shanel interview // then and now

editing analysis

    For the scene I'm analyzing, I watched Train to Busan which was directed by Yeon Sangho. The film's about a man and his daughter on their way to Busan, Korea to see his ex-wife for his daughter's birthday but on their way, they along with the other passengers are trapped on the train in the midst of a nationwide zombie outbreak. Train to Busan is one of my favorite movies and one of the reasons why I love it so much is because of the film creates rising tension with the way scenes are edited to keep you on the edge of your seat while watching because of how seamlessly they flow.

  The shot at the beginning (0:02 - 0:10) sets up the building tension of the passengers trying to block off the zombies and failing as they start running away from the doors. While the last of them start to run off out of the shot, the shot is still maintained as the zombies break through the glass doors and pile over. What makes this shot more interesting to look at is how the medium shot is relatively empty which gives the zombies breaking through pop out more with the dark military uniforms on in contrast to the mostly white train station. We also see in the shot the glass doors break down one after another as the zombies are almost bleeding out from the doors to get out piling on top of each other while running. Continuity editing is used in the next shot with the zombies running off camera and then you see the passengers running up ahead to match with the zombies. While running, it cuts to the the train leaving the station where the passengers run past the view and then cuts to the zombies maintaining the continuity and smooth transition as it starts to evoke fear that the passengers might lose to the zombies. The director's intent of using medium shots makes it more effective as it feels like the viewer is watching the scene only a few feet away almost like a wallflower.

   One of my favorite moments in this the scene is the the combination of using the 180 rule and continuity starting from the 0:59 mark. The use of the 180 rule going back and forth between Seokwoo (black suit) on the train with his hand out and Sanghwa (blue suit) running to grab his hand to get on the train in the foreground while in the background you see the zombies on their way. With the shot the film uses, it establishes how high the stakes are for Sanghwa to get back on the train to limited safety. Continuity is used excellently here at 1:04 where Sanghwa is running straight and then takes a turn but with continuity shifting the turn and run from a different angle, it progresses the story smoothly showing Sanghwa take military armor to fight back to protect himself getting back on the train in just a span of a few seconds. It then cuts back to the 180 rule where Sanghwa gives Seokwoo the warning to turning around just in time and then cuts into more action in the scene before it lulls to a calm with Seokwoo getting back on the train safely. The whole thirty seconds is done brilliantly with the editing to show interesting storytelling and evoking emotion from the viewer.

(if anyone decides to watch it for the first time, please have tissues ready)