research: the texas chainsaw massacre

This is an action scene from the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there are a lot of fast cuts to emphasize on the action in the scene. I also noticed the colour of the shots, they are very saturated, which helps promote the 'eery' look to the house. In sit-coms they enhance the colours in the film to promote a happy and relaxing environment, it is the opposite for horror films.

As my crash, bang, wallop is, in a sense, a horror I will be looking to change the colour filters on the video to give this 'eery' environment.

research: jet phone advert

This advert for the Jet phone features lots of fast cuts, where the rapidity of the cuts increases with the dialogue, to create suspense. This is the extended version of the advert, lasting a minute, whereas the shortened TV advert lasts 15-20 seconds. In the TV version the fast cuts are used more frequently and thus creates more suspense.

I have noted down the timing of the cuts in 10 shots segments, the results were as following:

Shots--------Time into advert---------Seconds
8----------------0-12-------------------12
10---------------13-22------------------9
10---------------23-30------------------7
10---------------31-36------------------5
10---------------37-42------------------5
10---------------43-48------------------5
10---------------49-54------------------5
3----------------55-61------------------6

The results show that the advert builds up slowly, with 8 cuts taking 12 seconds, then bursts into life, as does the music and the narrator. The music and narrator are integral to the advert to promote that enrgetic essence, for having a soft calm voice over in an advert with fast cuts wouldn't portray a 'super-fast phone'.

research: hot fuzz

This scene from Hot Fuzz shows the characters from Hot Fuzz preparing for a gunfight, the fast cuts all feature the characters loading their guns. There are a total of 7 different shots in 6 seconds.

The fast cuts come across as very serious, but in the whole context of the film it fits in with the over-the-top comedy style that is applied throughout.

research: requiem for a dream

This scene shows the man in the film smoking and injecting drugs, and they have used the fast cut effects to emphasize the effects that the drugs have on him. The sequence features 12 different shots in 7 seconds, which means that one shot is visible for 0.6 seconds on average.

The fast cuts in Requiem for a Dream are used in a serious tone, compared to in Snatch, as the overall context of the scene has reference to a serious issue.

research: snatch

Contains strong language



In this scene, Avi, a business associate comes to London from New York. There are 7 shots in 7 seconds which covers the entire 7 hour flight. The sequence uses exaggerated sound effects, which gives the shots added vigor.

The fast cuts in Snatch are used for comedic purposes, in the way that the montage makes it seem that the trip from New York has taken about 10 seconds, whereas in Requiem for a Dream the fast cuts are used in a serious tone portraying drug use.

fast cuts

The definition of a fast cut is

"a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less). It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos"

There is also the technique called Hip Hop Montage which is

"a subset of fast cutting used in film to portray a complex action through a rapid series of simple actions in fast motion, accompanied by sound effects. The technique was first given its name by Darren Aronofsky, who used the technique in his films Pi and Requiem for a Dream to portray drug use"

The Hip Hop montage is applied numerous amounts of time by director Edgar Wright, in his works 'Spaced', 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_cutting

new project - crash, bang, wallop

We have begun a new project. For this we will be creating a fifteen second movie about describing an everyday event in dynamic fashion, we are required to use at least 20 cuts. We will be creating the movie using Final Cut Pro and After Effects.