Post-continuity is an aspect of post-cinema, a concept coined by Steven Shaviro, in which, ‘a preoccupation with immediate effects trumps any concern for broader continuity—whether on the immediate shot-by-shot level, or on that of the overall narrative’ (Denson & Leyda, 2016, p51). It is prevalent in modern movies, especially the action genre, where scenes such as gunfights and car chases are, ‘rendered through sequences involving shaky handheld cameras, extreme or even impossible camera angles… all stitched together with rapid cuts, frequently involving deliberately mismatched shots’ (Denson & Leyda, 2016, p51).

Building from this, we see what can be described as ‘chaos cinema’, which Matthias Stork in his video essay claims, ‘apes the illiteracy of the modern movie trailer. It consists of a barrage of high-voltage scenes. Every single frame runs on adrenaline’ (Stork, 2011). Essentially, chaos cinema is an extreme development of the post-continuity style that Shaviro introduces; where films prioritise fast paced and exciting action playing out on screen created through the filming and editing techniques, over a smooth and coherent narrative of the events.

A popular illustration of chaos cinema is the work of director Michael Bay, who is known for featuring exaggerated and sometimes even jarring action sequences: ‘This is evident in the complex, rapid editing of Bay’s films, for example, where classical coherence is occasionally supplanted by the strobing, abstract play of vivid colour and movement” (Bennett, 2015).

Take the above scene from Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II (2003) for example, where we see many of the techniques highlighted by Shaviro earlier: shaky cameras, extreme angles, and mismatched shots stitched together with rapid cuts. There is no real sense of spatial or temporal continuity, but rather a constant series of shocks to the viewer created through this technique. We don’t actually see much of the action play out logically, but rather are given a sense of excitement and action through the rapid editing style and extreme shot types used.

Shaviro notes that in this type of cinema it is not that rules of continuity have been entirely abandoned or violated, but rather, ‘they have lost their centrality and importance’ (Denson & Leyda, 2016, p57). Audiences are still able to comprehend the narrative and follow the action, but the priority has become intensity on-screen. Given its prevalence in modern films, perhaps chaos cinema is becoming the accepted stylistic norm for action sequences.

Written by George Bentley

Bibliography

Bad Boys II (2003). Sony Pictures.

Bennett, B. (2015) The Cinema of Michael Bay: An Aesthetic of Excess, Senses of Cinema. Available at: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2015/michael-bay-dossier/cinema-of-michael-bay/

Denson, S. and Leyda, J. (2016) Post-cinema: Theorizing 21st-Century film. Falmer: REFRAME Books.

Stork, M. Chaos Cinema (2011). Available at: https://vimeo.com/28016047.