Mike Frank makes a useful distinction: "does the phrase "real time" refer to the represented or diegetic time--in which case ROPE would seem to serve as a good example--or does it refer to an actual correspondence between the time it took to record the film and the time it takes to project it back--in which case we're talking about a 1:1 correspondence that exits only as a matter of historical record but is not itself inscribed in the finished film . . . in which case i'm not sure why it matters . . . perhaps there's something i'm missing" The latter type of recording is limited by the size of the film reels themselves. Thus ROPE--which is diegetically continuous--actually consisted of (I believe) five reels of film (but there are only two distinct cuts in the film). On the other hand, there are a number of films where the director has simply let the camera run for an entire reel of film (or close to it) with no cutting and fairly unobtrusive camera movement. Bazin made a pretty big deal of the strawberry shortcake scene between George and Fanny in THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONSbut we could also cite such scenes as Keenan Wynn's great comic monologue in the coffee shop in THE CLOCK or the riverside conversation between Jimmy Stewart and Richard Widmark in Ford's TWO RODE TOGETHER. Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN) ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]