Hitchcock's Rope as Quasi-Oulipo

       This is a difficult blog entry for me to write, since I had trouble thinking of a text that uses Oulipo constraints, beyond the ones we have discussed in class. The only text that comes to mind is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, which attempts to show the on-screen action in real-time without a single cut. The technical difficulties of achieving this in cinema (as opposed to one long, 80-minute stage production) included trying to have consistent sound (and microphone placement) throughout extended takes that often moved from room-to-room, organizing props in a way that would allow the camera to move freely, silent stage-hands who would move set pieces off-camera to allow camera and microphone movement during filming, and actors who wouldn’t consistently ruin takes deep into filming. In fact, even after Hitchcock solved each of these problems, he still was forced to shoot the film in ten segments due to the limitation of film in each camera. Even if he had the capability to have more film in a canister, he would have had to deal with camera over-heating. Therefore, each long-take had to be timed so as not to run out of film before completing the scene. Each edit was masked so as to seem as if the film were shot in real time for one long, continuous take. Often, the cuts were masked in black (for example, an actor would step in front of the camera, momentarily causing a black screen, where Hitchcock would make the unnoticeable cut). The last limitation had to do with projecting the film in theaters, which required a projectionist to change reels (about three times for an 80-minute film). Since these moments would actually seem like they were interrupting the action, Hitchcock purposely made three unmasked cuts at the moments of reel changes, which would actually seem much more seamless to audiences watching the film in theaters.

       The result is a film that feels real-time and incorporates the best possible traits of cinema and theater. Unlike a staged drama, mistakes could be fixed with new takes and pauses were not needed between acts. Set pieces could be moved silently in one room behind the camera as action was being filmed in an adjoining room. Unlike the manufactured feel of cinematic multi-camera set-ups with over-the-shoulder shots and quick edits, this film felt more personal, with less technical distraction.

       This also brings up an interesting theoretical point: in placing these limits on himself, Hitchcock designed the entire film as a way to mask his self-imposed constraints. In the other works we’ve read or seen, the artists have been practically flaunting the constraints as obstructions that must be over-come. Perhaps the reason I like Rope (it is my favorite Hitchcock film) is that the constraints don’t actually feel like they are obstructing anything at all, just because they are disguised so well. It feels like a different text than the ones we’ve discussed in class because those works announced their constraints instead of trying to conceal them.