Shots and editing analysis for Gods of Egypt

1. SHOTS AND EDITING
ANALYSIS FOR GODS OF
EGYPT

2. The first scene begins through the use of an aerial establishing shot of the scene’s
main setting, this helps to portray the huge scale of the setting as the camera zooms
towards the city in the distance which is shown through changing the position of the
city within the frame by placing in the centre rather than the top of the frame
which attracts less attention. This is effective because it makes the audience feel
more involved with the film as the camera moves closer towards the city therefore
implying that the audience is traveling with the camera and gives the impression of
flight which relates to the film’s narrative. Something like this would be more
conventional for an action film as it attempts to involve the audience as much as
possible in order to generate interest, unlike horror film trailers which usually add
more focus to how the characters are portrayed rather than involving the audience.
The establishing shot also helps to portray tranquillity as no action is taking place
yet which is typical for action trailers which usually give a peaceful and calm
impression in order to focus more on the film’s narrative and later surprise the
audience with destruction and violence.

3. • In the next scene of the trailer a master shot is used in order to show the how
many people are in the stadium through a high angle which is effective in
establishing the film’s Egyptian setting as the audience are not limited to seeing
through smaller and more focused shots like most conventional horror films in
order to increase the mystery of the plot. Allowing the audience to see the scale
of the scene helps to conform with a typical action movie which wants to impress
the audience with visuals.
• In this scene editing is used to transition from the previous establishing shot
through the use of a cut to a black screen and then a fade into the next scene,
this helps to make the scene more dramatic as the audience is only being shown
glimpses of the film which adds mystery to the details of the film’s plot in order
to retain the attention of the audience throughout the trailer and encourage
them to watch the film for the complete story. This is conventional for many
trailers especially for action movies which use short takes and fading in order to
build up anticipation for what will happen next. The length of this and the last
scene lasts around 4 seconds which shows how the regular pace is effective in
building up anticipation unlike horror films which normally use irregular timing
during takes in order to create an uneasy atmosphere which is more frightening.

4. • The scene continues with a contrasting high angle medium long shot
which helps to introduce the audience to two main characters who have
been placed in the centre of the frame. This helps to make them stand out
in comparison to the other minor characters to the sides as the audience is
drawn to the centre of the frame right away after the cut.
• The use of editing in this scene heavily focuses on creating short takes
which help to focus on building up tension as no action has been shown
straightaway which creates anticipation for something to happen later on
in the trailer. The scene also continues to cut to a plain black screen in
between certain shots which helps to create the effect of time passing by in
order to switch between different scenes in the film without confusing the
audience.

5. • The next scene begins with a high angle shot of the film’s protagonist looking
towards the camera. The use of a high angle shot helps to portray the character as
being more vulnerable and possibly weak which relates to the protagonist’s part in
the film’s narrative. This is effective as the next low angle shot helps to contrast the
protagonist’s apparent weakness because the audience is now looking up to him
rather than looking down on him like in the previous shot, this sudden contrast
helps to make the audience question the narrative through the use of Barthe’s
Enigma Code which is implied as the audience is likely to question why the
protagonist is shown to be weak and then contrasted by being portrayed as powerful
instantly. This is quite typical for action film’s where the protagonist usually starts
weaker and gradually gets stronger throughout the narrative.
• The use of editing in this scene focuses on fading into the next scene from the plain
black screen, this helps to make the high angle shot appear more dramatic as the
shot zooms towards the protagonist in order to reveal his facial expression. The scene
also uses a graphic match in order to imply that the character in both shots is the
protagonist as the second shot shows a the protagonist in a different costume, this is
done by placing the character in the centre of the frame in both shots which gives the
impression that it’s the same character.

6. • The scene continues by cross cutting back to the two previously shown
characters which helps to establish their importance in the plot as the
audience is shown the story through their and the protagonist’s perspective
which is typical for action films that aim to make some characters more
relatable to the audience through the use of Bulmer’s ‘Personal Identity’
theory as the audience are more likely to be more interested in the plot if the
characters are relatable to them, in the film the example can be shown
through the two ‘mortal’ characters who help to symbolise the viewer as they
tend to be away from the action.
• The scene also continues to show the protagonist from another high angle
shot which again implies that the character is weak unlike his previous
appearance were he seemed to be powerful, this contrast gives the
impression that the character underwent some form of change which helps to
generate more interest towards the film’s narrative. The two ‘mortal’
characters are shown in the centre of the frame from a straight angle which
helps to establish the relatability between them and the audience even
further.

7. The use of editing in this scene continues to portray the protagonist’s weakness
through the use of an eyeline match which helps to put the audience into the
position of the two characters in the scene and generates empathy for the
protagonist, this ultimately serves as a way to get the audience more involved
with the narrative which is typical for action movies as appealing to a wider
audience through a first person view would make the film more interesting.
The use of another midshot in this scene makes the older character appear more
significant as he attracts the audience’s attention by being placed roughly in the
centre of the frame which makes him the main point of interest, this is
significant as the older character relates to the film’s plot therefore using
midshot helps to make him appear superior to the protagonist who has been
portrayed to be weak through high angle shots.

8. • The next scene begins with a wide shot of the protagonist in a new location,
the shot is again heavily focused on the protagonist being placed in the
centre of the frame to imply his importance and to give the impression that
the narrative is focused on the character’s journey as the audience is shown
shots of the protagonist at different points in the film. This is typical for
action films as they usually follow the plot formula of a character starting
weak and gradually getting stronger throughout the film. The midshot
zooms forward in order to reveal the character’s distressed expression which
helps to portray the character as the vital part of the scene and carries on
the impression that protagonist is the most significant aspect of the scene.
• The use of editing in the scene focuses on visual effects as shown by the CGI
background which was added during post production in order to show off the
film’s fictional setting. This helps to give the setting more character as
showing the background to the audience helps to give the narrative more
depth as the scale of the setting is shown through the background.

9. • The next scene begins with a master shot of the film’s antagonist and his
army which helps to create more anticipation of later events in the trailer as
the master shot shows that the antagonist is dangerous through the use of
camera movement as the camera pans along with the movement of the
antagonist which helps to portray him as more powerful due to his
placement in the centre of the frame which draws the audience’s attention to
the character.
• The use of editing in this scene again focuses on the visual effects
surrounding the character in the centre such as CGI backgrounds and CGI
creatures. This helps to add more variety to the film as previously the main
focus was always on the protagonist rather than the use of CGI as shown in
this scene through the variety in the background. The use of visual effects is
very conventional for action films as they have larger budgets which can be
used to add more impractical effects in post production, unlike horror films
which tend to use practical effects due to their lower budgets.

10. • The next scene begins an establishing shot of where the scene is going to be
taking place. The shot also zooms towards the centre of the shot which
helps to give the impression that the audience is flying through the sky
like the protagonist therefore making the character and the audience more
relatable as they are more involved in the scene due to the first person
view through to the aerial shot. This is quite conventional for action films
as they tend to involve the audience more in order to make them more
interested in the film’s narrative, this is also done in horror films mostly
through the use of Bulmer’s ‘Personal Identity’ Theory as characters tend
to be more relatable than the average action film characters who are
usually portrayed as powerful heroes.
• The use of editing in this scene again focuses heavily on visual effects as
shown through the use of a CGI fire projectile and the cloning of another
character which helps to make the film more appealing to a world wide
audience like most conventional action films which usually use visual
effects in order to make the film more universal.

11. • The next scene establishes shot / reverse shot between the two characters
during dialogue, this helps to make the characters appear as binary
opposites due to their genders which could also imply that the characters
are fundamentally different in the film’s narrative as one is a ‘mortal’ and
the other is a ‘goddess’ which can be shown through their differing genders
during the shot / reverse shot.
• The scene also uses midshots for both characters which helps to portray
them differently through their placement within the frame as the male
character is portrayed at the left side of the frame whilst the female
character is shown on the right side, this helps to establish equal
juxtaposition between them which doesn’t follows Laura Mulvey’s Male
Gaze theory as both characters have an equal amount of screen time in this
scene and are shown through midshots.

12. • The next scene starts with a two shot of the protagonist and the other
male character which helps to establish their significance as they are
both shown together unlike previous shots where the protagonist
receives all of the audience’s attention as he is often shown by himself.
This is effective because action films usually tend to focus the narrative
on multiple characters rather than a single protagonist in order to make
the plot more interesting and involving by making some characters
more relatable.
• The use of editing in this scene is again heavily focused on CGI as
shown by the protagonist’s costume and the background behind the two
characters which was created in post production. The use of CGI is
effective because it makes the scene appear more appealing towards a
universal audience as special effects can be understood by a world wide
audience. This is common for most action films which contain multiple
action sequences that require the addition of CGI due to the limitations
of practical effects that are typically used in lower budget movies such
as horror films.

13. • In the next scene a high angle wide shot is used in order to show the
three main characters in the centre of the frame, this helps to portray
the characters as being quite vulnerable due to their scale of the
swamp setting which is shown through the shot. This contrasts how
the protagonist has been portrayed previously in the trailer as the
audience was given the impression that he is very powerful as shown
by the CGI, however the scale of the shot helps to make him appear
more weak as at the start of the trailer.
• The use of editing in the scene focuses on fading into the midshot of the
antagonist which makes him appear more significant as the trailer
slows down from frequent use of cuts into a fade which gives the
impression that the antagonist the most important character in the
scene as the trailer wants the audience to focus on him in a long take
rather than short takes like the protagonist, this helps to make the
antagonist appear more threatening as he slows down the pace of the
trailer in order to gain more attention.