RESEARCH: Deconstruction of 'Hot Fuzz'

Film Media – Deconstruction of “Hot Fuzz”

Director: Edgar Wright
Year: 2007
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy / Action

Camera Work
   The film starts with an extreme long shot of the main character walking towards the screen as some of the main credits are shown at the bottom of the screen. The shots change as he gets closer to the camera, from long shot, to mid shot, and then a close-up. He then holds up his police ID and this is an extreme close-up. We are then shown another close-up of our main characters feet as he is walking. We are then shown different shots from a mid-shot from the front of him to then a mid-shot to the side of him. This then changes and we are shown a close-up of the side of his face whilst all these shots are happening he is still walking quite quickly along this corridor, so this means the camera has to pan at the same speed he is going. We are then shown a mid-shot of him and the rest of his police crew whilst training, the camera then zooms into our main character and becomes a close-up of him, the camera has also blurred out the people behind him. The camera then quickly pans across and the scene changes and different mid-shots are shown of him and other police officers either in training or actually going out to a crime. The camera is always focused on our main character and stays at a mid-shot of him and also at different angles of him. We are then shown a close-up of him and a few others looking like they are doing riot patrol, this quickly changes to a long shot and we see a lot more of them all running towards the camera. The camera then flicks between being a long shot of the whole force running to then just a close-up of our main character this happens 3 times before the scene changes again, to a close-up of an examination paper to then an extreme close-up of a pen ticking answers, the camera then changes angle to a mid-shot which is also zooming into our main character taking this exam, when he finishes to tell us the audience that he has finished he clicks his pan, but as he clicks it we are shown an extreme close-up of him clicking the pen. The scene changes again to a mid-shot of the force achieving an award, this shot then zooms out and we see the whole force being taken pictures of and also people applauding, this then makes us realise that all the scenes being shown was of them all in training to be official police officers and then passing their examination. There is then a slight canted angle as our main character is running up some stairs and the further he gets up, the camera pans beneath him. We are then shown different shots of him on different modes of transport and then an extreme close-up of each of their wheels, as he tells us that he has taken these different courses. We are then shown different cut scenes of other activities he has taken part in such as fencing and karate. We finish the first 2 minutes to the opening of this film with our main character walking around a corner and the scene quickly changes as the camera pans, to our main character by the looks of it going to investigate a crime.

 Sound   The film starts off with non-diegetic sound as the opening credits and film companies are shown, the non-diegetic sounds are police sirens ringing, we instantly then know that the film is going to be police related and some sort of action movie. The sirens stop as our main character approaches the camera. There is then his voice over as he explains every different scene that comes onto the screen, as the scenes change and different aspects of his work are shown to us, he then tells us exactly what he’s been through here and what he has done, the whole time we are shown him doing different activities and training courses the character himself never speaks but his voice over tells us about it and what he’s done to achieve it as we are seeing it happen. As we are being told what he has done, and being shown, the whole time there is different diegetic sound matching to what is happening on screen, as we are seeing this we know that the movie is about this man, he is a police officer, and the movie is going to be about police officers, so we guess that there is going to be a main crime that will happen.

Mise en Scene
   The first scene we see is a modern city building, this shows that the movie is set in the present. We see a man walking towards the screen in a suit and hat; we cannot see what sort of suit this is until he gets closer to us, when he is closer we see that he is wearing a police uniform this then suggests that this is a police film and also makes us think an action film. He then holds up his police ID and states that he is a police constable and gives us his name; this makes us think that he is extremely serious and committed about his job by the way he speaks, this could also mean that maybe he doesn’t know how to switch off from his job and just have fun. We are shown scenes from his life in the police force, and with the amount of awards, training and courses he has done this also adds to us thinking that he doesn’t really seems like he ever relaxes and is too tied up in his job. The way he describes what he has done and goes into much detail about it makes us realise that he is actually very good at his job, maybe a little too good. We see him looking like he is on riot patrol running through fire and things falling off buildings onto him and the rest of his team, this makes us think that this film will defiantly be a action type of film and also that in his job he has to go through life threatening and dangerous areas of crime. We see him taking an exam and this gives us the impression he is very intelligent and determined to become an official police constable, we then see him and the rest of his team on a stage in front of an applauding audience being given an award, this then ensures us that he has succeeded in becoming a good police constable. We then see him running up some stairs this makes us think that he is busy all the time and doesn’t have time for anything else. We then see him talking to very different people showing that he is helpful and does his job well if he has been chosen to help.

Editing
   Sound effects have been edited over the top of the universal I-dent this sounding suggests that the film is to do with police as all we can hear is sirens and police cars. There is then a jump cut from the main characters feet to the top half of his body, there is also quite a lot of match on action used here. When we see him in different training courses all the other people around him are faded out, setting our focus on him. A bit more on we see him talking to different people trying to help them, the editing technique used here are jump cuts. There is then more match on action and continuity techniques used as he walks around a corner and the scene then changes.