Why do films use slow motion

War movies, battle scenes, and in general, scenes with a great deal of action, utilize slow-mo frequently. While every film is not as visually poetic as , many will employ a unique approach to slow-motion to enhance audience immersion. Second only to battle scenes, and often combined with them, are death scenes. Palmer uses the final scene from Bonnie and Clyde, where the two protagonists are unsuspectingly pumped full of bullets.

Amidst this intense moment of violence, Clyde falls in slow motion as his life gradually comes to an end. Film speed changes throughout the short sequence but ends with both bodies slowly slumping into their final resting places. Capturing those last few moments in slow-mo allows the viewer to explore every facet of their deaths, while also feeling the intensity of every bullet. In doing so, those details achieve significance. Palmer uses several Scorsese films to exemplify this principle.

My favorite example is this scene from Casino. As he watches her toss mounds of chips up in the air, time comes to a complete standstill. Slow motion works best when combined with footage of other speeds, either real time or even speeded up time lapse material. It is this contrast in pace that adds additional emphasis and interest to the slow motion material.

In promotional films the pace of a film is very important and introducing a bit of slow motion into a fast sequence can create a breakdown in musical terms or a rest, allowing you to relish a moment before being thrown back into a high paced visual experience.

So what is slow-motion good for? Filmed hand held with the crew running through the gardens with the actor, the shot captures the freedom of exploring the property. Or even the slow-motion at the end of Signs , where we see Merrill finally realize fate has brought everyone to this moment, and he has to use the bat to swing away at the aliens. I won't cover bad uses here, because I think all uses of slow-motion are entirely subjective. Some people hated it in The Snyder Cut , but I thought it fit into his attempt to capture the mythology behind each hero in the story.

Now that you know the term and celebrated it in the supercut, I hope you have some ideas on how you can use it in your next work.

I think there's always a sparing or brief slow-motion shot that can help highlight a moment in any movie. I mean, look at that brief beach scene in Saving Private Ryan , versus how The Interview uses slow-mo at the end of the movie to show their villain's death.

And let us know what you think of slow-mo in the comments. Skip to main content. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

How slow motion changed movies. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Further reading This issue of American Cinematographer is a time-capsule look at the adoption of Vitaphone, a key sound-on-film technology used in early movies.

Most academic writing that touches on slow-mo focuses on individual filmmakers, like this essay by scholar Ludovic Cortade.

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