Notes on the analysis covered in the session on the 2nd of October of the three action film clips: Bourne Identity, Kick Ass and Kill Bill.
Analysis of the Bourne Identity clip:
CAMERA
The camera stays behind Bourne. Never gets into eye contact with either of them. Illusion of being followed.
Slow tracking. Builds up tension.
Once the fight kicks off there are close-ups. Not showing everything that going on makes it more chaotic. More worried for the protagonist.
Bourne and the villain in the foreground with Marie in the background. She seems helpless, worried and incompetent.
POV shot of the villain being flip over the table by Bourne. It catches the last second of it being upside down showing how Bourne has bested him as the villain is clearly disorientated.
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SOUND
Silence builds up tension
The silence makes the crash more dynamic. Shocks the audience.
Music comes in as soon as the window breaks
Punches and kicks more amplified. Makes the fight seem more damaging.
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MISE-EN-SCÈNE
The house is very bare and empty.
Almost too clean. Not a safe home feeling.
The villain is scruffy compared to the clean cut Bourne.
Lots of walls and corners → easy to have someone else in the house without them realising.
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EDITING
Slow paced at the beginning. Builds tension. Makes the sudden crash have a bigger impact.
Fast paced as soon as the fight starts. Keeps the audience engaged.
Clips often don’t match making it seem more chaotic and disorientated.
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Analysis of the Kick Ass clip:
CAMERA
Juxtaposition if the two lines of action → camera is still and wide for one, compared to the camera moving (handheld) and zoomed in for the other.
P.O.V shot of the gang punching him → makes us root for the main character, as well as sympathising/worrying for him. The low angle makes us feel claustrophobic and makes the gang seem more powerful.
The two main shots in the fight are either zoomed in or really wide. Therefore, you never fully know what’s happening: too little or too much.
Wide shot emphasises how small our hero is in comparison to the bad guys.
The bad guys are first seen in high angle showing that they are now vulnerable.
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SOUND
No sound behind the cat to show it being calm, plain and simple.
Emphasised street noises, footsteps and panting for the chase. This is chaotic and more threatening.
Music first introduced when the two lines of action cross.
The music is adrenaline rushing making the fight more exhilarating.
Music gets sadder and slower when the knife comes out as he’s willing to die of it → the sacrifice of the hero
This builds into the crescendo that comes at his heroic line.
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MISE-EN-SCÈNE
The bad guys have tattoos showing that they’re quite hardcore. Also supported by their scruffy clothes and hair.
It’s set at night, in an empty car park, just after it rained. This increases the threat-levels and tension.
The streets are clearly stranded and it’s unlikely anyone will come to help.
The light is behind them, until the end where they face the light.
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EDITING
Cross-cutting → two lines of action, gives you the feeling the two will meet at some point.
Juxtaposition with the editing being slow pace for the cat scene and fast pace for the chase.
CCTV camera jump cuts, so you can’t see all the action.
Fast paced during the fight.
Slow paced as soon as the music changes and the real heroics start.
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Analysis of the Kill Bill clip:
CAMERA
Bird’s eye view showing that she is engulfed.
Close-up of the sword. Can see the men’s heads in the reflection- almost predicting that she will be killing all of them.
Slow tracking around the outside of the circle emphasises the large force she’s up against. Start to doubt whether she can handle this large force against her.
Low angle when she has the sword in position. Makes her seem more powerful.
During the fighting, not many close-ups are made, which is not common for fight scenes. Mid-shots are used instead showing how easily she’s slicing through everyone- not high threat levels.
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SOUND
The build-up music sounds kind of like a ticking, almost like a countdown, building up suspense.
Beats when she moves her sword showing serves some kind of threat.
Music breaks when she first strikes, the music breaks earlier than expected making her strike more shocking.
Emphasised sword clinks.
No music for the fighting, making it more dreamlike and surreal. Also, making it less dramatic supporting the idea that they aren’t much threat to her.
Non-diegetic comical emphasised sounds when they’re injured.
Video game sounds when she kills people, much to the liking of the “level up” sounds.
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MISE-EN-SCÈNE
Yellow dot in the middle of all the black; good vs evil.
All have the same sword, making her seem out of their league.
All the bad guys are wearing masks and the same suits, so we can’t emphasise with them, they almost seem non-human.
When it turns black and white it makes it seem more dreamlike/less surreal.
Black and white starts with the surreal action of the eye popping out.
She appears white and glowing when it’s in black and white, seems angelic.
Set in a hall → no places to hide.
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EDITING
Slow paced editing as everyone is slowly approaching which builds up tension.
Long duration of a shot for a slow zoom, but then cuts before the movement is finished, making her strike more shocking and sudden.
Slow motion in the black and white, emphasising the dreamlike state.
It cuts every time she does a new move, as if the camera is trying to keep up with her.
Slow paced in the fight is quite unusual, which makes the fight seem almost boring as that’s probably what she would be thinking as she’s trying to get through them to get to the main villain.
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