'Bourne Ultimatum' (2007)

Christopher Rouse

Christopher Rouse won the 'Best Film Editing' Oscar for his work on 'Bourne Ultimatum' (2007). Rouse shows mastery of story, character and pacing.

I have seen all of the Bourne films apart from the latest one, and the editing style has always impressed/intrigued me. At time however the editing is so fast-paced and jerky that you lose track of what's happening, and in some cases it makes you feel nauseous. I can understand the style of editing chosen though, the action on-screen, Bourne's constant fugitive status and need to get away. The editing style puts the audience in the front seat of the car and doesn't hold back.

"It takes tremendous skill to be able to weave half-second fragments of these shots into a coherent scene with logical pacing. There are so many possible combinations of shots that a weaker editor could miss the mark entirely."

The most memorable scene that features the most memorable edit is the scene in which Bourne is running along the rooftops, jumps through a window and fights a man in an apartment. The hand-held footage used almost throughout the scene adds to the intensity of the scene. It makes the audience feel part of the action and the cuts seem as if they symbolise Bourne's mind and psychical state.

The apartment scene/fight.

I have always enjoyed the use of hand-held footage, I think it's an effective piece of film-making that works especially well in thrillers, action and horror genres. Editing hand-held footage is always a fun task; with the camera moving around so much, you're able to make the important decisions on how long to stay on one shot. In most cases, you're required to make several cuts in just a few seconds to remain the level of continuity and relative footage on-screen.