T.J. Davis Film and Video 160

Interview transcription

For this assignment I chose a scene that takes place near the end of one of my favorite all-time films “The Last of the Mohicans.” It plays out in roughly a minute and thirty seconds and I counted a total of 51 shots altogether. The scene has a lot of forward movement, matched action and build up where one of the film’s protagonist’s Chingachgook confronts the villain Magua in a classic fight to the death sequence overlooking the Adirondacks. This scene or sequence of shots is not a montage, but rather follows in accordance to continuity editing protocols. It starts off with a low angle, wide/long shot of our two heroes Chingachgook and Hawkeye running up the trail of the mountain, from the left side of the screen. They cut to the first enemy they engage with right of screen who turns to face them. Hawkeye fires a musket and kills the enemy. There’s an immediate cut to the lead trailblazer, our villain Magua who turns and the audience gets a POV/over the sh...