For those who can be bothered to read - research into other films

In depth research into film clips


Mortal Kombat Deception, Raiden vs Quan Chi and Shang Tsung
Despite this being taken from a video game I know that gaming takes a lot from film and vice versa, I know this because I’ve seen plenty of films based on video games, Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat and Doom are just a few. This clip in particular uses techniques that would be good to incorporate in my own film. Obviously the setting of this clip would be impossible for me to create, due to lack of funding, however, in terms of cinematography and editing I can take a lot away from the scene.
It starts off with a forward tracking shot toward the location of the scene, in a way this acts as an establishing shot to show the viewer where this scene is taking place. Whilst the camera tracks forward it cuts in and out of people fighting, very quickly. This would be a superb start to a film and a place where I can incorporate the opening credits for my film.
Over the top of the scene is overlapping narration, an older wise voice. This would represent old people in a positive way in that they are very knowledgeable, as they have experienced a lot. He obviously knows something we don’t and due to the character having a distinctive voice we can tell that he has a part to play in the games storyline. Eventually the camera reaches the scene of the people fighting.
They are shown posing before they fight; a generic feature of many martial arts films. We can also see what the binary oppositions are. The two ‘bad guys’ are dressed in darker and more sinister clothes. One has pale skin and tattoos with spikes on his clothes with dark green trousers and the other wears red, with quite expensive looking clothes. These colours and costumes connote these two as shedders of blood and that they are very good at it. The fact that the fight is two on one also shows their lack of honour, not giving a fair fight. The ‘goodie’ in this scene on the other hand is nearly dressed completely in white with white blue and has rather simple clothing. His hair is white and eyes give off a bright glow. This shows his alignment to good, compared to those he is fighting.
During the fight there is plenty of smooth continuity editing and the takes, compared to some of the older martial arts films of the 70’s and 80’s, are quite quick really. The fast editing makes the scene seem more action packed and busy. When it comes down to techniques such as the 180 degree rule it’s quite hard to tell as there are three people in the fight. However you can see that it isn’t broken when there’s more of a one on one scenario.
Being that this clip shows death and shows a merciless approach to killing, I would have to say that the game would be aimed at an older audience, perhaps males, aged 15 – 24. The game itself is rated an 18 but that is through the use of blood and gore, however this isn’t included in this scene.
Toward the end of the scene a clear disruption to the diegesis can be seen as the dragon king arrives, and being that he can only be described as blatantly evil, with horns, scaly skin, he’s an enemy of the ‘goodie’, and his army are a bunch of walking skeletons, he is undoubtedly not a good guy and would pose a threat. Obviously because he’s a dragon the audience will assume he’s a bad guy. This would reveal that the rest of the story would involve defeating this Dragon King.
At the end of the scene the narrator reveals himself as clearly an old man, however, he is silhouetted, making the audience ask questions, who is he? Why is he the only one who can defeat the dragon king? Along with this enigma code is a dangling cause, as to what that circular thing that everyone wants is and whether or not it’ll be used to do something in the rest of the story.
I think for my film I want to borrow conventions of this scene, the narration for example and the forward tracking shot as it sets the scene very well. However in terms of the fighting perhaps some more slow mo could be used as it is a convention in both the old and new martial arts and action films of cinema.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WQnBrEAzvE4
Jet Li’s Fearless, Jet Li vs Master Chin
In this scene Jet Li is fighting Master Chin in a restaurant. Its starts off, similar to that of the Mortal Kombat opening, with the two warriors staring down each other and posing before battle. However, differences can be seen throughout the scene compared to the other. Firstly there is a mix of both intentional jump cuts and short ellipsis’, these techniques are used to connote the pace of the battle being that they are used within the genre it is something I may want to think about when doing my film.
Due to the fact it’s a video game, the Mortal Kombat opening can include anything it wants and has the potential of infinite spectacle, however, real films, and especially mine, will not be able to rely on this and so other techniques must be used. In this scene a cross between fast and slow motion is used in combination to make what the actors are doing more spectacular. Slow mo is normally used in more epic parts of the scene, or if something needs to be noticed and is too quick for the eye to see properly.
In terms of its audience, I would say it would be for 15 +. You can see from the use of blood and the violence incorporated in the scene that it would not be meant for an audience any younger than that. There is a slight beauty to the film as in how lighting, and colour is used and there’s also the fact it’s a subtitled film, so this would put it up the jicnar scale, probably a B/A audience as they are the only ones who can be bothered to try and watch a film with subtitles.
It’s not too easy to distinguish what the binary opposites are here. The character played by Jet Li is wearing black and we know by this point in the film that he is our main protagonist; however he is going through a bad patch in terms of his attitude towards his enemies as well as his friends and this is shown both through what he is wearing and the aggressiveness with which he fights. His enemy is Master Chin, he is dressed in red and is a much more imposing and physical figure, so we tend to feel more sympathy for Jet Li as he, as a much smaller individual, has to topple this giant.
Their weapons are also parallel to how they dress and look. Master Chin’s sword is much bigger and as we can see in the scene is able to cut down Jet Li’s smooth thin sword to nothing.
The non-diegetic music used, along with that of Mortal Kombat’s opening scene, is a traditional Chinese music sound track. Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums. Chinese orchestras traditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked strings and percussion. Traditional chinese music is used through out this scene. This music is often used in films in China and is very generic in terms of their martial arts films. The gongs and drums/percussion used connote the power of the characters and intensity of the scene. Although it hasn’t really been used in this scene (just for a split second), sometimes more high pitched intruments are used, these are sharp sounds and relate to the weapons that are used, swords. I also noticed, after the two fighters had lost their swords and were fighting in the pots and pans, the music stopped completely and we are left with the diegetic sound of them fighting. This allows the audience to focus on the action and realise how intense this long and agonising fight has become.



Mortal Kombat, Johnny Cage vs Scorpion
The non-dietic music used in this is fairly different from the two other examples, despite being from the same franchise as the first however this is a more Hollywood product and is trying to appeal to a teenage audience. Once they begin properly fighting there is a heavy use of guitar. This defines the character of the enemy that Johnyy cage has to fight, Scorpion. The music is very intense and angry, much like the character who’s voice is nothing but a deep, powerful growl.
The binary opposites are clear here, the manner in which they act is a give away first of all. Scorpion has a deep voice and is very aggressive and Johnnyu cage just seems to be fighting back against this maniac. The way scorpian is clothed is a lot more sinister, he is dressed in a ninja out fit which is dark yellow, his eyes are clear with no pupils, making him seem all the more sinister.
Another thing I noticed, as the two were fighting, was that a series of point of view shots were used which put you in the place of the cahracters and make you feel more a part of the battle. I think I may well use this technique for reason stated.
The location they are fighting is also quite an evil place, full of skeletons and is pretty dimly lit with a dark orange glow resinating over the place. Editing is pretty fast paced too, connoting the pace of the action. A mix of long shots and mid shots are used, the mid shots allowing the audience to see a more complicated display of choreography. This is also the case for the scene for Jet Li’s Fearless.
I also noted a lot of close ups shots are used to show the expression on the characters faces, making the scene more intense.
In this are slight horror elements, especially when Scorpion takes off his mask and reveals a skull, that sort of screams, something that wouldn’t be suitable for an audience below the age of atleast 15.
I’ve started to notice that most martial arts/ action films tend to be aimed at an audience aged 15 plus so ill probably aim for that as my audience, in terms of the jicnar scale I’d aim it a B/C1 class, mostly male.