Rope (1948): Narrative Structure
Long Takes
For Rope, Alfred Hitchcock shot long unbroken takes lasting up to 10 minutes (the length of a film camera magazine).
They involved carefully choreographed camera and actor movement, though most shots in the film wound up being shorter.
Every other segment ends by panning against or tracking into an object—a man’s jacket blocking the entire screen, or the back of a piece of furniture, for example. Hitchcock effectively masked half the cuts in the film.
However, at the end of 20 minutes, the projectionist—when the film was shown in theaters—had to change reels. On these changeovers, Hitchcock cuts to new camera setup, deliberately not disguising the cut.
Description of Beginning and End of Each Segment
| Segment | Length | Time-code | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 09:34 | 00:02:30 | Close-up (CU), strangulation | Blackout on Brandon’s back |
| 2 | 07:51 | 00:11:59 | Black, pan off Brandon’s back | CU Kenneth: “What do you mean?” |
| 3 | 07:18 | 00:19:45 | Unmasked cut, men crossing to Janet | Blackout on Kenneth’s back |
| 4 | 07:08 | 00:27:15 | Black, pan off Kenneth’s back | CU Phillip: “That’s a lie.” |
| 5 | 09:57 | 00:34:34 | Unmasked cut, CU Rupert | Blackout on Brandon’s back |
| 6 | 07:33 | 00:44:21 | Black, pan off Brandon’s back | Three shot |
| 7 | 07:46 | 00:51:56 | Unmasked cut, Mrs. Wilson: “Excuse me, sir.” | Blackout on Brandon |
| 8 | 10:06 | 00:59:44 | Black, pan off Brandon | CU Brandon’s hand in gun pocket |
| 9 | 04:37 | 01:09:51 | Unmasked cut, CU Rupert | Blackout on lid of chest |
| 10 | 05:38 | 01:14:35 | Black, tilt up from lid of chest | End of film |
Hitchcock told Truffaut that he ended up re-shooting the last 5 segments because he was dissatisfied with the color of the sunset.
Intertextuality
Hitchcock would use this long-take approach again–though to a lesser extent–on his next film, Under Capricorn (1949), and in limited way in Stage Fright (1950).
