Shaviro describes post-continuity as a style of filmmaking that is mostly seen in recent action films, such as Baby Driver (2017), and he states that movies like these show a preoccupation with immediate effects trumps any concern for broader continuity—whether the immediate shot-by-shot level or on that of the overall narrative’ (Shaviro, 2016). Meaning that some movies are more about intensifying sensations than following a linear narrative. Baby Driver (2017) creates different heightened sensations through music, visuals, and editing, where every beat of the soundtrack drives the action. 

Baby Driver (2017) is an interesting movie that shows post-continuity. Even though a lot is going on, you are still drawn into the scenes through the film’s use of music as a main sensory focus. Baby’s playlist dictates the rhythm of his life and the film’s pacing, blurring the boundaries between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. 

For example, in the ‘Goodbye, Darling’ scene, from start to finish, every shot, sound, and editing are all in sync with each other, and we, as the audience, are being invited into Baby’s mind and how he revolves life around music as the camera follows him through the man chase. Like, when the music changes to yodelling, Baby is able to hide from the police, as it speeds up to the electric guitar, Baby runs before he is spotted, and the helicopter and gunshots are perfectly timed with the non-diegetic sound. This is creating new forms of sensibility for the audience. Also, how it does show aspects of chaos cinema within the scene, but it is done intelligently. Again, with the fast-paced shots, hand-held camera shots evidently highlight techniques of chaos cinema of ignoring spacial clarity, as Stork previously states (2012), but it is done in a way where it doesn’t feel overwhelming instead, you are drawn into the movie even more. 

As Shaviro argued, camera shots and audiovisuals are all about intensifying sensations (2016), it can be seen that Baby Driver (2017) achieves this by mostly using and matching diegetic sound with diegetic sound.

Bibliography:

Baby Driver. (2017). TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing.

Scene City (2021). Baby Driver: Goodbye, Darling (MOVIE FIGHT SHOOTOUT SCENE). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0czPOFBLrC0 [Accessed 25 Nov. 2024].

Shaviro, S. (2016). Post-Continuity: an Introduction. In: Post-cinema: Theorizing 21st-century Film. REFRAME Books.

Stork, M. (2012). Chaos Cinema Part 2. [online] vimeo.com. Available at: https://vimeo.com/28016704.

Dhruvi Dhokia