Film Language: Editing: Whiplash Final Scene

Whiplash (2014) - Final Scene
*I'll be analysing this scene from 4:04 mins to the ending,*

Walking off the stage in embarrassment, Andrew fails to perform on stage and walks towards his father to give him a hug. This is where we see a straight cut into Andrews face to show his emotions, back to his father and again to Andrew. These cuts are done at a medium pace but inform us that he is not giving up and therefore this was used to present the silent communication he gave to his father, he questions him straight after he walks off.

We see many straight cuts between Andrew and Fletcher as the Director obviously enabled the audience to see the brutal relationship between the 2 characters: Fletcher being cruel by not giving Andrew a chance and then Andrew trying to prove himself to Fletcher by walking back on to stage believing that he's capable of playing. The pace of these cuts varies in speed but as we cut back to Fletcher, we are interrupted by the drums and it is at this point that the pacing really speeds up and we can see this when we get 3 cuts getting closer to Andrew in a row and then another 3 of the situation before we see Fletcher again.

From 5:10 - 5:50 the camera only cuts when an instrument in the music becomes more apparent or more amplified in volume. From this point we see 8 cuts from Andrew's drums. This is because he is the protagonist of the story but more importantly because it these cuts can be said to be from Fletcher's point of view. We see his focus on Andrew throughout the scene and the way he studies his every move which is why the editing highlighted this. 

From 7:40 mins the pacing drops in speed and we see a shot of Fletcher nodding his head and smiling which informs the audience that he's accepted Andrew walking back on stage. The pace becomes faster once again but it is at 8:40 that no cut was used to show both the characters emotions. Instead the camera whips back and forth 10 times before it cuts! From my opinion it seems like this shot is what individualises the two characters from everyone else on stage and this clever editing choice not to cut has allowed us to identify this.

It is from 10:45 that we realize how Andrew is feeling at the moment. The camera cutting to his drumstick, face, sweaty shirt, sweaty ear, to his closed eyes and constantly to his drums and then suddenly outside the stage into his father's face - the moment that he realizes his son's real potential (being the person that encouraged him to go home when he came to hug him) allows us to see how much music really means to Andrew. In this situation the straight cuts is all that is needed to prove this to the viewer.

Towards the ending we see Andrew perform his drum solo and we see Fletcher frequently as he guides Andrew with the pace. I would say it is at this point we see that after all the struggle and hate Andrew had for him, Fletcher dominates him right until the ending of the film and we see a range of straight cuts between them.