Post continuity is where continuity is not the pillar for organizing a plot, and is either through editing, non-linear structures, and fragmented story telling. Related to my previous blog that mentioned Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the idea of combining video games and movie images was brought up and one of the main contributions to the change in cinematic storytelling, it was/is due to the abortion of different media forms.

Traditional media was limited by the technology of the time, creating this structure where story telling in moving image is linear. As technology advances there are more options on how scenes can be shown, either through CGI, edits, or fancy camera angle etc. Which can lead more fun ways to produce stories.

Prime example I can think of is Avatar (2009). What was the story about? I do not really remember, but was the visuals shocking? Yes. The story telling was not linear, there is a lot of fancy edits and postproduction involved. Will I call it a successful storytelling movie (only based on the story they are telling)? No. But I still consider it a successful movie. The post cinematic shock effects especially during the time frame when it came out (there was not a movie with such believable CGI effects before) does influence the viewers and make them engaged. It brings the viewers a very different sensation compared to linear storytelling when viewing the movie. When I first watched the movie, I remember so shocked by the avatars they created and the world they live in, how it is so unrealistic compared to the real world, but still very believable. The story however is quite blend in my opinion, if it were not for the visual effects the movie will not be as successful. Watching Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), however, did not catch my attention at all. The visual effects are not groundbreaking (compared to the time when Avatar first came out and the story is blend). Which supports my claim.

In conclusion, in my opinion, post cinematic means the heavily reliance on postproduction, edits, CGIs, and effects etc. provides this gadget where film producers can play with to hold the attention of the viewers while trying to tell a story or make a point and the idea of post cinematic/post continuity is based on it.

Reference:

Steven Shaviro, ‘Post-Continuity: An introduction’, Post-Cinema: Theorising 21st Century Film, 51-64

Xin Cindy Sun