SHOTS AND EDITING ANALYSIS FOR GODS OF

EGYPT

The first scene begins through the use of an aerial establishing shot of the scene’s main setting, this helps to portray the huge scale of the setting as the camera zooms towards the city in the distance which is shown through changing the position of the city within the frame by placing in the centre rather than the top of the frame which attracts less attention. This is effective because it makes the audience feel more involved with the film as the camera moves closer towards the city therefore implying that the audience is traveling with the camera and gives the impression of flight which relates to the film’s narrative. Something like this would be more conventional for an action film as it attempts to involve the audience as much as possible in order to generate interest, unlike horror film trailers which usually add more focus to how the characters are portrayed rather than involving the audience.

The establishing shot also helps to portray tranquillity as no action is taking place yet which is typical for action trailers which usually give a peaceful and calm impression in order to focus more on the film’s narrative and later surprise the audience with destruction and violence.

• In the next scene of the trailer a master shot is used in order to show the how many people are in the stadium through a high angle which is effective in establishing the film’s Egyptian setting as the audience are not limited to seeing through smaller and more focused shots like most conventional horror films in order to increase the mystery of the plot. Allowing the audience to see the scale of the scene helps to conform with a typical action movie which wants to impress the audience with visuals.

• In this scene editing is used to transition from the previous establishing shot through the use of a cut to a black screen and then a fade into the next scene, this helps to make the scene more dramatic as the audience is only being shown glimpses of the film which adds mystery to the details of the film’s plot in order to retain the attention of the audience throughout the trailer and encourage them to watch the film for the complete story. This is conventional for many trailers especially for action movies which use short takes and fading in order to build up anticipation for what will happen next. The length of this and the last scene lasts around 4 seconds which shows how the regular pace is effective in building up anticipation unlike horror films which normally use irregular timing during takes in order to create an uneasy atmosphere which is more frightening.

• The scene continues with a contrasting high angle medium long shot which helps to introduce the audience to two main characters who have been placed in the centre of the frame. This helps to make them stand out in comparison to the other minor characters to the sides as the audience is drawn to the centre of the frame right away after the cut.

• The use of editing in this scene heavily focuses on creating short takes which help to focus on building up tension as no action has been shown straightaway which creates anticipation for something to happen later on in the trailer. The scene also continues to cut to a plain black screen in between certain shots which helps to create the effect of time passing by in order to switch between different scenes in the film without confusing the audience.

• The next scene begins with a high angle shot of the film’s protagonist looking towards the camera. The use of a high angle shot helps to portray the character as being more vulnerable and possibly weak which relates to the protagonist’s part in the film’s narrative. This is effective as the next low angle shot helps to contrast the protagonist’s apparent weakness because the audience is now looking up to him rather than looking down on him like in the previous shot, this sudden contrast helps to make the audience question the narrative through the use of Barthe’s Enigma Code which is implied as the audience is likely to question why the protagonist is shown to be weak and then contrasted by being portrayed as powerful instantly. This is quite typical for action film’s where the protagonist usually starts weaker and gradually gets stronger throughout the narrative.

• The use of editing in this scene focuses on fading into the next scene from the plain black screen, this helps to make the high angle shot appear more dramatic as the shot zooms towards the protagonist in order to reveal his facial expression. The scene also uses a graphic match in order to imply that the character in both shots is the protagonist as the second shot shows a the protagonist in a different costume, this is done by placing the character in the centre of the frame in both shots which gives the impression that it’s the same character.

• The scene continues by cross cutting back to the two previously shown characters which helps to establish their importance in the plot as the audience is shown the story through their and the protagonist’s perspective which is typical for action films that aim to make some characters more relatable to the audience through the use of Bulmer’s ‘Personal Identity’ theory as the audience are more likely to be more interested in the plot if the characters are relatable to them, in the film the example can be shown through the two ‘mortal’ characters who help to symbolise the viewer as they tend to be away from the action.

• The scene also continues to show the protagonist from another high angle shot which again implies that the character is weak unlike his previous appearance were he seemed to be powerful, this contrast gives the impression that the character underwent some form of change which helps to generate more interest towards the film’s narrative. The two ‘mortal’ characters are shown in the centre of the frame from a straight angle which helps to establish the relatability between them and the audience even further.

The use of editing in this scene continues to portray the protagonist’s weakness through the use of an eyeline match which helps to put the audience into the position of the two characters in the scene and generates empathy for the protagonist, this ultimately serves as a way to get the audience more involved with the narrative which is typical for action movies as appealing to a wider audience through a first person view would make the film more interesting.

The use of another midshot in this scene makes the older character appear more significant as he attracts the audience’s attention by being placed roughly in the centre of the frame which makes him the main point of interest, this is significant as the older character relates to the film’s plot therefore using midshot helps to make him appear superior to the protagonist who has been portrayed to be weak through high angle shots.

• The next scene begins with a wide shot of the protagonist in a new location, the shot is again heavily focused on the protagonist being placed in the centre of the frame to imply his importance and to give the impression that the narrative is focused on the character’s journey as the audience is shown shots of the protagonist at different points in the film. This is typical for action films as they usually follow the plot formula of a character starting weak and gradually getting stronger throughout the film. The midshot zooms forward in order to reveal the character’s distressed expression which helps to portray the character as the vital part of the scene and carries on the impression that protagonist is the most significant aspect of the scene.

• The use of editing in the scene focuses on visual effects as shown by the CGI background which was added during post production in order to show off the film’s fictional setting. This helps to give the setting more character as showing the background to the audience helps to give the narrative more depth as the scale of the setting is shown through the background.

• The next scene begins with a master shot of the film’s antagonist and his army which helps to create more anticipation of later events in the trailer as the master shot shows that the antagonist is dangerous through the use of camera movement as the camera pans along with the movement of the antagonist which helps to portray him as more powerful due to his placement in the centre of the frame which draws the audience’s attention to the character.

• The use of editing in this scene again focuses on the visual effects surrounding the character in the centre such as CGI backgrounds and CGI creatures. This helps to add more variety to the film as previously the main focus was always on the protagonist rather than the use of CGI as shown in this scene through the variety in the background. The use of visual effects is very conventional for action films as they have larger budgets which can be used to add more impractical effects in post production, unlike horror films which tend to use practical effects due to their lower budgets.

• The next scene begins an establishing shot of where the scene is going to be taking place. The shot also zooms towards the centre of the shot which helps to give the impression that the audience is flying through the sky like the protagonist therefore making the character and the audience more relatable as they are more involved in the scene due to the first person view through to the aerial shot. This is quite conventional for action films as they tend to involve the audience more in order to make them more interested in the film’s narrative, this is also done in horror films mostly through the use of Bulmer’s ‘Personal Identity’ Theory as characters tend to be more relatable than the average action film characters who are usually portrayed as powerful heroes.

• The use of editing in this scene again focuses heavily on visual effects as shown through the use of a CGI fire projectile and the cloning of another character which helps to make the film more appealing to a world wide audience like most conventional action films which usually use visual effects in order to make the film more universal.

• The next scene establishes shot / reverse shot between the two characters during dialogue, this helps to make the characters appear as binary opposites due to their genders which could also imply that the characters are fundamentally different in the film’s narrative as one is a ‘mortal’ and the other is a ‘goddess’ which can be shown through their differing genders during the shot / reverse shot.

• The scene also uses midshots for both characters which helps to portray them differently through their placement within the frame as the male character is portrayed at the left side of the frame whilst the female character is shown on the right side, this helps to establish equal juxtaposition between them which doesn’t follows Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory as both characters have an equal amount of screen time in this scene and are shown through midshots.

• The next scene starts with a two shot of the protagonist and the other male character which helps to establish their significance as they are both shown together unlike previous shots where the protagonist receives all of the audience’s attention as he is often shown by himself. This is effective because action films usually tend to focus the narrative on multiple characters rather than a single protagonist in order to make the plot more interesting and involving by making some characters more relatable.

• The use of editing in this scene is again heavily focused on CGI as shown by the protagonist’s costume and the background behind the two characters which was created in post production. The use of CGI is effective because it makes the scene appear more appealing towards a universal audience as special effects can be understood by a world wide audience. This is common for most action films which contain multiple action sequences that require the addition of CGI due to the limitations of practical effects that are typically used in lower budget movies such as horror films.

• In the next scene a high angle wide shot is used in order to show the three main characters in the centre of the frame, this helps to portray the characters as being quite vulnerable due to their scale of the swamp setting which is shown through the shot. This contrasts how the protagonist has been portrayed previously in the trailer as the audience was given the impression that he is very powerful as shown by the CGI, however the scale of the shot helps to make him appear more weak as at the start of the trailer.

• The use of editing in the scene focuses on fading into the midshot of the antagonist which makes him appear more significant as the trailer slows down from frequent use of cuts into a fade which gives the impression that the antagonist the most important character in the scene as the trailer wants the audience to focus on him in a long take rather than short takes like the protagonist, this helps to make the antagonist appear more threatening as he slows down the pace of the trailer in order to gain more attention.