Skip to main content

Investigation 4/25: Scott Pilgrim Takeaways

Typically, I only really watch movies in a social setting or if there's one particular film that I really want to see. Over the past few days I've tried to change this habit by watching a film each night in the evening. The first of these films is one that I always wanted to watch but never had until now. Scott Pilgrim VS. The World was originally released in 2010 and is based upon the 2005 graphic novel of the same name. The film follows Scott Pilgrim who has to fight the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers in order to be able to date her. The film is great and instantly became one of my favorites. However, the purpose of this blogpost isn't to gush about how good the film is. The purpose of this blogpost is to talk about a few takeaways that I got from the film.

Editing

Since the film is based upon a graphic novel that is heavily inspired by video games, it took a large amount of creativity to bring those influences to life on the big screen. One of the ways that this was accomplished was through the film's editing. Throughout the entire film, comic book style onomatopoeia speech bubbles appear to accompany moments of action and sound effects from iconic video games are used to create a sense of validity that this movie is like a video game. The aspect ratio constantly changes and shots are layered over each other to create the aesthetic that you are watching a moving comic book. My favorite editing choice in the film though, would have to be the creative transitions used. In this attached clip (1:26 - 2:05) what's happening on screen efficiently shifts from one location to another without any need to establish a location.

 

A Flawed Protagonist

One of the biggest takeaways from the film is the fact that Scott is a very flawed protagonist. In most media that we see nowadays, the protagonist usually has very little wrong with their character overall. Scott Pilgrim flips this trend on it's head by being a total jerk throughout the film. From the very beginning, the film establishes Scott as not being the most moral of characters by introducing the plot point that he, a 22 year old man, is dating a 17 year old high school girl. This first instance of Scott's wrongdoings sets the tone for the whole film. After that point, we as the viewer watch as Scott juggles dating two girls at the same time, ignoring and abandoning his friends and band members, and manufactures an emotionally devastating break-up. Despite all of these flaws, the audience never completely hates Scott and still hopes that by the end of the film he can overcome his flaws and become a better person. And it's through becoming a better person that the plot is resolved. By the end of the film Scott is given a second chance to take on the final boss, failing once before. While originally the power of love is what lead Scott to his failure, it is through learning self respect and becoming a better person that he is able to finally do what he set out to do.

Work Log

  • 4/19 - MP3 Film organization
  • 4/20 - Mini-THON/Man pag work
  • 4/21 - Mini-THON/Man pag work
  • 4/22 - Made changes to musical promo
  • 4/23 - Mini-THON/Man pag work
  • 4/24 - Marketing Project (No Work)
  • 4/25 - Marketing Project (No Work)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Investigation 3/1: The Tools Of Camera Stability

One of the most important aspects of cinematography that goes commonly unnoticed is having the camera steady. Even a slight amount of movement within a shot can pull the audience away from the film, so it is important to attempt to have shots. There are multiple different ways that you can use to stabilize your camera, some of which are more effective than others. Tripod Using a tripod is the easiest way to stabilize the camera while filming. By having three points of contact with the ground, a tripod keeps the camera extremely stable. The camera would likely only move due to very large movements on the ground or strong winds. The one downside to using a tripod is that it has to remain stationary. If the required shot involves moving around, a tripod can likely not be used. Overall, the tripod is the easiest, simplest, and cheapest way to keep your camera steady. (Image Source) Shoulder Rig A shoulder mount is one way to keep the camera stable while also being able to mov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elements and Principles of Cinematography

Bird's Eye  Curved Lines  Diagonal Lines  Emphasis  Formal Balance  Framing  Horizontal Lines  Informal Balance  Leading Lines  Movement/Rhythm Proportion/Scale  Repetition  Rule of Thirds  Simplicity  Unity  Variety  Vertical Lines  Worm's Eye
Post a Comment
Read more

Post-Production Blog Post 5/9

Over the past couple weeks, I've been working to put together the Mini-THON Documentary for 2021. The following describes the status of the documentary as well as updates regarding some things that I have previously written about during the Pre-Production and Production stages of documentary. Transition Success In my previous Production blog post, I talked about my idea as to how to transition from the different parts of the documentary. Now that I've been able film the shots for these transitions and incorporate them into my editing timeline, I can say that my idea is largely a success. It was difficult to properly set-up the corkboard in a way that gave me my desired framing, but I'm happy with what I was able to make. Within the edit, the transition clips are given a digital tracking zoom along the string in order to show the transition from each labeled section. I chose to use a digital tracking zoom rather than doing it physically due to limited help to film the transi...
Post a Comment
Read more