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the heading " scenes for introduction " — all of it covering the theme " atmosphere of the swamp and forest " — of course presents its own difficulties in editing. At the first screening all this material looks incoherent. Where, in this welter, is the main theme that must be developed ?
The editor had no precise shooting script to follow which told him : " We open with a close-up of a lotus-leaf silhouetted against the water, followed by a shot of an alligator climbing upon a raft ..." Instead, there was only a general description of the locale and of the atmosphere and feeling which should be expressed (" We are spellbound by all the wild life and the mystery of the wilderness which lies ahead . . . ").
The editor has to discover and disclose the director's design and use as further guides :
(1) the indication that he has to portray a mysterious wilderness as yet untouched by civilisation ;
(2) that he has to portray this in a lyrical mood to conform to the style and balance of rhythm in the rest of the film and that this wilderness has to be seen through the magic eyes of a twelve-year-old boy (the editor has to watch that this particular sequence does not unfold like an epic or become a glorified travelogue) ;
(3) though each shot already possesses the inherent qualities of the mysterious wilderness, each shot in itself is still neutral in content and remains so until it is brought into proper relationship to another shot — when it will at once become alive and acquire a deeper meaning ;
(4) last but not least : the screening and discussions with the director.
The dominant factor in the selection and continuity of the scenes should be their emotional content, their inner meaning. Once the desired feeling and atmosphere are conveyed throughout the sequence and a balance and unity have been achieved between form and content, the metric and rhythmic values will take care of themselves.
Here is how the opening sequence looked, when finished :
LOUISIANA STORY1
The opening sequence
The film is ''an account of certain adventures of a Cajun (Acadian) boy who lives in the marshlands of Petit Anse Bayou in Louisiana."
Ft.
1 After a very slow fade in (eight Music begins. 13 feet) during which the camera pans
upwards slowly we open on an enormous lotus-leaf undulating slowly. The leaf itself and some mud-patches form black reflections in the water-surface in which also bright white clouds are reflected. Tiny bugs skim over the water-surface.
2 LS. Black, silhouette-like form of 1 1 an alligator swimming very slowly. Again clear white clouds are
reflected in the water.
1 Director : Robert Flaherty. Editor and Associate Producer : Helen van Dongen. Robert Flaherty Productions, 1948.
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