[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] 86 Style in The General
authenticity theory to certain kinds of subject matter, such as stunts. Thus
far, we only speculate that Keaton uses the long-shot because he wishes to
engender in his audience the cognitive and perceptual experience of seeing
that x as a visible totality rather than the different cognitive and perceptual
experience of knowing that x as a result of a synthetic mental construction
of fragments of information conveyed by a string of shots of details.
The discussion so far points away from an analysis of Keaton s use of the
long-shot in terms of pure comic functionality. We have argued that Keaton,
by eschewing editing as a means of representing equivocal situation gags, shows
a desire to present events to his audiences, with all the crucial elements of
the gag simultaneously visible at the same time. We infer that Keaton is inter-
ested in engendering in his audience a state that we have dubbed seeing that
x. This state involves knowledge. But it also contrasts with the cognitive state
where the audience merely knows that x on the basis of an inference from
the discrete details of a montage. The experiential modality, seeing that x,
can serve as a basis for all Keaton s long-shots, not merely equivocal situ-
ation gags. Thus, it affords a comprehensive basis for explicating Keaton s use
of the long-shot. This explanation argues that the long-shot is used in order
to engender the experience of seeing an event happening in its totality.
The problem with explicating Keaton s use of the long-shot in terms of a
desire to afford audience experience of the seeing that x variety is that this
interpretation, like the environment theory, is too broad. For instance, how
will this new formulation differentiate Keaton from Tati? We must not only
account for Keaton s use of the long-shot; we must also account for his use
of it in a determinate versus a multifaceted way. We must add something to
the seeing that x state of mind that characterizes that state as having a highly
determinate structure. Keaton s long-shots not only facilitate seeing that x;
they facilitate our seeing that x in a highly specific way. What way is that?
We have already noted that Keaton s use of the long-shot presents us with
a situation. We have also claimed that these elements are arrayed in striking
compositional patterns such that the eye is drawn to them quickly and
efficiently; we are drawn to the central elements of x so that in a glance we
immediately size up the dynamics of the situation. As the camera presents
it, the situation is highly intelligible.
Reconsider the gag with Johnnie on the driverod. We see both Johnnie
and the engineer. Formal devices highlight these two quite effectively. We
see where both of them are looking: the engineer busies himself in the cab
and Johnnie looks listlessly away from the cab. Given this, we understand
each man s ignorance of the other. This enables us, at a glance, to understand
Style in The General 87
how the ensuing situation happened. The highly directive structure of the
shot leads us to zero in on the crucial elements of the situation in such a
way that we understand, at an almost perceptual level, exactly what is caus-
ing the situation to unfold as it does.
Keaton emphasizes situations as developing processes rather than simply
as facts. He shows a long-shot with the engineer in the cab in order to include
the causal antecedents of the event. The event, Johnnie s ride on the driverod,
is represented as a process of causes and effects. He could have rejected this
method in favor of one that simply presents a medium-shot of Johnnie
where the rod starts pumping, and in which Johnnie gradually becomes aware
of his movement. This would record the fact of the situation, including the
comic fact of Johnnie s inattention, but this method would not explicate how
the situation came about.
The long-shot in The General functions to foster intelligibility in scenes.
Intelligibility here is something more than knowledgeability. A close-shot of
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