Chase scenes

I have been looking at a few chase scenes to see how fast the cuts are and what sort of camera angles are used to create the suspense of 'what's going to happen? Will they escape?'. Two chase scenes that caught my attention were one of the chase scenes in Drive and the opening sequence to Quantum of Solace. Both are very similar in the techniques they use such as close up camera angles and quick cuts but Drive seems to have less quick cuts between each shot compared to the quantum of solace. Each of these films have used two different types of techniques to create suspense for the viewers. Drive has more mid shots, which give the audience the chance to see more of the surroundings such as a sharp bend. This helps create the tension of not knowing what will be around the corner. Drive also has more cuts to close ups on Ryan Gosling's face in which he has quite a neutral expression. This telling the audience that he's not afraid and is confident that he can loose the people chasing him.

Compared to the chase scene in Drive, Quantum of Solace chase scene is more up beat and feels more action packed. To get this sort of effect all the camera angles are mostly all close ups mainly focusing on the cars, cutting between shots of each car and going from close ups of the bonnet to the wheels of the car to an extreme close up of Bonds eye then to guns getting loaded. Through the camerawork and the editing it has all been combined to create and tell the audience that something bad is about to happen. After these few cuts which last around a second each, from then on its just constant cutting between different shots mostly close ups but every now and then going to mid shots of people firing guns.

Through reading about different camera and editing techniques on Chase scenes this website helped me understand more clearly as to what makes a good action chase scene. It was very clear on the process of creating a great action sequence for a chase scene.

http://www.videomaker.com/article/13484-dynamic-chase-scenes

This diagram is also a great example of what sort of shot you want to be getting and cutting between. It will then just be a case of finding the right music and cutting at the right times to the right shots to create the perfect chase sequence.