Match cut, filmic quote

Learn to recognise, describe and interpret the match cut technique

At the end of the first run Manni has raided the supermarket and flees with Lola. When they are confronted by the police, Manni throws the plastic bag with the money in the air. One policeman, distracted by the flying bag, is shot and hits Lola in the chest. She falls onto the ground and stares up. Lola's face is dissolved to the beginning of a scene in red in which Lola and Manni are lying in bed talking. After the "red scene", we go back to the injured Lola.

A match cut is an editing technique in which similar picture motifs from two shots are connected with each other by a straight cut or a different transition.This similarity can be a comparable shape, movement or colour, for example. The match cut emphasises the similarity and creates a feeling of continuity and togetherness.

Task 1

  1. Identify the individual elements of the match cut by placing a still image of each element on the workspace. You can generate still images by tapping the camera icon in the video.
  2. Generate note cards and describe the characteristics of the elements connected by a match cut, using keywords. Also use arrows to indicate directions of movement and the eyedropper to extract colours from the still images.


TC: 00:32:38 – 00:33:19

Tools
  1. Write an explanation of why the match cut was used at this point in the film.
  2. Use a search engine and a video platform to research famous match cuts in film history in the films Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Name the match cut that can be formally related to the match cut from Run Lola Run. Describe similarities in the design and give an interpretation of the filmmaker's reference to this earlier filmic model.