La Jetée and the Transition from Static to Dynamic
La Jetée is a film that is technically minimalist yet thematically rich: nothing more then a series of still images in photomontage form with a lone narrator, lasting only 28 minutes. However, La Jetée is an extreme case where the technicalities form a symbiotic relationship with the theme of memory, the photomontage serving as an allegory for the frozen moments that makes up human memory.
For a brief few seconds in the film, a shot of the love interest lying in her bed becomes animated, perhaps serving as the protagonist’s most vivid memory. Technically, this is an extremely complicated maneuver to accomplish successfully. According to the DVD box for the film, the still photographs were shot on a Pentax Spotmatic, an SLR manufactured in the sixties. It must have been fairly easy to set the desired exposure and depth of field, and to even take numerous photos in quick succession, as they had all the time in the world to prepare the shot because of the lack of motion. It was slightly more difficult, yet still possible, to not only increase the speed of the images to create a sense of motion, yet make it seem natural with the actress’ movements. Even the clever and perfectly timed fades to make the jump to film less noticeable, while surely difficult, is still a technique that can be accomplished by a skilled professional at that level. What makes this shot so unique and outstanding after all of these years is the precise matching of those elements from the SLR to the film camera. It’s not as simple as marking the exact position and height of the tripod, nor is it simply “using the same settings.” The difference between operating the exposure and depth of field between the two cameras is dramatically different and very difficult to achieve without being able to see the result, as is the case with film. The only explanation I can conceive of is the alteration of the still photos in the dark room to match the film conversion. It seems that there is much more control over the color balance of one negative in a dark room rather then a reel from a company that converts it, however I’m not entirely sure.
Regardless, the complexities of this shot were clearly worth the effort as it flawlessly illustrates the motif of the film, serving as another reminder of how the cinematography and construction of a film are as much a part of the vernacular as the narrative itself.
