ACTION FILM SCENE ANALYSIS

For my action film scene analysis I chose an extract from the Sam Mendes film Skyfall. This is a James Bond film full with action scenes, the one I chose in particular is the opening scene of the  fight that takes place on top of a moving train in Turkey and specifically, Varda Bridge, Adana, Turkey. 

The first shot we see is of a middle aged man being violently strangled with what appears to be a security chip encased in clear plastic on a chain. At first we might assume that the man that is being strangled is the hero in this film and the one that is attacking him is therefore the villain. However, shortly after that shot, after another shot establishing where this attack is taking place, the camera rises up higher and more zoomed out for us to discover that the "attacker" is the iconic MI6 agent James Bond, the actual hero. The villain manages to get free of Bond's grasp and stands up, Bond then turns around sharply and the shot that follows is barely even one second long and of an extremely low tunnel in which the train is going through from the two men's perspective which is the roof of the train. Both men quickly flatten their bodies to the roof of the train continuing to struggle whilst laying low on the roof. The shots flash fast, one showing an extreme close up of the security chip being fought after, another of the same place but a long shot so we can see the men's faces and bodies as well as the fight for the security chip. The shot changes quickly and shows a view down the train tunnel and in the left corner you can still see the struggle. The next shot we see is a close up of a woman driving a jeep  along the edge of a cliff which then  almost instantly changes to a point of view shot of a bridge. 

This all takes place within 15 seconds of the clip, and there are already approximately shots from different angles at a fast pace which captures the atmosphere of the scene. The feel we get from just those first 15 seconds is that this film is fast, intense, action filled and entertaining. We get this impression from the speed of the shot changes, the actual content of the shot and also the music they play during this particular part. We, as the viewing audience, have already worked out the genre of the movie within the first 15 seconds. We get more shots of the fight scene at all kinds of angles capturing the intensity of it, the tunnel is very dark keeping the flashes of action entertaining and keeping up the suspense. After another view of the woman a shot goes to 'M' in a London office also a well known agent and we then realise that the woman is also an agent. 

This paints the scene as a battle between 'good and evil' and we start understanding more and more what is going on. We then go to an establishing shot of the bridge and the jeep driving closer to the opening of the tunnel. There has been barely any dialogue at this point and the dialogue has only been between the woman and 'M' over earpieces. Not much dialogue is needed in this scene as the actions speak for themselves. We then see the woman stop the jeep, jump out and position herself with a sniper gun at the ready aimed at the opening of the tunnel, in a point of view shot, out of which the train appears. Before Bond and the villain are seen by the woman more shots of them in the darkness of the tunnel are shown just before Bond is lifted up and flies into the open air as they emerge. We now see the fight through the sniper gun which is the woman's point of view. The shot flicks between the sniper gun's aim, the close up of the woman's face looking down the eye piece on the gun and a shot of 'M' in the London Office, to a slow zoom to the speaker box and a shot showing some other agents close by to 'M'. The music is still fast and intense orchestral music. 

The woman is speaking to 'M' and is instructed to "take the shot" at the villain although as he is still fighting Bond, Bond is therefore in the way of the shot. The music gets more intense and the shots flash faster between each character; the woman looking down the gun, 'M', the speaker box, the other agents, the fight closely from different angles and the point of view down the sniper gun. There are many canted angles and technics used in this scene, for example; they create a sense of jeopardy with the gun pointing at the villain but the hero, Bond, getting in the way of the shot. They create a sense of action whilst flicking fast between many shots at many angles, they create suspense with the tense music building up as the fight gets more and more dangerous. They show the conflict and combat between the hero and the villain in a violent fight scene capturing the conflict perfectly. We can tell that this film is a high risk, dangerous AA film not a historical one from the technics used. We, as the audience, feel sympathetic towards the hero and hope he defeats the villain and also as well as sympathising we worry and become tense as the gun is positioned and we are not sure whether the hero will manage to get out alive. 

The woman objects to taking the shot but 'M' demands she does so, the music is very intense and high notes are played as the climax of the scene builds. 'M' sounds nervous but angry as she shouts at the woman to shoot in the direction of the villain and Bond. We hear the gun fire and see one of the men get shot all fall off the train roof and off the very high bridge, we recognise the suit but hope for the best, although are hopes are shortly ruined when the limp body is plunged into the river below the bridge and we see a shot after of the villian crouching low on the roof of the train speeding away only to disappear as the train goes through the tunnel on the other side of the bridge, shock has spread across the woman's face as she trembles thinking about what has just happened. 'M's face scowls and the other agents look over to her nervously, then at the speaker box which is being zoomed into as the painful silence fills the room. We then hear two words come from the speaker box, these words are "agent down" clarifying what the other agents feared most. 

This scene is very well shot, in my opinion, it keeps the audience on their toes and holds suspense. However the scene would be far less tense and exciting if there was no sound in it. I believe that in action films like this you should vaguely be able to tell what is going on without actually watching the film. What I mean by this is that the music, dialogue and sounds effects should create their own atmosphere and not rely on the visual, so you should be able to hear what is going on as well as see it. In this film if you closed your eyes and listened to the scene I chose you would be able to tell it was an intense scene because of the fast, orchestral music. You would also be able to tell it was on or near a train as there is the sound of a speeding train playing. There are the mumbled sounds of a struggle which makes you aware that there is some sort of unrest happening. The dialogue shows that there are more than two people and as the dialogue and music get more tense and panicked there are two sounds that end the struggle that we have previously become aware of. The sounds are the shot being fired and then the sound that follows which is a heavy splash into water. We, if we only use our ears, are not sure whether good or evil has won but we do know someone died or is badly injured by the splash sound that followed. After the sound of the train whizzing off we then have an intense silence before finding out who was hit. The patience of the silence is great for tension. We then hear the two words that close the scene; "agent down" and know. 

In conclusion, I think this scene was directed well as used the camera shots, sounds and other technics well. It captured the right atmosphere, it was easy to follow but still tense and exciting and also showed a wide variety of shots keeping it interesting like 'shot reverse shot' for example. The even mixture of speed, jeopardy, suspense, conflict and combat as well as very little dialogue creates a great clip of a typical action and adventure film. 

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