The Perception of a Shorter Length of Time through the Use of a Rapid Tempo - Text 4
The Perception of Slower Filmic Rhythm
Nevertheless, we can find many cases in which music appears to stretch time.
Narrative music in the foreground
In Sean Ellis’ Cashback (2006), in the scenes in which the protagonist is able to suspend time, the film director first selects fixed shots with the appearance of photographs. Only the voice brings a unit for measuring time, and quickly disappears in favour of a few shots which, without any sound, appear to stretch out by virtue of their fixity. Then, once again anticipating the actions and movements of the protagonist, free to circulate in this world “on pause,” the music joins in, underscoring a fluid camera movement and becoming the sole unit for measuring filmic time. The piano, expressing itself only through glimmers, leaves unresolved most of its phrases, producing a hesitation between movement and suspension, like the protagonist, who masters his body perfectly and whom the camera takes care to film only intermittently. As the voice gradually recovers its central role, the density of events is heightened and then fluctuates greatly throughout the sequence. The overall effect is to provide the paradox of a fluid and dynamic filmic time while everything that is evoked has to do with slowness and contemplation.
