Tuesday 3 January 2012

Crash In

Crash in: a forceful maneuver that renders an extreme response to something.
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The Effect
Crashing in is a profound use of motion where both the artist and the camera move toward one another in a strong, singular vector. This collision of two opposing forces can elicit a strong emotional response such as shock, fear or awe or fear. Three primary uses of this effect are:

1. Surprise: The artists encounter something overpowering that stops them dead in their tracks
2. Confrontation: Two opposing forces come head to head in a showdown, a battle of wills
3. Fusion: Two forces gravitate to one another in an intense union
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Execution
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In this particular scene I'll be using Jame's Cameron's Aliens as an example of a confrontational 'crashing in'. Ripley is trying to protect Newt, (a young girl whom she has taken into her care), from a Mother Alien which threatens to kill her and the surviving crew.
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Part A: Crash in, full shot to full close up!

The actress enters the landing dock clad in a mechanised body-suit. 20 ft of track is laid down directly in front of her. On action she walks several toward the camera (around 10 ft) while the camera rushes across 20 ft of track toward her. With the addition of two forces moving toward one another it appears as though the actress is accelerating toward us. In the above image she moves from a full shot to a close up in a matter of seconds! 
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Part B: Static, Close up 
We cut from a close up of the actress to a close up of the Aliens maw as it  lets out a guttural hiss. It is quite literally a face off!


Motion / Emotion
The motion of two opposing forces coming together (camera and artist) creating a visual collision. It appears quite threatening and forceful eliciting an aggressive feeling from the audience. It mimics the human action of stepping aggressively into another persons face as though to goad them into a fight. 
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When the camera tracks and stops on her close up it helps to punctuate her following line "get away from her you BITCH!This effect is often used to intensify dialogue and give it more punch, especially in a confrontational scene. 
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Thanks for reading.

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