The movie I have selected is Extraction, and the scene I am specifically analyzing is the character Tyler Rake running. He is hurrying the child in front of him, Ovi, to keep running quickly. Extraction was produced in 2020, directed by Sam Hargrave, and written by Joe Russo, starring Chris Hemsworth. There is no exact box office number for Extraction, although it was the top streamed movie on Netflix within the first week that it was released, with an estimate of 99 million households reached within its first four weeks1. The scene at 34:30 minutes depicts Tyler and Ovi running from the enemy, one of Amir Asif’s men, as he is armed and trying to capture them. This scene captures different camera angles, and speeds which highlight the ability of the characters.
In the scene from Extraction, there is a lot to analyze. The lighting, the place of scene, and the characters in focus change. The scene changes quickly and the running effect is given by the camera movement being quick and shaky. The characters Tyler and Ovi are running from the Asif man, and then Tyler starts shooting at the Asif man. Ovi jumps in the car and Tyler jumps in shortly after, driving away very quickly and producing a chaotic and scary tone to the scene as the Asif man continues to try and hunt them down. The camera is following the Ovi and Tyler, going through light changes what kind of light changes as well as showing their point of view (POV) from inside of the car.
Within the one minute scene selected, five cuts were observed. Although, there were multiple POV changes within the five cuts, adding to the stress emotion the directors were looking to induce in the viewer. This also means that there were cuts and edits made within the film, but they were made to be subtle to the viewer and viewed as one scene instead of two. Often it was not two scenes being combined, but instead the camera was going in a circular motion to add to the effect of quickness. The POV switched from being chased, to Ovi and Tyler’s view running, to being the person chasing the duo, which is where majority of the edits were made. The POV would then change from following the car, to being inside of the car. There would have likely been edits made here, but they were subtle, and I did not see a clear cut. The cuts were made to be seamless to capture more attention from the viewer. While some of the camera work in this was made to be invisible, some was made to be very obvious to the viewer. Some cuts are quicker, and some are longer with the steadiness of the camera directly correlating to how fast the scene is moving. When there are quicker movements, it increases the anxiety of the person watching, making them want to continue watching to know what happens next. The thrill of action movies is that they move quickly and make people tense, which is why people keep coming back to them time and time again.
The violence and stress that is induced in this scene is what keeps consumers attracted to action movies. Bombs are being thrown and guns are being shot meaning lives are potentially in danger. In this scene nobody was hurt, but they were in fight or flight mode trying to flee the danger. The sound effects add to the scene and make it more realistic for the viewer. Classic gender and race views are being implied in this scene with the men incorporated in the violence. Tyler, a white heterosexual man is being portrayed as the hero to the young boy, Ovi who is of South Asian Descent, and they are running from one of the Asif men who is also of South Asian Descent. This is enforcing the idea that non white characters are often displayed as the villain, or needing help from a hero.
In scholarly articles, how the camera movement and editing of the movie influences the viewer is acknowledged. With camera movement, it makes the viewer feel like they are within the movie. Dollies and zoom aspects add to the viewer experience and trigger a response from the motor cortex in the brain of the viewer. Producers and Directors reinforcing stereotypes in movies is not a mistake. It is making the viewer think critically about what they are watching and how it is portrayed to them. The movies that people watch have an effect on their mind, engaging audiences by using the structure of “erotetic narration”, meaning that a question is raised early in the movie, and typically answered later. This keeps the viewer’s brains interested and coming back to watch more movies as well as creating an emotional reaction to what is seen on the screen.
Overall, this moment of Ovi and Tyler running in the film captures the importance of editing and camera work. Additionally, it keeps the interest of the viewer by having high intensity moments with a hero and someone needing saving. Overall, this film had success because of directors and writers utilization of modern editing technologies.
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