Amelie's opening has very strange editing compared to most other films. Closeups are used differently, and the editing style is much more rough than what contemporary viewers of today expect (seamless cuts). There is a classical editing style used for the first 10 or 15 seconds after the logos show, with text fading in and out from the center of the screen. This is followed by an expected establishing scene, but in doing this a false expectation of what is yet to come is created so the viewers are surprised (hopefully pleasantly) when the opening credits actually start.
The most obvious unusual editing style is the jump cuts and almost hand held quality to the filming. Some of the zooming is choppy and when the camera is focused on child Amelie (played by Flora Guiet) it moves a tad and changes focus slowly rather than being completley still and smooth. This aids the subject matter (a child) as you could almost imagine a child doing the editing and it ending up similar to this (but it wouldn't because the actual editors did this on purpose).
The transitions in the opening also follow this choppy style with jump cuts being used often. Light flares are also used, but they are cleverly done so it appears to be an accidental error in the film/lighting rather than something the editor did on purpose. This paired with the other home-made aspects in the opening aid the mood and put it in a class of its own compared to more classical seamless edits and openings with perfect studio lighting. These non-traditional editing techniques are used to aid the nostalgic mood Jeunet is creating. They could make people think that the movie needed a larger editing budget, but really it is placing importance on the little things in the movie once more, which is an idea raised often in the film. The small details are what makes this film and its characters special and unique from cookie cutter genre molds.
Great job describing the editing techniques and specific examples. You have also explained why they were chosen by the director and hinted at how they contrast with a more traditional use of these techniques. I would be interested to hear why you think the director chose to edit in this nontraditional way, when it could be offputting to audiences used to more traditional methods.
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