Film Studies homework - Fast and Furious 5 - Ambush scene
Fast and Furious 5, produced by Michael Fotrell and Vin Diesel ( who always playsas one of the main characters , Dominic Toretto) is one of the highest rated in the fast and furious series and also my personal favourite. The ambush scene is one of the best if not the best scene in the whole film, it makes the person who wacthes it go through waves of emotions within a matter of minutes due to the amount of action packed into this small clip.
The first scene in this clip shows a close up of all the main characters, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) Brian Oconnor (Paul Walker) and agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) the director uses a close up here to show who the main characters are. There is a very dull music playing in the background as the main charcaters have been caught by Hobbs after being on the run. This music emphasises the situation of them being caught and makes the viewer feel sad.
The next shot is a wide shot of a person with an RPG who launches the ambush, this a wide shot to show that the person is bad/ a villain and this is futherly emphasised by the fact that we dont see his face. Once the ambush starts the music turns intense fast and fast paced to show the intensity of the situation that has occured. The director then uses a POV shot of Hobbs where he is looking at his work mate, however this is windowed which shows that he is becoming trapped and pinned down by the ambush. The scene then cuts to a shot of a close up of Hobbs, showing that he is important , however he has a enemy looking over his shoulder with an RPG. This makes the viewer feel very anxious as they can see the enemy but Hobbs can not. Throughtout this whole clip, the camera isconstantly moving which makes it seem like we (the viewers) are there and this is partnered with a lot of POV shots from the main characters perspective of the action. The next shot is another POV shot, it is again from Hobbs' perspective. He is one the ground injured and Dom comes over to help, he stands over him for a few seconds to show that he is superior to Hobbs and then he picks him up. During this moment the music stops, this is to show that this is a very important part of the clip.
Overall, the director uses a number of shots to show the giant amount of action within this clip and to make us feel as if we are there and going through the emotions of what the people in the film would be going through.
Your analysis is too short. If we remove the intro and conclusion (as they do not contain analysis) you work is approx. 300 words. This is either a lack of effort, or if you could not draw any more from the clip you can either - change clip and/or speak to either myself or Nick for advice.
ReplyDelete'Windowed' - this refers to a 'frame within a frame'. E.g. Hobb's is shot in a mid shot but is framed within the frame of the door. This limits him to a very small area of the screen connoting entrapment, (or how ever you yourself read the framing).
Moving on, you must provide more insight in to HOW meaning is made. For example...
Walker) and agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) the director uses a close up here to show who the main characters are.
The use of close up not only singles the characters out as important, but it positions the audience very close to them. We are being told visually that they are important and we should share their experiences. The framing also allows the audience to see their expressions and read their emotions - this then guides our responses. If Vin Diesel's character is angry, the close up tells us that we should feel tension, suspense, tension etc