Worst Case Scenario

by Julianne Arnstein

I really liked this film because it was the first still image compilation I had seen where the movement was very slow. I liked the luxurious pace so I thought I would analyze this film. There are elements of conflicting motion or images put together. There is a place where it seems as though a train and a car have hit each other, there is a loud crash, and people turn and react. Then the car is removed from the frame, then the train, and we realize that these are just layered images. Our minds try to piece together a story with what we see and hear. But the people looking in one direction are pieced together in a string to make it look like they are seeing something. The car and the train were in that place at different times and our mind just puts them together because the images fit so well: they are from the same camera position and focus. The crashing sound could be from any moment in time or synthesized or not even be a car crash. But because John Smith has placed these all at the same time and in a string of events, it seems like a car and a train have crashed together. This same Kuleshov effect is achieved when there are repeated images of a deliveryman running into his car door. People seemingly turn and look while the man is continually being slammed into his opening and closing door. But some minor movements of the door and the man have been edited together to create this situation. I liked the fact that everything moved very slowly. The long pauses of images of people looking or walking around create a leisurely effect. The action speeds up sometimes but I enjoy the peaceful pauses. I think Smith is trying to say that these are normal people, but there is no reason why we should not stop to enjoy what we see. Instead of witnessing life at its regular pace, we see every detail and can enjoy it more.