SEEING IS BELIEVING IN ACTION SCENES: A HAIR’S BREADTH ESCAPE - BIKES RULE!

For those budding action directors out there, I offer some thoughts to spark internal debate.

I’m in favor of quick cutting, but against turning a fight scene into a blizzard of telephoto images. My cinema brain likes to process fast, but in order to maximize my enjoyment of the sequence, my information organizer needs to be reminded regularly of the spatial relationships between participants. The framing must also take into account that invisible proscenium arch through which we tend to see our daily lives. We need to step back, if only for a flash, to the standpoint of the witness. The prevailing wisdom is to keep the audience inside the action for maximum involvement. I believe this only works with the support of interwoven images that show the participants head to toe engaged in a brief dynamic movement across the frame. The close quarters style has been in vogue for a while, perhaps geared to capturing the attention span of gamers. But I think audiences sometimes can be just as riveted by a sustained action being depicted in one shot. Take a look at this duel between a road bike on the freeway and a police car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not the outcome the Skycam team expected, and all in one shot. Leaving aside issues of common sense and endangering law enforcement officers, let’s just focus on how we would consider staging this scene if it was on tomorrow’s call sheet. If Eastwood, Scorcese, Spielberg or Cameron told the studio that they would shoot it all in one shot, the studio would say fine. Wonderful. Any way you want.

And a Oner could be great. Particularly if the star could match the speed of the miscreant road biker while peddling neck and neck with the cop car - looks about 35 miles per hour. (My son Eric can, but it takes months of training). A helicopter shot would start framed on the biker and the car viewed from in front. Dialogue would take place between the cop and the rider, proving that it’s REALLY THE STAR ON THAT BIKE. Then the camera would pull back to the wide angle we see in the news clip. When the star’s bike disappears behind the truck, a stunt double would seamlessly take his place, having got up to speed like a relay runner hidden by the truck. The baton of illusion thus passed, the stunt double takes on the most dangerous riding, escaping by a whisker as the big rig causes the unfortunate police officers a mountain of paperwork. The chopper cam homes in on the rider’s face. VFX then replaces the green mask on the stunt rider’s face with the digitally captured face of the star. Big gasp from the audience. It looked like the star REALLY did that!

The studio would probably say to a neophyte director offering such a shot, “Nah, probably won’t work. Safer to cover it, then we’ll decide in editing.” (Note the “We’ll decide..” btw). It’s a valid point of view. But if you cover it merely functionally, they won’t vote in favor of the master shot approach because it is obviously more dramatic. Likely as not, they’ll use what you give them and regard you as unimaginative. So you better give them coverage up the wazoo. Every conceivable angle. Camera platforms on the bike forward and backwards. (See BMX BANDITS) And so on. Once you get into detail, you find, more and more, you have to show cause and effect. Your shots have to reveal the “Why” of things. Like why was the big rig driver distracted and failed to see the cop car coming before he turned? A cell phone argument with his ex-wife? An invasion of killer bees? Or zombies…Now, you’re talking. (Personal clue. “The nature of Monkey was irrepressible.”) Anyway, this is the smotherage approach. Both could be equally impactful in different ways. Which do you favor? I am about to start the “where to use the wide shot?” debate with myself as I start editing ARCTIC BLAST next week.
This clip was sent to me by my son Eric. (You saw him at the end of the BMX Mall chase sequence getting hooked on bikes.) Forgive a moment of parental pride. Film and Family are my equal passions. I greatly admire Eric’s commitment to a green economy. To interested customers at Wheel World in Culver City, to which he bikes 9 miles each day, he advocates replacing the car with the bike for short journeys. Good for your cardio vascular, good for your savings, good for the environment. Last week, two customers felt motivated to post nice reviews of their shopping experience on line at YELP.COM. Here’s one.

“Wheel World Is A Spinning Sensation!!!

So I’ve never felt compelled to ever right a review for a business before (nor for that matter, ever engage myself in so shamelessly cheesy and rather embarrassing phrasing that is that above tagline) and never thought I ever would. However, that being said, I’d never been as impressed with service than I was today and just have to give a shout-out, so here it is:

I walked my sad little flat bike into Wheel World today to get a tube for the rear tire. And right away, I became more blown away than my tire with the WW crew! … Namely a super-bright cyclin’-savvy associate named Eric. He not only led me to what i needed for the repair, but he went out and fixed it all up for me, thoroughly and enthusiastically showing me every step along the way. It was like a crash-course in biking by what can only appear to be the Yoda of cycling himself! I mean, this guy really knows his stuff - giving me tips on biking, safety, repairs, and tons more useful details. And even more so appealing than his down-right geniusness, he was so passionate about it. It’s so refreshing to go into a business and not only get beyond-belief customer care, but encounter someone who is not only an expert, but really and trully loves and cares about their field.
Prior to today, I was the cycler that was counting the days till I could afford a car and chuck the bike (even fantasizing about how it would feel to back over the thing seven or eight times in a gleeful psychotic rage prior to setting it ablaze in a massive fire). Now I gotta say, if bike-people are marginally close to being half as cool as Eric, I just may take it up as a hobby and forget the car. Hey, I’ll save a bit of the ozone and get some exercise while I’m at it. … Hmm maybe that’s why they’re so chill … the endorphins or something?…
So in closing - two wheels up to Wheel World (and esp my guy Eric!)!! And a call to all you bike people, and even the bike haters out on the congested freeway spitting out emissions as we speak (formerly yours truly). Get out to Wheel World and on the road as a part of what I’m calling the “out-with-four-on-w/-two-wheel” revolution!

A genuine statement of thanks, not a plant. It’s the sort of thing that gives me hope for the future of my son’s generation as they face the increasing problems of our planet. I am lucky enough to feel passionate about what I do. I hope everyone can find something to be passionate about in what they do. That’s not easy in the sales and service industries in which so many people work to satisfy an often disgruntled and impatient public. The key is always to seek out the positive in the experience, magnify it, disregard the negative as much as possible. And recognize the essential nobility of service even when it’s not appreciated. I try to apply those principles to the film making process. So to all those at the lower end of the pay scale: the PAs and ADs, the camera dudes, grips and electrics, locations, set dec, make up and hair, catering and craft service, and so on - thank you for working so hard to make ARCTIC BLAST such a successful shoot.