Prada Quality Research (pt. 2)

In continuing my research on The Devil Wears Prada I am becoming more and more humbled by it’s ability to say so much in so little time.

Editing

This entire title sequence is edited to be a montage, or a condensed series of events. Through this montage the director is able to present these four women getting dressed for the day without taking up important movie time. This use of montage also enables the director to establish the characteristics of several different characters within the film, rather than just one.

Another use of editing that seems to be the most noticeable is the use of match cuts. This allows for a smooth immediate transition that enables the creation of the montage.

Graphic match cuts seem to be the primary match cut used within the sequence. 

The image cuts between the four woman putting on their shoes. This is a graphic match cut because all of the shots include heels and their feet are the only thing within the frame, so all of the shapes within the shot match one another.

This is used throughout the clip as the image switches from different women as they get ready. We get a graphic match cut of the women putting on eye makeup, underwear, and jewelry. In these match cut the director emphasizes the difference between the main character and the three other women. While the three other women are putting a lot of effort into their outfits to make them look nice the main character is portrayed as being more haphazard in the way she gets dressed.

This is done by what I have called the modified graphic match cut. Where it is implied that there was supposed to be a graphic match cut but the director is trying to emphasize the contrast between two scenes or characters. I also call it a action match cut (NOT A MATCH ON ACTION CUT) where two characters are shown performing the same action but in different ways.

Camera Shots

The director uses establishing shots several times to orient the viewer. Because this is a montage that is showing characters getting from point A to point B (the women to work) it is important that the film shows where each event is taking place.

One of the first shots is an establishing shot depicting the New York skyline, where the entire movie will take place.

Another establishing shot is used later in the clip to show where the main character stopped to get breakfast. The emphasis of the bakery sign also plays a role in establishing the contrast between the main character and the rest of the women I discussed earlier in the post. She eats out, at a bakery, while the other women eat breakfast at home. Many of the other women are also shown eating very small amounts depicting them as health and weight cautious.

Close up shots are also heavily present in the title sequence creating a more intimate relationship between the viewers and the characters within the film. In addition to this, the director seems to be giving viewers a taste of what is to come and wants to show a distinct difference between the title sequence and the movie to follow. Close ups like the one shown above cane also allow viewers more context, the close up on the calendar inform us it’s March.

Camera Movement and Angles

Camera movement also plays a major role in this scene, especially once the women have left their apartments and are walking around New York.

The camera pans back and forth tracking cars and taxis driving by. The camera also tilts on several occasions moving from the women’s high heel shoes up to their faces. This movement allows the viewer to make a connection between the shoes that they saw being put on earlier and the women putting them on. This helps to establish the different characters present within the movie. This camera tilt from foot to head is not used on the main character, instead the camera tilts from her making a face of anxious amazement, to the high rise building she is gazing at above her. This small movement, again illustrates the contrast between the main character and the other women in the film.