Ollie Johnson
AS/A2 Media

This scene is from the 2007 movie'Hitman'. This film is based on a video game so I thought it would be great for action and special effects. The first two shots we see in this clip are unusually quick zooms, first on our main character and second on a phone which begins to ring. In the second close shot we see his hand pick up the phone and then it cuts to the next shot of him talking. In this third shot there is some brief dialogue as the camera pans rounds the hitman. Then it cuts to an unusual high shot of a corridor that we assume is outside the room the hitman is in, and three people walk towards the door. Then the next shot is of the hitman on the phone, but this time its even more of a close up on his eyes and the phone. Then it cuts to a low shot of the people we in the corridoor, walking towards camera. Then there are four fast close ups. The first of someones boot stepping on some glass,then the hitman looking up, then something on the door, then back to the hitman again. These fast closed ups placed next to each other really increase the pace of the scene and gets the audience on the edge of their seats. Then we see a mid shot of the phone being dropped in slow motion as the hitman begins to run towards the window. Then we see the three people in the corridor breaking down the door in three shots from three different angles before two close ups of the object on the door which we know realise is a bomb. Then we see the classic action movie explosion in seven shots from various angles. The last of which is in slow motion and we see the hitman running towards the camera, then a close up of him grabbing something from the table before jumping out of the window. As he does this we see even more shots of the explosion as he falls making it a total of ten shots of the same explosion. This is extremely effective as we see that all the action is happening in a very short space of time. We see the hitman fall from a couple of different angles before cutting to a shot from inside a room as he crashes through a window. Two people turn round surprised and the camera cuts between them and the hitman as he gets up and goes to leave the room. The editing here remains very fast paced. Next there are a couple of mid shots of the hitman with a gun in the hotel before a panning shot where the camera follows him towards a door. Then there is a close up of him prising open the door. Then we see him opening the door from the other side. Next theres is a close up of a fire alarm as he smashes it before cutting to a mid shot of him jumping onto the elevator roof. Then there is a shot of two people that pans almost al the way around them before cutting to a short close up of one of their faces. We then see the hitman slide down onto the elevator roof and the camera follows him. The lighting has changed here from the brightly lit hotel to being dark and almost blue. Next there are some more close up of some people in the lift and one one them pressing the buttons. Then we see the typical shot of the numbers of the elevator, as they are approaching the floor that the two men we saw previously are on. It cuts between this an another rotating pan shot and back again, then we see a close up of the mans face. The next shot is from inside the elevator as the doors open. We see the man look down before cutting to a point of view shot of whats inside the lift. The pace is slowed down slightly as we see that all the people in the lift are dead. But then the action continues as we start with a close of of the mans face as he backs away from the camera, then a panning shot of him running up the stairs. We see blue flashing lights outside that light up the room and this adds to the sense of panic. Then is cuts to the hitman again. We see a shot following him down a corridor and then a similar shot from in front of him. There is a very quick shot of a man and then of the hitman turning around as the man tells him to freeze. The camera cuts between a mid shot of some people in the corridor and the hitmans face. Next there is a shot from behind the man as he runs towards the hitman, then the hitman kicks a door down and we see this from several angles. Finally the camera follows ths hitman into the room before stopping as he jumps out of a window. The final shot in the scene is looking down as the hitman disappears into the water below. This scene as a whole is extremely effective. The very fast paced editing and the use of lots of close ups create an atmosphere that gets the audience on the edge of their seats. I particularly like the use of close up and this is something i need to consider when making my film opening.