Editing: Action VS Rom Com

James Bond: Quantum Of SolaceSynopsisFollowing the death of Vesper Lynd, James Bond (Daniel Craig) makes his next mission personal. The hunt for those who blackmailed his lover leads to ruthless businessman Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a key player in the organization which coerced Vesper. Bond learns that Greene is plotting to gain total control of a vital natural resource, and he must navigate a minefield of danger and treachery to foil the plan.

This scene shows that the genre of the film is action because we can see gunshots and fast cars, in a car chase. This is typical of action films because it is fast paced.This part of the opening shows good use of jump cuts which reflect the pace of the film.

Love ActuallySynopsisNine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects use all: love. Among the characters explored are David (Hugh Grant), the handsome newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer (Martine McCutcheon), Sarah (Laura Linney), a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, and Harry (Alan Rickman), a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary.

This scene shows that the film is a RomCom because the man is doing a romantic gesture by buying the necklace, but Rowan Atkinson makes it funny by being eccentric.

Quantum Of Solace: Sound• There are the diegetic, post synchronous sounds of gunshots.• The use of deep, bass sounds in the opening scene build tension and foreshadow

dramatic events throughout the film.• Tension is also built by using cross cutting between a calm scene (of the sea) and a

fast scene (car chase).• We can also hear the sound of the wind as the cars drive past and the car engines

which indicate that the cars are driving very fast.• The crescendo at about 1 min into the scene shows that the action is about to

happen. This intrigues the audience and draws you in.• The lack of narrative lets the audience focus on the action happening in the scene.• The sound effects throughout the opening are emphasized as it’s a common

feature of action films.

Where the music builds.

Love Actually: Sound• The soft music allows the audience to focus on the voice over monologue.• The music is soft because this reflects the romantic theme of the film.• The lack of overall sound allows the audience to focus on the romance of the

scene. This is also done by the sounds that would be heard in the airport being muted.

Quantum Of Solace: Shots & Editing

• Opens with establishing shot of sea and mountains. Using contra zoom.• Jump cuts between 3 different close up shots of parts of a car. These are very quick but it’s obvious

to the viewer that it’s a car despite the dark lighting. This introduces the car chase.• Jump cut back to the establishing shot shows that cross cutting is being used. This shows us a wider

view of where the car is then a close up of bullets which is another hint that it’s an action film.• As the music builds to a crescendo the contra zoom of the establishing shot gets faster, and the

jump cuts between close up shots become more frequent which shows that the action is about to begin.

• After this there is just a lot of jump cuts between close up shots and medium shots showing cars, guns and the drivers (including Bond).

• Moving on to 3:36, the camera dolly’s then cranes upwards to reveal a wide shot of the location, and text appears telling the audience that it is Siena, Italy.

• Jump cut to aerial shot of car. This is an example of continuity editing because it creates a flow from a high, wide view, to a shot that is still high and then to a medium shot of the car.

• As the car goes into a tunnel, there are jump cuts between different medium shots of the car.• Bond reveals a man tied up in the boot of the car. The scene freezes for 3 seconds which creates

suspense and tension.

Love Actually: Shots & Editing• A tracking, close up shot brings us in to the scene in an airport where we can see a

couple reunited. The camera zooms out from this and then zooms back into a different story of a mother being reunited with her children, when this happens the whole scene is out of focus.

• All the way through this opening scene, basic continuity editing and jump cuts used. This basic editing reflects the simplicity of the scene.

• The majority of the scene is in slow motion so that we can the emotion between people and it gives us more time to understand it.

• Near the end of the scene, the words ‘love actually is all around’ come up on the screen as the voice over says them. This reinforces the message and it contains the title of the film so it is also an introduction.