VANILLA SKY (2001): editing

Like many other reality-bending films across time and genre, the status of truth and consciousness in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) is always in question. Vanilla Sky opens with initial establishing shots showing breathtaking bird's-eye views of New York City. Eventually, after dropping a viewer in David's lavish bedroom, a tense scene follows in which David leaves for work and finds NYC and Times Square completely abandoned. After David wakes up in a cold sweat and the entire ordeal was revealed to be a dream, the viewer is always aware that what they are watching may not be "reality".

The validity of David's perception and memory are weakened in several other ways throughout the film. For instance, in a clear execution of parallel editing, scenes are filmed once with Penelope Cruz and then filmed again with Cameron Diaz. In addition, shots of photographs and drawings of the two girls in the exact same context were filmed twice. After this, the shots were cut and juxtaposed next to each other during scenes in David's mental breakdown. Seamlessly, Cameron becomes Penelope becomes Cameron-- creating a flickering of memories between the two different girls through perfectly matched parallel editing. This brings the viewer concretely into David's confusion and panic.


The backbone of Vanilla Sky's editing technique lies in its tangled web of flashbacks. Though the forward-moving action takes place when David is being held in prison and a psychologist is investigating his mental stability, most of the film's action happens in the past. This serves an important function. The viewer is immersed in David's past memories in detail and feels the reality of their existence. However, at the same time, the viewer is aware that David is narrating the story and his perceptions of reality could be distorted from reality.