In defense of cuts in action scenes

I see a lot of hate on this subreddit and on Reddit in general about the high number of cuts in Hollywood action scenes. While I agree a lot of the examples usually given are indeed egregious, I want to make the case that the problem with these scenes isn't the cuts themselves.

Sure, there are plenty of terribly-edited action scenes. This scene is awful, and the fact it has so many cuts is a big part of the reason. This Razzie-winning scene is another case of the scene being butchered by cuts until the action makes no sense. (Although to be fair, the editing isn't even the worst offender in that scene.)

One especially godawful example is this scene from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter where the action cuts so damn often you lose all ability to follow what the hell's going on.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have martial artists like Jackie Chan and Jet Li where they keep the cuts to a minimum during key exchanges so we can see blows land and get a good sense of the layout of the scene.

So. It follows that cuts = bad, and long shots = good, right?

Not necessarily.

Cuts can be lazy, sure. They can be used to hide crappy choregraphy, or create a hectic pacing that doesn't match the scene itself and leaves you both exhausted and bored.

But good editing can rely on a great number of cuts. And hence lies my argument: If the editing is done properly, in service to the emotional storytelling of the scene, then you don't even notice the cuts.

Exhibit A: This scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

From the moment the fight starts, there's a total of 20 cuts in 30 seconds, some of them super-close to one another. If you ignore the longer shots where no cut occurs, that's pretty close to one cut per second.

And yet, the scene doesn't feel overcut at all. Now, obviously, it's fewer cuts than that Resident Evil abomination, but I think it's not just a numbers game. The key is this: each and every cut represents either a shift in perspective between the combatants, or an action with emotional impact.

Another thing this scene does superbly well is give us moments to breathe. It does this in two clever ways: 1) it shows Michelle Yeoh's character reach for a new weapon, which provides a change of pace and a break in the action; and 2) it alternates between long shots and quick-fire cuts as a way to vary the pacing of the scene and allow us to understand the layout of the scene. (This last point is a signature Hong Kong style that always works to fantastic effect.)

Check out this moment starting at 00:51.

• Shot 1: Long shot establishes the layout of the scene but hides facial expressions, lets us get our bearings;
• Shot 2: Seamless transition as we see the sword slice finish, but now we see Zhang Ziyi's character's expression. She's struggling.
• Shot 3: Close-up of a determined Zhang.
• Shot 4: Quick reaction shot of Yeoh as she can't break the sword.
• Shot 5: Back to a close shot of the two as the deadlock breaks.
• Shot 6: Showing us Zhang's spinning parry, but she falls on her stomach.
• Shot 7: She's now on the floor, but she gets back up in one uninterrupted shot.

That's 6 cuts in 9 seconds. (First cut is at 0:58.) Each of them advances the story, lets us focus on a different moment in the fight, and serves to both give us a clear picture of the fight yet show us emotional close-ups on the actresses.

Exhibit B: Bourne Identity's Pen vs. Knife.

The Bourne franchise is infamous for bringing the "rapid cut" fight style to Hollywood, but I'd argue this fight scene is absolutely inspired film-making. The POV character in this scene is Marie, and she's ultimately the one who experiences growth in this scene.

Yes, there's some cuts that are useless and even play against the understanding of the scene. In some way, it's the exact opposite of the Crouching Tiger scene because it purposely confuses us. But it serves to put us in Marie's POV, as she's watching two superhuman fighters try to kill each other. The story being told in this scene is Marie's growing horror at what Jason Bourne truly is, and it culminates in the papers in the knapsack.

The pace of the scene is much more frantic and hard-hitting than the Yeoh-Zhang fight, but there are two key elements to it: 1) We see close-ups of Marie's reaction, thus communicating the emotional stakes of the scene; and 2) we see clear close-ups of the weapons (the knife and the pen) as they are brought to bear. Even though we don't understand all the elements of the scene, we get the emotion and the physicality of it.

Exhibit C: Just the best damn fight scene in Hollywood cinema.

John Wick, of course. There's SO many things this movie, and this scene in particular do right, but a big key to it, I think, is the pacing. If you watch for cuts, there are PLENTY of it. The movie uses "useless" cuts that just continue the action sometimes, but that just gives us a sense of energy for the scene. So in that sense it does borrow from the Bourne movies. But it also has long shots, like Crouching Tiger, where we can get a sense of space, or watch the characters' emotions.

Add to it that it uses music either as counterpoint or to reinforce the pace of the scene, and you've got a long action scene that never, ever feels boring. It's a masterclass in editing. No cut feels wasted because they all transition seamlessly and build the narrative of the scene, even when they don't give us more information or shift the point of view.

Which brings me to my point:

When you watch a scene that feels like there's too many cuts, it's not the number of cuts itself that's the problem. It's the fact that the cuts are used without contributing to the emotional storytelling of the scene, either by giving you a clearer understanding of the action (Crouching Tiger), contributing to the emotion of the scene (Bourne) or both (John Wick).

Now, the beauty of cinema as an art form is that you can do two different, contradictory things and still tell a compelling story. Long shots can bring a building tension and sense of dread to a scene, such as is the case in this legendary Oldboy scene, or this fantastic uncut scene from Tony Jaa.

The defense rests, Your Honor.

tl;dr: Cuts don't make a bad movie, bad directors do.

Edit: Formatting.

Submitted September 03, 2018 at 09:14AM by Triseult https://ift.tt/2Prq9WG