Film Research #2 - Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a comedy/parody film based on the life of a police officer, 'Nicolas Angel'. In the film Nicolas Angel and another police officer are trying to solve mysterious deaths in an English village. Released to the public in 2007, Hot Fuzz's script writers took inspiration from over 100 action films. Hot Fuzz takes elements from typical 'cop' films and emphasis's them to a point where it reaches comedic effect.
The scene begins with a long shot looking down a hallway. From the camera's position we can see folders which the audience can presume are full of important documents due to the desk that can be seen directly in front of the camera. These suggest we are in some type of office or reception area for the rest of the building. In the distance we can see a man entering the building from the entrance doors, slowly making his way to the desk. The walk promotes mystery among the audience as there is anticipation as to the reveal of who and what this man is. As the man makes his way to the desk the camera moves towards him slowly with the use of a tracking shot, this makes the audience feel as if they are walking towards the desk about to confront the man, this could promote that this is a POV shot instead of a long shot in the view of a receptionist, including the audience, putting them in the view of the receptionist making them feel as though they are the receptionist. The only sound in this scene is the diegetic sound of his steps, due to his police boots the steps sound heavy and are loud thuds on the ground until the end of the scene. At the end of the scene the man's face is revealed as he walks into the office area, taking off his hat which displays that he is a police office due to it being a police hat, and brings his ID up to the camera to which the camera uses a fast zoom in to focus the audience's attention on said ID which displays the character's name, 'Nicholas Angel' and other details that would be on a police ID. The costume of the character cements the audience's suspicion that this is a police station, and that the camera is behind a reception desk, this is because the actor is wearing a typical police officer uniform with the hat. The prop of the police ID confirms that he is definitely an officer of the law. At the end of the scene a voice over begins which we can not for definite say if it is in the officer's point of view or not so we are unaware as to if it is diegetic or non-diegetic. The voice over repeats the name we see on the ID and includes his police rank.
The removal of the ID is used to hide a fade in/out transition to the next scene which is a close up of his boots, because of this we can see that they are clean and polished meaning this man takes great pride in his work and appearance. There are then a sequence of straight edits during the scene that change the focal point of the scene, for example there is one that goes to a slightly low-angled mid shot of the officer, displaying his righteousness and authority. Through the next couple of changes in camera shot using objects like pillars to hide the fade ins/outs we see multiple angels of the man such as a mid shot of him, a extreme close up of his officer number and two different close ups of his face one closer than the last. The quick succession of transitions increase the pace of the scene as if keeping up with his pace of walking. During the scene we see other police officers, confirming that this is a police station/office. The dialogue in this scene is quite clearly a non-diegetic voice over as we can not see anyone talking. This voice over is a sound bridge as it continues through the many scenes without stopping or changing tone. The dialogue is describing 'Nicholas Angel's' achievements in life, we know this because he is talking about university degrees and education right after he has said a name, allowing us to presume he is addressing the person he just named.
We then fade into a new area which due to the voice over we know is the police college, we know this as the voice over immediately says in this new scene that Nicholas Angel graduated the college of police training. It begins this new scene with an arc shot with Angel at the centre, displaying the other police cadets allowing the audience to see who he is working with. A straight edit then goes into tracking shot starting from a mid shot but moves to a close up, this allows us to see what he is wearing along with his co-students. Due to the blue uniform they are wearing it allows the audience to link them to the academy as stereotypical police men and women wear a lot of blue. Having this group is important as it establishes that we are in an academy with many students.
A cross-dissolve mixed with an arc shot then moves us into the next scene which we can see is an exercise of some type. Due to the voice-over we know that this is definitely a training exercise as he mentions Angel's skills in field exercises. The quick flashes of white display action as it causes the shots to be on screen for a short amount of time causing the scene to be constantly progressing and at a fast pace, the level of progression the action genre is known for, keeping the audience engaged. The look on Angel's face adds to the comedic affect as it is over-exaggerated, over-exaggeration is common in the comedy genre as it causes the audience to laugh.
Another cross-dissolve bring us to a road, this is where riot practice is happening. Again we see the use of white flashes being used to keep the scene from becoming stale, causing the audience to constantly be exposed to new features such as differentiating proxemics. We also see weapons such as malatovs which would often be used in riots. It then cuts to an extended extreme close up shot of Angel's eyes, this adds comedy as his eyes are an over-exaggeration of intense concentration but could also be interpreted as over-exaggerated aggression and/or determination.
The next shot, transitioned to via cross-dissolves shows us Angel's exam paper. In this scene we see Angel tick a couple of answers and then hold the exam paper up to display he is finished, this adds a slight comedic effect as everyone else in the room is still writing and the fact he ticks two boxes and is done makes it seem like he has impressive knowledge and skill as he seems to finished an exam in a matter of seconds. Due to the voiceover we know that he excelled at this giving the audience an impressive impression of Angel.
This scene shows us Angel's police driving test, the dramatic look he gives the camera after he finishes his test adds a slight comedic affect as its an over exaggerated look for what he has done, causing the audience to chuckle or be amused at the ridiculous nature of it. Shortly after the voice over talks about his passing of 'Advanced cycling' and as he skids, the same as he did with the car, he gives us the same look but a bit more serious. This whole part is meant for comedic affect has advanced cycling is a ridiculous concept and the look adds to that.
This scene shows us Angel participating in many different extra curricular activities, which are all pretty much irrelevant to learning to be a police officer, however, it shows us that Angel is potentially a 'Jack of all Trades' which means that he is successful in almost everything and anything he participates in. It also provides a slight, very slight, comedic effect that these are the activities he chose as two of them fighting styles that are often used in other action/comedy films, martial arts are very common in action films as a form of fight scene and fencing is displaying a sword fight and in comedy action films there are sometimes scenes where the protagonist and antagonist (or his minions) fight with sword like objects like a stick, umbrellas or actual swords.
As soon as angel hits the chess timer the scene transitions with a cross-dissolve to a scene on the police track field. This is clearly a physical part of examination for the academy. The scene lasts only a few seconds, as soon as the 'coach' starts the, what we can assume is a race, the runners race off. The production team take advantage of this angle, being close to the racers as they start and the fact that one race covers the entire scene as he runs off to hide the transition to the next scene where we see angel coming first. The short space of time that elapses between the starts and finishes simulates the speed of his race, making the audience think that he completed the race quickly, it simulates god-like speed when in reality it probably took longer than displayed. The voice over tells us that he currently holds the record which allows the audience to assume that what we are seeing is the time at which he breaks this record.
Here we see Angel mid-operation with the previously mentioned swat team (previously, as in 1-2 seconds previously) named Operation:Crackdown, this is humorous as 'Crackdown' is another way people use to say 'stop' or the way that police 'Crackdown' on crime. It could also relate to the drug 'cocaine' which has a name 'Crack' and the building the operation takes part in is a stereotypical building where people would do these drugs or deal them. We are told that he receives a bravery award for this mission and as this is said we see a POV shot rushing towards a door with straight edits every few steps too simulate the quick pace the person takes, and because the last shot showed angel at the front of the team, climbing the stairs so we can assume this POV shot is from Angel's POV. After this the audience see's the team breach the room with angel shooting his gun after a man turns around with a gun in his hand. Straight after this is a straight edit to a mid shot of Angel, displaying his reaction, we see his face turn to dismay as he realises he has just shot, and probably killed, a man. In this split second we can tell that this could affect him emotionally, however, the next shot we see him going about his day as normal meaning he over came this.
In this final scene we hear about Angel's recent achievements with the force, including his 9 special commendations which to the average viewer would seem like a lot of awards to get in a period of 12 months, considering the name. we can assume that a special commendation is a special award that is given out to the best officers in the force for their commitment, dedication and performance. He has also achieved the 'highest arrest record for any officer in the MET', the MET being the police force in London, so knowing that, we know this is no easy feat to achieve considering the size of London, therefore the amount of officers and the amount of crime that is committed means there is a lot of competition in achieving this, meaning Angel works hard at his job. This provides us with the knowledge that angel is an over-achiever, trying his hardest to be the best at what he does, in a film this often creates comedic scenes where the character tries too hard to be the best and therefore fails. His name 'Angel' provides a characteristic, telling us he is a straight cop, as in he would never take a bribe as he is an 'Angel' a word typically used for good children. The last scene tells us about Angel's recent injury, inflicted by a criminal dressed as Santa, which is just ridiculous and crazy because you would never match Saint Nick with stabbing a police officer in the hand.
Overall, Hot Fuzz has efficiently showed some conventions of comedy-cop films such as a protagonist who gets so serious about his position he gets into ridiculous situations, and acts serious in them providing a comedic contrast. We also see which edits are effective to create a sense of action as well as how our first shot could go to make a dramatic reveal.
No comments:
Post a Comment