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‘Run Lola Run’ Comparative Scene Analysis

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Run Lola Run Comparative Scene Analysis

The focus of the paper is the comparison of the use of the fundamental techniques used to

make a film. Some of the techniques discussed include mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography,

and sound. The paper analyzes Run Lola Run (1998) in order to understand these film concepts

and their elements in two different scenes “00:11:05 to 00:13:05” and “00:48 to 00:50” in order

to expound on the intended meaning, and message shared to the viewers by the directors in each

given scene.

In summary, Tom Tykwer is the director of the film “Run Lola Run” released in 1998. To

make its concept appealing to most people, the director made this fast-paced movie to have a

simplistic plot with a philosophical twist on the ideas of fate, chance, time, consequences as well

as choices1. There is no instance in the film that the viewer is given time to relax and get bored.

The main character is always on the run trying to beat time as suggested by the title. This

comparative analysis will only focus on four minutes from the entire movie with a maximum of

two minutes per scene. In the film suspense, direction, need, urgency, and emotions have been

shared through the use of mise-en-scene and cinematography techniques.

The first technique is Mise-en-scene which has been used in both scenes to put emphasis

on the narrative nature of the film. An element such as costume and makeup has been used all

through the film and within the two scenes. Costumes and makeups have played a major role in

defining the characters’ nature within the film. Besides, colour has been used in the costumes of

different characters such as Lola to bring out differentiation and emphasis on different meanings.

For instance, Lola’s hair is messy and bright red in colour. Red as a colour has been used within

both scenes to show energy and evoke the feeling of anxiety within the audience. The energy is

1
Cobden, Samantha Jayne. "Gamic Cinema and Narrative Space in Run Lola Run and Gamer."
PhD diss., University of Central Lancashire, 2018.
 3

expressively used by the main character since she needs it for her unending run. However, it is

transformed to the audience through the colour red. In addition, the use of electronic music helps

to hype up and boost the energy of the runner2. Anxiety has been brought out within the

audience as they wonder whether or not the main character’s mission will be successful. In

addition, the unending run by Lola needs a special form of physical energy. In fact, when the

audience is too focused on Lola it becomes exhaustive to follow her through the film with too

much anxiety about whether she will succeed or not. the energy in the film is driven into the

audience by the constant presence of the color red. However, the red colour works

counterproductive since it heightens the anxiety of the audience.3 The costumes on the other

hand, besides those with the color red, are used as signifiers of the social class of the characters.

The suits are used to symbolize richness and prestige whole, on the other hand, rings, tattoo,

piercing, and rugged costume display the punk style of living that Lola prefers. It indicates her

indifferent aspect. This aspect of mise-en-scene helps to bring out the general plot of the film.

The element of lighting has been used more effectively within the two scenes. In both

scenes light has been used in a natural way since most of the time Lola is running outside

(00:12:26) and (00:48: 30). This form of using natural light is termed hard lighting (125). It is

normally used to show the details of the character or object within focus.4 However, frontal

lighting (126) is used in the scene where Lola is talking to the phone since she is within an

enclosed location (00:11:03). With the use of Frontal light, the audience could see Lola’s face

2
Filoseta, Roberto. "Electronic Dance Music in Narrative Film." Foundations in Sound Design
for Linear Media (2020).
3
Bellantoni, Patti, If it is purple someone’s gonna die, 22, CRC press
4
Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith. Film Art: An Introduction. Eleventh ed. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.
 4

since it is brighter than the rest of the room5. A lamb is used as the origin of the illumination

(125).6

The other technique that is effectively used in both scenes is the cinematography which

focuses on camera operations and lighting control. The camera is moved close or far from the

characters to either make closeup shots or extreme shots based on the intention of the director.

To create anxiety within the audience, closeup shots are taken when Lola is communicating with

her boyfriend Manni. The camera is very close to their faces which gives the audience the chance

to read the anxiety within their faces. On the other hand, the compositional balance is developed

when the frame is centered on the characters. This can be seen in the shot where Lola is

contemplating where to get the money (00:11:07).

In a film, the connection between the main characters and the environment is important.

Thus, to attain this, Long shots have been used in the first scene. In this case, the long shots offer

more details to the audience as compared to the extreme shots. While running to save her

boyfriend, the focus of the camera is on the main character but the entire shot also shows all the

details in the background. It is through long shots that the audience is able to tell the progress

that Lola is making based on each location in the street. Medium shots (189) are also used to

show more details. These shots are taken in the scene where the main character wants cash from

the cashier (00:12:31).

The smooth and orderly transition has been implemented while shifting from one shot to

another. Closeup shots are used to ensure that the audience gets to understand certain concepts of

the film. For example, in the scene where the main character is thinking of those who could be of

help, her thought is given to the viewer through the use of closeups (189). In fact, the best

5
Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith, Film Art: An Introduction, 126.
6
Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith, 125.
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candidate is understood to be her father (00:11:20). Even though the transition is effective, the

importance of given scenes has been emphasized by the use of selective focus (173). The

selective shots are used to put emphasis on the importance of certain detail as the audience

focuses on Lola7. In the scene where Lola is running close to the river, her surrounding is

blurred in the background (00:13:05) since it is important at that particular moment for the

audience to focus on Lola’s face.

The similarity in the use of various techniques has also been seen in the editing. In both

scenes, editing has been sued to maintain the continuity of the film (233)8. Nonetheless, this

given movie breaks the 180° rule since the directors used a jump cut that makes it seem weird

unclear, and unconnected9. For instance, jump shots have been used in the scene (00:12:37),

whereby Lola’s left side looks similar to her right side in the next shot. The primary aim of using

jump cuts is creating discontinuity (233) within editing10. However, the director is also using

master shots in order to achieve continuity in editing11. By the use of master shots, the audience

is not left confused but given a sense of the surrounding before the shots are shown as close up12.

Moving from master to closeup and back to master shot the audience is able to get the sense of

the surroundings as well as make the connection between the characters and the surroundings as

seen in 00:48:00 and 00:49:11. This is important based on the 180 degrees rule described earlier.

It is relatively important to obtain the cause while it affects the connection between the
7
Cairns, Graham. "Fragmented fluidity: A possible future for spatial theory and praxis in filmic
form." In Visioning Technologies, pp. 150-166. Routledge, 2016.
8
Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith, 233.
9
Serrano, Ana, Vincent Sitzmann, Jaime Ruiz-Borau, Gordon Wetzstein, Diego Gutierrez, and
Belen Masia. "Movie editing and cognitive event segmentation in virtual reality video." ACM
Transactions on Graphics (TOG) 36, no. 4 (2017): 2.
10
Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith, 233.
11
Cobden, Samantha Jayne. "Gamic Cinema and Narrative Space in Run Lola Run and Gamer."
PhD diss., University of Central Lancashire, 2018.
12
Filoseta, Roberto. "Electronic Dance Music in Narrative Film." Foundations in Sound Design
for Linear Media (2020).
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characters and the events. Within the scenes, there is a slow editing pace that has been put in use

by the director in order to make the audience focus on the scene since they have special meaning

or emotions that are important to the plot of the movie.

In conclusion, the director has effectively used cinematography, mise-en-scene, and

editing to bring the plot of the movie and create a narrative effect. The mise-en-scene in the film

was used in order to produce different effects on its audience or spectators, the feeling of

adrenalin, and rush produce by the scenes of urgency and physical activity within it. In the first

scene, the emotional changes, and the adrenaline rush within the audience were evoked by over

edits, close shots, tracking shots, closeups, and transitions in each short runtime. However, in the

second analyzed scene, master shots were used to improve on the editing which was done so

perfectly and when combined with other techniques the movie feels like a rollercoaster.

However, it is through the effective use of mise-en-scene in both scenes that the audience was

able to relate and have the same feelings as the characters within the film. The three techniques

of filming are used harmoniously by the director to better the narrative storying telling within the

movie.
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Bibliography

Bell Antoni, Patti. If it's purple, someone's gonna die: the power of color in visual storytelling.

CRC Press, 2012.

Bordwell, Thompson, and Smith. Film Art: An Introduction. Eleventh ed. New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.

Cairns, Graham. "Fragmented fluidity: A possible future for spatial theory and praxis in filmic

form." In Visioning Technologies, pp. 150-166. Routledge, 2016.

Cobden, Samantha Jayne. "Gamic Cinema and Narrative Space in Run Lola Run and Gamer."

Ph.D. diss., University of Central Lancashire, 2018.

Filoseta, Roberto. "Electronic Dance Music in Narrative Film." Foundations in Sound Design for

Linear Media (2020).

Serrano, Ana, Vincent Sitzmann, Jaime Ruiz-Borau, Gordon Wetzstein, Diego Gutierrez, and

Belen Masia. "Movie editing and cognitive event segmentation in virtual reality

video." ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG) 36, no. 4 (2017): 1-12.