Scene Analysis

One of my favourite films is Hot Fuzz. I adore Edgar Wright's style. I think it's brilliant and it really shines in Hot Fuzz. So, for the last blog assignment, it makes sense for me to analyze one of my favourite scenes in cinema.

Hot Fuzz plays like an homage to action cop films. Wright makes it obvious that he's paying respect to Bad Boys 2 and Point Break. So there has to be a chase scene. Starting with a medium shot of the perp stuffing his pockets with cookies with Pegg sliding into the shot behind him, we then get point of view shots of the two looking at each other figuring out the next move. It's quick close up shots zooming closer at each cut with the non-diagetic sound of a ticking clock counting down to the start of the chase when the perp finally moves. A jump cut to Frost reading the Supercop DVD cover without the non-diagetic chase music. As soon as he looks up we get a POV shot of the chase and the chase music is back and then a cut to the DVD being tossed back. When the chase hits the streets we get tracking shots as they run down the street. The cuts are fast. Some shots are POV shots like when Pegg halts and it cuts to a bunch of stroller pushing moms clogging the path. There is more POV shots when he sees the swan and decides to let it go. The starts of some shots are already in movement. It's as if Wright was panning but started recording mid pan to the action. It gives the scene a realistic feel. It puts the action in this action homage film. The only shot where the camera is mostly still (besides the beginning of the scene) is when Pegg jumped the fences which was a shot following the rule of thirds.

Most of the brilliance in Edgar Wright's films is due to the editing.
Nothing compares to it in my opinion.

Zoo

Central Park Zoo from Krystle Ortiz de villate on Vimeo.