Flashpoint
Directed by Wilson Yip
Released 2007
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Themes: Martial Arts, revenge, detective
Editing: The editing in a martial arts scene follows a certain structure from what I've noticed. Very fast paced, quick cuts to keep the audience intrigued in the action, making sure they're never missing any part of the fight scene. Hard cuts are essential. Switching from close ups to wide shots to show certain exchanges in detail such as a quick trade of fists or long, technical moves like throws and submissions all need to be captured in the right shot, and while this is part of cinematography, it's also down to the editing to make sure that they cut to each shot at the correct time as often in a fight scene, it's very difficult to dictate when it's time to change shots, especially when it's moving so fast. Slow-motion is also a very big part of many fight scenes as it can emphasize a certain blow to give it more effect on the audience or allow the audience to see the aftermath of an exchange. However out of the fight scenes, I saw some mistakes. For example when Judy was first kidnapped, there was a shot that was a close up of her face for about 3-4 seconds until she's hit from off screen and drops out of frame. And to me, the 3-4 seconds where nothing happened just seemed...unpolished and unnatural. She didn't do anything in those 3-4 seconds. No facial expressions changed, none of the background moved, her body language didn't change. If it was a conscious decision rather than just a mistake, I have no idea why the director decided not to just make it a 1 second shot until she was hit.
Sound: As I've mentioned before, sound is a very big part of any martial arts movie. Obviously it's a big part of any type of movie but sound effects are especially useful in martial arts movies for without them, a fight scene or action sequence rings hollow and flat. If the connections of fist on flesh didn't sound meaty and powerful, we as the audience wouldn't feel invested in the fight. It would feel like we weren't included, watching it from afar perhaps rather than being immersed in the experience. But I found no such thing in this movie. Only solid sound effects that matched up with the dust flying off of clothing with each blow. Not only that but the gun shots sounded quite realistic in the few gun fights as well. They also changed with the environment, so the gun fight in the open field rang out for miles in every direction, while the small fight in the elevator sounded a lot more contained and metallic as the bullets collided with the elevator walls.
Released 2007
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Themes: Martial Arts, revenge, detective
Editing: The editing in a martial arts scene follows a certain structure from what I've noticed. Very fast paced, quick cuts to keep the audience intrigued in the action, making sure they're never missing any part of the fight scene. Hard cuts are essential. Switching from close ups to wide shots to show certain exchanges in detail such as a quick trade of fists or long, technical moves like throws and submissions all need to be captured in the right shot, and while this is part of cinematography, it's also down to the editing to make sure that they cut to each shot at the correct time as often in a fight scene, it's very difficult to dictate when it's time to change shots, especially when it's moving so fast. Slow-motion is also a very big part of many fight scenes as it can emphasize a certain blow to give it more effect on the audience or allow the audience to see the aftermath of an exchange. However out of the fight scenes, I saw some mistakes. For example when Judy was first kidnapped, there was a shot that was a close up of her face for about 3-4 seconds until she's hit from off screen and drops out of frame. And to me, the 3-4 seconds where nothing happened just seemed...unpolished and unnatural. She didn't do anything in those 3-4 seconds. No facial expressions changed, none of the background moved, her body language didn't change. If it was a conscious decision rather than just a mistake, I have no idea why the director decided not to just make it a 1 second shot until she was hit.
Sound: As I've mentioned before, sound is a very big part of any martial arts movie. Obviously it's a big part of any type of movie but sound effects are especially useful in martial arts movies for without them, a fight scene or action sequence rings hollow and flat. If the connections of fist on flesh didn't sound meaty and powerful, we as the audience wouldn't feel invested in the fight. It would feel like we weren't included, watching it from afar perhaps rather than being immersed in the experience. But I found no such thing in this movie. Only solid sound effects that matched up with the dust flying off of clothing with each blow. Not only that but the gun shots sounded quite realistic in the few gun fights as well. They also changed with the environment, so the gun fight in the open field rang out for miles in every direction, while the small fight in the elevator sounded a lot more contained and metallic as the bullets collided with the elevator walls.
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