlights of the movie. The director himself stated that it was hard to anticipate an emotional reaction on the audience but “two actors as phenomenal as Miles and J.K., it ended up being a lot less hard than it would normally be” (Plumb). Therefore, the uniqueness of Whiplash is partly due to the exceptional directing and acting in the movie.
Lastly, Mise-en-Scene helped to convey the movie character’s personalities and ideas through the setting. Mise-en-Scene is presenting the messages through costumes, locations, lighting, etc. For instance, in the beginning, the lighting of the practice room is very bright, making every player exposed to Fletcher. During the scene in the bar, it is the opposite, because lightning is very dark and the musicians are playing under the soft lighting. The lightning represents the lack of pressure on the artists from the bar compared to the exposure to light characters of the orchestra. Therefore, the lightning during the Mise-en-Scenes influenced the representation of emotions during different settings. Overall, in my opinion, this movie aged well, as the techniques used by everyone involved in the production of Whiplash, are still of exceptional quality. This level of quality is probably because the film is not particularly old, as it was produced in 2014; therefore, my opinion of the movie has not changed after the second viewing.
The creation of Whiplash
Making “Whiplash” was both joyful and frustrating. Chazelle won the support of two Harvard graduates Helen Estabrook and Nicholas Britell (Sweeney). However, they had to find the money; thus, Chazelle decided to take an episode from his plot and create an 18-minute short movie. After that, the movie won second place on Sundance, which brought the investors. The crew shot the whole film in 19 days, and their budget was meager based on Hollywood’s standards (Sweeney). Critics received the movie rather positively, as Kermode from the Guardian states, “you’ll leave the cinema with a spring in your step and a thump in your chest” (Sweeney). Besides, scholars tend to use Whiplash still while analyzing various psychological and social topics, such as leadership, ethics, success, etc. (İyigün et al. 51). Thus, Whiplash was created by a small group of people with a limited budget; however, it was positively received by critics and raised interest in the academic community.
Conclusion
Whiplash is one of the movies that impressed me the most and made me think about various topics, such as success, ethics in mentoring, and more. The film is excellent due to its exceptional cinematography, editing, directing, acting, and meson scenes. The quality of the production is still very high, making it relevant to contemporary film studies. Lastly, Whiplash was received well by the critics, although it was created in less than a month by a beginner director. Overall, Whiplash still conveys a powerful message that is brought to the audience through creative directing.
Works Cited
Brown, Blain. Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers & Directors. 3rd ed., Routledge, 2016.
Haq, Ijaz Ul, et al. “DeepStar: Detecting Starring Characters in Movies.” IEEE Access, vol. 7, 2019, pp. 9265–9272.
İyigün, Öykü, et al. “Power Usage in the Frame of Ethical Leadership: The Case of ‘Whiplash.’” Journal of Business & Economic Policy, vol. 3, 2016, pp. 51–61.
Kermode, Mark. “Whiplash Review – Drumming up the Tension Nicely.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2015. Web.
Plumb, Ali. “Director Damien Chazelle Reveals 9 Whiplash Secrets.” Empire, 2015.
Sweeney, Sarah. “A Movie as a Mirror.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 2018.