The triumph of commercial film

Clifton 2022-07-25 21:21:41

In fact, I have always disliked the two methods of distinguishing "commercial films" and "art films". It seems that "commercial" cannot be "art", and "art" cannot be "commercial". Why be so serious. Movies are used for many purposes. They are carefully arranged and produced to make the audience enjoyable while getting a good mood. Why must they be constrained by a label of "not art". For example, "Guardians of the Galaxy" is a very interesting comic change movie, all aspects of which are thoughtful, although you can't make it to a high stage like Oscar, it is rare to be able to do not insult the audience's IQ and be original.

Director Matthew Vaughn does not produce much, but from the beginning of "Stardust", people noticed his unique handling of comedy elements. "X-Men: First Class" is the most interesting part of the Fork Man series in my mind. The directing effect is better than that of the veteran Bryan Singer, bringing a unique vitality to this superhero series. In this film, he took his personal impression to the extreme.

But since it comes to so-called "commercial" movies, let's take a look at why this "Kingsman" is one of the most outstanding commercial masterpieces in recent years.

The use of aerial footage The

coverage (material coverage) of large investment films is often very comprehensive. It means that no matter how bad the script is, there will be materials such as long-range, medium-range, close-range, and multi-camera. But the most important thing in this film is the various aerial shots, which give the audience a very direct visual shock. Whether it is the snow-capped mountains in the film, the Kingsman headquarters, and the final global war of humans, the use of aerial photography has instantly improved the force. Often this kind of aerial photography will be widely used in films with epic characteristics such as "The Lord of the Rings" and "Stardust", but the appearance in this film about agents has a very special shock. Especially when combined with comedy elements, it brings a very unique look and feel to the audience. A large part of the cast and crew is dedicated to the aerial photography team, which is enough to reflect the director's emphasis on aerial material. This must be a deliberate choice.

Silky smooth lens design

"Birdman" has allowed viewers to experience how fluent camera movement can bring a sense of pleasure. Action film rhythm control has always been a big problem, and there are not a few in the Bond series that are messy. Few can be as straightforward as the "Bourne Bourne" series. The director of this film makes good use of consistent camera movement to accelerate the passage of time. For example, the brief montage that happened after Uncle Colin was stunned by Luke Skywalker, the male lead training, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. speeded up the production of sim cards, and Uncle Colin was unconscious. These were all camera movements from bottom to top. Although it is totally unreasonable from the perspective of space, different events are connected by the same camera movement, which seems to make the audience feel comfortable and has a sense of fluency, making the passage of time less sudden. Some transition shots are also quite smooth. For example, at the beginning, from the snow mountain in the glass ball directly to the real snow mountain; from the photo of the girl who needs to seduce directly to the real person. Very neat.

The speed control of the lens movement is also very good. For example, when Eggsy was besieged by gangsters and started parkour at the door of his house, the camera followed his movements fluently, neither fast nor slow, showing his good skills vividly. I must have done a lot of drills in the early stage. The speed at which the lens advances and rolls out also has the effect of shaking up the burden. For example, the first shot of the male protagonist as an adult is a close-up of the Kingsman badge, and then slowly pushed to the perspective to show the fact that he is an adult; and the section where the director of S.H.I. Then he slowly pushed it away, until his line was over, the audience just saw Obama's back and shook the burden out. It really makes the audience understand all kinds of information invisibly.

The use of slow motion is just right, not to the point of being frantic (you are the one who sells the black copy). It is only used occasionally to show tension, other times it is quite neat and fast editing. For example, at the end of the battle with the hero and the steel legged man, the cool slow mirror without double kicking really does not know how much flavor will be lost.


Rhythm control and music coordination

actually contain a lot of information in two hours, but it doesn't feel long. I think there is not only the credit for plot design, but also the role of dialogue. The literary opera is amused to adjust the atmosphere, not to mention the martial arts is more enjoyable. In fact, count them, there are really a lot of places where people’s heartbeat speeds up in the whole movie, such as: a

snow-capped mountain hitting a person,
reversing and hitting a person.
Bar trainer
interview: diving, show meat,
interview: skydiving, handsome,
interview: lying on rails,
interview, shooting dog, interview
: Resident Evil 5: The Curse of the Church
...

Waiting for the big drama is enjoyable, the small drama is heart-wrenching, and the literary drama is joyful. The audience's adrenaline has been secreted, and their attention has not gone too far. There are a few key plot points that have been handled well, neither too far back nor too far forward, which makes the risk a little bit higher. The cross-editing in many places also increased the tension, such as double breasts flying to the sky to blow up satellites/trotting all the way to kill the enemy/ logistics cool and clever machine. This part is the climax of switching continuously in the three stages of action.

Henry Jackman's soundtrack also complements each other. Except for a few places that are a bit of a show-off, most of the time the set off is in place. Other music choices are also "otherwise." With the help of background music, the supposedly cruel church drama has added a lot of absurdity; the bloody brainstorming drama has become more evil and full of fun under the background of the majestic march. What is the ordinary road? never heard of that.

Action drama choreography

, how can a movie about the agent's action did not play it. In the film, I think the most outstanding is the skydiving show and the church show.

It's not that parachuting has never appeared in a blockbuster. For example, "Iron Man 3", "Godzilla" and "Transformers". What surprised me about this film skydiving is that at such a high altitude, I can still cut the long-range view, cut the close-range view, and even cut various angles in the short dialogue drama, and use editing to create dramatic tension. How much effort was spent on coordinating this in the early stage. Especially for high-altitude dramas, because there is no opportunity for multiple exercises, the angle of the lens has to be designed, there are safety issues, not to mention the sound recording at the same time... I really have a headache thinking about it. Maybe a lot of post-production special effects were used, but from a production point of view, this is still great.

The church play is very enjoyable. But don't forget, anything that is enjoyable to watch takes a long time to design, especially when it involves so many people. You have to tell every extra actor how to act? You have to design each extra actor to get a knife or to bleed a little (the special effects makeup department started to get bigger). You have to design the best shooting angle in a seemingly chaotic scene, right? You have to let the actors and the camera rehearse to see if there is a conflict, right? You have to keep everyone safe, right? Really not everyone can handle this workload. The action designer must be bothered.

There are also underwater scenes. Let's not talk about how the male protagonist can hold his breath while exercising. How many departments are involved in underwater dramas! How long do you have to rehearse in advance! How long does it take to shoot again! (Because often for the safety of the actors, one shot will stop for more than ten seconds)

Such action scenes abound (Uncle Colin's bar scene!). Although it has the director's unique handling, such as rhythm control, music selection, etc., it is definitely capable of coordinating so much so well and the style is not messy. The reason why the director of the


anti-spy spy film

Mattew rejected "Days Of Future Past" was "Kingsman". He said that he wanted to make an "interesting spy movie". If he didn't hurry up and shoot it, others might be the first. This film can be regarded as full of tribute and banter to spy films.

The first is the plot design. The super handsome agent who first rescued Professor Luke Skywalker came up and hung up; the male protagonist did not pass the final exam of Kingsman; Uncle Colin was killed directly; the male protagonist’s mother really wanted to hack his baby to death ( The shining horse); and the brain fireworks after being forced into desperation... are all reasonable, but also unexpected. In the nausea/pleasure/tension/shock/sad/cute/and other emotions, the audience will experience chaos, completely away from the stereotype of traditional spy movies.

Someone asked why the director used a newcomer to act as the male lead. He replied that for example, if you choose Xiao Lizi to play the leading role, the audience must think he is fine in the end. The audience doesn't know what the result will be if the newcomer's words. (Speaking of the male protagonist is really good-looking) Samuel Jackson's villain is also unconventional. It's not like the villain in the Bond movie pretending to be sophisticated, but a street style, always swearing, talking with a strange accent, still fainting, and vomiting before death... It's almost impossible.

While the dialogue is humorous, there are also various cold complaints. Black Bond, Black Jason Bourne, sinking in a secret elevator, these cool moments vomit "How long will this tattered thing sink?"...

These choices have fulfilled the director's promise of an "interesting spy film" , Is also his deliberate choice. As the male protagonist and villain said, "This ain't that kind of movie." Although there are a lot of action scenes in the

conclusion

, each paragraph is organically connected with the story, and there is no sense of fragmented dazzling skills. This is all due to the director's control of the overall rhythm, as well as many factors of the story itself. No matter how crazy it looks, this is essentially a movie about growth. The audience always walks with Eggsy. The front and back echoes of the ending eggs also reflect this growth vividly. The wonderful combination of unique action + gore + comedy is the most interesting movie-watching experience in recent years. "Commercial movies" are so enjoyable, unrestrained and humanistic, which can be regarded as the ultimate.

Tucao:
1. Uncle Conan's watch patent has been breached
2. Uncle Conan's glasses patent has also been breached
3. Another magical bow tie will be alive.

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Extended Reading

Kingsman: The Secret Service quotes

  • Waiter: Would sir care for a drink?

    Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin: Martini. Gin, not vodka, obviously. Stirred for 10 seconds while glancing at an unopened bottle of vermouth. Thank you.

  • [after Eggsy puts on his suit]

    Merlin: Looking good, Eggsy.

    Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin: Feeling good, Merlin.