today we're going to talk about punching
and moving cinematic violence has
existed for almost as long as cinema
itself and for all the millions of
violent acts portrayed on screen
there's probably none more common than
the punch it's something we've seen on
screen so many times that it feels
entirely ordinary just another part of
everyday life if movies are to be
believed most people either punch
someone or get punched every couple
weeks at this point it's rare for a
punch in a movie to surprise us what got
me thinking about this was when I
recently revisited Rian Johnson's debut
film brick which I was reminded is a
really really good movie Johnson still
making crap throughout is masterful
exercising total control and one thing
that really stood out to me this time
was the way that he portrayed the
punches like this one now we've seen
this kind of thing a million times
before but here you feel it there's real
impact and it's not because the punch is
fueled by a huge emotion or anything
like that it's not even an especially
important moment in the film but it's
because Johnson is using fairly simple
filmmaking techniques with a huge amount
of skill that this becomes more than
just another guy punching someone in the
face in real life punches are jarring
they're not lethal but they're still
shocking and violent and an unexpected
punch in a public place is chaotic so
the question is when we've seen untold
thousands of on-screen punches how do
you make one that has the same impact as
a real-life one well let's go back to
brick the scene here between Brendan and
dode plays out in classic shot reverse
shot coverage until the punch here
Johnson breaks entirely from that format
shifting style perspectives and even
frame rate it begins with a close-up of
dode as his eyes suddenly flick upwards
then we cut to his POV with Brendan now
dominating the frame as he swings his
fist right toward the camera then it
cuts to a wider profile shot in slow
motion as we see the completion and
effect of the punch the cigarette flies
out of dodes mouth
the POV shot provided the shock the slow
motion provides the force yes this could
have been executed with the same
standard shot reverse shot coverage but
in the context of the scene the punch is
jarring it changes the entire dynamic
and energy of what's happening and we
were surprised as to you coming from
Brendan a guy who's not especially
imposing or threatening who spends most
of the movie slouching with his hands
stuffed in his pockets so by making the
visualization of the punch as impactful
as it is within the scene we feel it
just like dode does okay well maybe not
exactly how doe does it's worth noting
here that Johnson also edited the film
himself the guy is really good now this
is not to say there's anything wrong
with traditional movie punches far from
it and the stylized subjectivity of that
punch and brick are especially this
other punch in brick isn't appropriate
for every movie in fact there's
something that can be extremely
satisfying about a big classic movie
punch with a huge hook to the jaw with a
deep thud shot from an over-the-shoulder
angle this one in Groundhog Day is
hilarious man this one provides a great
moment of catharsis to the end of
diehard
so what elements go into a movie punch
there's the angle which in most
instances is chosen to hide the fact
that the fist is not actually connecting
with the face shooting from the side
makes that several inch gap clearly
visible so usually the classic
over-the-shoulder method is used but a
risk of shooting punches from this angle
is that most audiences know how it works
that's how punches have always been shot
because that's how you hide it you can
be effective but if the intention is to
give the punch some authentic impact to
make it feel real it's often more
effective to use and angles which
audiences haven't become so desensitized
so look at this punch from Tropic
Thunder or even though this is a silly
comedy it feels way more painful than
say this one because instead of using a
method we're used to of hiding the punch
it presents it's in a wide objective
angle
can accomplish multiple goals by cutting
at the right moment it can hide the gas
between the fifth and the face like the
punch and brick which cuts to the
profile shot a few frames after the
point of connection and a classic
editing trick is to cut out the one
frame where the fifth crosses the face
making it seem even faster and harder
the performances above all are an
indicator of tone they tell us whether a
punch is funny or serious as well as how
a severe and painful it really is and
finally there's the sound design oh this
can make all the difference in how a
movie punch feels the deep top of an
Indiana Jones punch is satisfying and
exciting while the wet smack of a Fight
Club punch is a little sickening
punches can also communicate a lot a
single punch can tell us all about a
movie's approach to violence this one
with the huge impact and slightly
comical reaction tells us that the
violence is heightened and for lack of a
better word fun movie violence we're not
meant to take this too seriously this
one tells us the violence is messy and
painful and much closer to reality and
this one
so the dissuading college town staff
tells us the violence is nasty and cruel
and upsetting punches can communicate
character information in Wonder Woman we
see the contrast between when Dianna
throws a punch and when Steve Trevor
does without saying anything the punches
visualize the power dynamic between them
punches can be funny they can hurt they
can be triumphant oh they can be
dramatic filmmaking is all about choices
there's an impossibly huge number of
decisions that go into every moment of a
film even a moment as quick as a single
punch contains countless choices each of
which can lead to a drastically
different result every choice has a
meaning and every choice has an impact
and look not to start a whole
conversation about violence and cinema
but punches are fun there's something
pure and cinematic and cathartic about
them so if you're a filmmaker and you're
putting punches in your movie give them
some thought and make sure they're good
because you can communicate a lot with
just a single punch
so at any punch hey guys I want to thank
you so much for watching this and I also
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will see you next Wednesday