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The in-between in screen media: a taxonomy

Interlude (musical)

Intentional (author-led)

1 : a period of time between events or activities

  • She left for a brief interlude.

  • He has resumed his acting career after a two-year interlude.

2 : a brief romantic or sexual meeting or relationship

  • They always met in the city for their romantic interludes.

3 : a short piece of music that is played between the parts of a longer one, a drama, or a religious service

  • an orchestral interlude

  • a drama with musical interludes

The Britannica Dictionary: Interlude (2023) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/interlude (Accessed: 15 May 2023).

Clerks

Notes

  • Between moments in narrative

  • Between scenes with the main characters

Clerks Bonus: Kevin Smith talks about the dance scenes

  • The dance was always in the script, but not something Smith favours - comments on how the dance is often a fan-favourite scene, and one he doesn't think of as remarkable due to the lack of dialogue

Clerks II

  • Break in diegesis - colour grade switches to more vibrant to show

  • Musical interval for reflection - characters making choices, audiences connecting emotionally, transitioning from a space of mental turmoil to clarity

Ferris Bueller

  • Musical interval for reflection - characters making choices, audiences connecting emotionally, transitioning from a space of mental turmoil to clarity

  • In this case, it aids in shifting the tone of the scene from depressing and slow, to fun and light - first of all, keeping to the comedy genre, and secondly, demonstrating the dynamic between Cameron and Ferris formally 

The Breakfast Club

  • Transitional, emotional - allows for a change in the dynamics between the characters, and a transformation in emotional levity

Pretty in Pink

  • Used here as an 'annoyance'

  • Ducky is interrupting Andie as she waits for her date, distracting her with an unwanted dance number

  • This scene is harder to define as in-between since it does serve a narrative purpose - further thought is needed here - how is this different from the above? 

Night Trap

  • The in-betweens of Night Trap are difficult to classify due to its formal structure

  • As far as the narrative/film world, this is a musical interlude. It interrupts the narrative.

  • However, due to the nature of the game, the viewer must click away from this scene - and so what is between what?

In Space with Markiplier

  • Interactive films are also difficult to classify, due to 'inconsequential' scenes/choices being variable in their narrative importance

  • Are they easter eggs? In-between? Or core to the narrative, because the experience = narrative?

  • Should a musical number in a musical count as in-between, if it interupts the flow of the narrative?)

A Heist with Markiplier

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