I've studied a number of violent scenes in films, paying close attention to the foley effects and the way in which they add or detract from the drama for inspiration in our own piece.
Edward Norton on another violent rampage in American History X (1998), this infamous curb stomp scene is made that much more painful by the amplified sound of the victims teeth scraping against the pavement before his foot is brought down.
Speaking of history, this scene in which Viggo Mortensen's character inverts another mans face in David Croneberg's A History of Violence (2005) features very convincing 'crunching' effects to accompany the ruining of his nose.
Both of the above films feature complex characters that commit extreme acts of brutality and yet the audience is led to sympathise with them at some point or another, something that we will also try to convey in our film.
Speaking of Viggo Mortensen, here he is once again engaged in mortal kombat for David Kronenberg in Eastern Promises (2007). Though the some of the sound effects are a little 'choppy' and sound overly familiar, this is still one of the most gripping struggles in recent cinema. With Mortensen's lack of clothing rendering him extremely vulnerable, the audience sympathises with his desperate situation against the two hit-men, however it falls short of the primal agression displayed by Oliver Reed and Alan Webb in their nude fire-side wrestle in Women In Love (1969).
This powerful scene from This is England (2006) relies on a more nuanced approach in the sound design grounded in realism. The blows themselves are not exaggerated and it is the weight of the drama and Stephen Graham's performance underpinned by Einaudi's haunting score that makes the scene so poignant.
I'm already a big fan of Ludovico Einaudi's elegant piano works which are often minimalistic yet extremely emotive. I'm sure his influence will be evident in our films score to some extent.
Back to the ultra violence now with another head stomping scene courtesy of Ryan Gosling in Drive (2011).
The skull buggery is preceded by a tender kiss between Gosling and Mulligan which makes the violence all the more gruesome by contrast. I counted seventeen stomps which is tenacious to say the least, but I think it had the desired result. The stomps become progressively more gooey with each footfall even though the inflicted damage is off-screen until a shot reveals Gosling's foot standing where the would-be assassins head used to reside.
Another example of someones head being pounded into the concrete can be found in Sin City (2005), when Haritgan gives that Yellow Bastard a deserving end. Whilst director Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's comics are both renowned for their exaggerated style, Hartigan observes 'after a while all i'm doing is pounding wet chunks of bone into the floorboards', which is certainly evidenced in the sound design, again with a progression in the 'splatting'.
Sin City is one of several comic-book adaptations I've studied featuring a more stylised action sequence with more in depth fight choreography.
Although this is a far-cry from the kind of fight we will portray in our film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) still features a visceral one sided beat-down courtesy of Tom Hardy's formidable Bane. There is a good range of pitches to the blows inflicted and you really get the impression that no bone is left untouched, especially when hearing it for the first time in IMAX screens. The crunching of bone when he finally 'breaks the bat' is very convincing, even if the speedy recovery of Bruce Wayne's shattered vertebrae is not.
True to the panels of the original comic, this fight scene from the opening of Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009) adaptation features notable exaggeration in the characters physical capabilities, and the accompanying sound effects are no exception. Snyder's trademark use of slow-motion is evident here and these blows in particular stand out. Every punch thrown is carried by an underlying 'swoosh' which lends itself to the comic styling.
The Bourne trilogy is often praised for grounding the action genre in gritty realism, however this fight scene is still laced with 'swooshes' accentuating each swing and some fairly standard thuds. It does not detract from the intensity of the action between these two trained killers though and effectively conveys their deadly capabilities.
I'm not sure if you've been watching every example clip posted here, but this next entry demands your undivided attention. Like our film the scene involves a conflict between two males whilst a woman tries to intervene. If I were director I would endeavour to film a shot for shot remake of the following fight for our own short drama.
A prime example of the choppy, over the top foley laden in almost all martial arts films, Undefeatable (1993) boasts some of the most pants-wetting war cries ever recorded, with a ferocious mullet on display to further bolster Sting-rays intimidating presence. I can only dream that we're capable of coaching a similar performance from our actors.
Sin City is one of several comic-book adaptations I've studied featuring a more stylised action sequence with more in depth fight choreography.
Although this is a far-cry from the kind of fight we will portray in our film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) still features a visceral one sided beat-down courtesy of Tom Hardy's formidable Bane. There is a good range of pitches to the blows inflicted and you really get the impression that no bone is left untouched, especially when hearing it for the first time in IMAX screens. The crunching of bone when he finally 'breaks the bat' is very convincing, even if the speedy recovery of Bruce Wayne's shattered vertebrae is not.
True to the panels of the original comic, this fight scene from the opening of Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009) adaptation features notable exaggeration in the characters physical capabilities, and the accompanying sound effects are no exception. Snyder's trademark use of slow-motion is evident here and these blows in particular stand out. Every punch thrown is carried by an underlying 'swoosh' which lends itself to the comic styling.
The Bourne trilogy is often praised for grounding the action genre in gritty realism, however this fight scene is still laced with 'swooshes' accentuating each swing and some fairly standard thuds. It does not detract from the intensity of the action between these two trained killers though and effectively conveys their deadly capabilities.
I'm not sure if you've been watching every example clip posted here, but this next entry demands your undivided attention. Like our film the scene involves a conflict between two males whilst a woman tries to intervene. If I were director I would endeavour to film a shot for shot remake of the following fight for our own short drama.
A prime example of the choppy, over the top foley laden in almost all martial arts films, Undefeatable (1993) boasts some of the most pants-wetting war cries ever recorded, with a ferocious mullet on display to further bolster Sting-rays intimidating presence. I can only dream that we're capable of coaching a similar performance from our actors.
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