DIRECTING UNIT: CHOSEN DIRECTOR

Edgar Wright

For my Director I chose the British comedy Director and Writer, Edgar Wright. Edgar is 42 years old and was born in Dorset but grew up in Wells, Somerset. He studied at the Arts University, Bournemouth from 1992-1994 and received an ND in Audio-Visual. But it wasn't University where he found his love for directing. He discovered his love for directing after watching John Landis' 'American Werewolf in London' and Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead II. He's said these are the films that made him want to become a director.

Edgar is most well known for the 'Cornetto Trilogy' which is co-wrote with Simon Pegg and Directed himself.  But his industry break came with the release of the Channel 4 Sitcom 'Spaced'. As well as a film Director, Edgar has also directed music videos for 'The Bluetones' and 'EMBLD'. As well as Directing, Edgar is also a Writer, having co-written Marvel Studios 'Ant-Man' and he is also a part time actor with some projects.

Film credits
Looking into the main film credits that Edgar Wright is know for we have 5.

Spaced, Channel 4 Sitcom – 1991-2001 (2 series)

Edgar Wright's break into the Industry. This comedy sitcom was a hit and gained amazing feedback from the audience. it's about characters Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley flat hunting and live together, despite not knowing each other that well. The series mostly tells the surreal and awkward adventures of them both. Mostly on how to kill time. This sitcom was also where Edgar first worked with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost which would lead to his next project.

Shaun of the Dead, ‘Rom-Zom-Com’ Feature Film – 2004

Edgar's first feature film. A low budget horror movie which mixed between 3 genres. Romantic, zombie and comedy. Written by Edgar and Simon Pegg. The film is set in Britian and tells about a zombie outbreak, what brought attention to this film was that unlike most zombie films, this was classed as 'more believable' for what would happen in Britian, this is also the start of the Cornetto Trilogy.

Hot Fuzz, Action-Comedy - 2007

The second instillment to 'The Cornetto Trilogy'. An action-comedy about Police Constable Nicholas Angel, a high-achieving member of the Metropolitan Police service. He is promoted to Sergeant but over in the village of Sandford, Gloucestershire. This is done without choice as he is so good at his job he makes his colleagues look bad.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Action-Comedy - 2010

Based on the graphic novel series 'Scott Pilgrim'. This film was much different to what Edgar had worked on before but he was a fan of the graphic novel and from that was interested by the project. It tells the story of Scott Pilgrim, a lazy musician who meets a girl called Ramona and falls in love with her but to win her he has to battle her seven deadly exes.

The Worlds End, Science Fiction-Comedy - 2013

The final instalment of 'The Cornetto Trilogy'. Edgar decided on science fiction as the final film for the trilogy. It's about 5 friends to return to their home town after 20 years to go on a pub crawl known as 'The Golden Mile' which they attempted but failed over 20 years ago. They find that the town has changed far too much and later discover that it's been over taken by aliens.

Directional Style

One of the main directional styles that Edgar Wright is known for is his choice of editing sequence to show the passage of time. This is seen in almost all his films and everyone knows this as one of his signature styles. It's a brilliant way of showing the passage of time as well as what's been happening in only a few seconds. Below are two examples. First from Shaun of the Dead. (From 47 seconds)

From this, you see 2 hours in seconds. It's a style of editing and manipulating time which works really well. It's seen again in Hot Fuzz as well but slightly different. (From 2:52)

Here we get more of a classic montage but like before, detail with close ups. This something that Edgar always goes for. Detail with the fast moving sequences but long wide shots with other parts. For example in Shaun on the Dead when Shaun walks out of his house to the shop it's all steady cam and we don't get close up focus on anything around him. But this is Edgar's main Directing style. in an interview with Slash film, he explains that he likes to take the boring, mundane scenes and create this action close up sequences to make it more interesting and comical as well. He explains that it brings the scene to life more.

As well as this, another directional style for Edgar is reference. Edgar is a huge film fan and from this, he loves referencing old films in his films. Including his own films. In Hot Fuzz there's a copy of Shaun of the Dead that can be seen for a few seconds but with the name 'Zombie Party'. As well, there are running 'gags' in the cornetto trilogy which is 'the fence' this was all the way through where we'd have Simon Pegg running up to a fence and jumping over it, in each film we got this. As well we'd get reference to over 100 action films like Bad Boys, He-Man, Goodfellas, Point Break, etc. one big one is the classic Clint Eastwood of riding into town on a horse which we get towards the middle of the film. 

Chosen film & scenes

The film that I chose to recreate in my own direction style is Shaun of the Dead. Personally, because it was the first film that made me want to become a film maker and it's Edgar Wright's first feature film.

My main reasons behind it is that I love the characters, the settings, the script and the plot. As well I can already see ways I could redirect this. The scenes I have chosen to redirect are the following.

1. Shaun's been dumped.

This scene is where Shaun has just been dumped and he's gone to his local to see his friend. This scene does have a fair bit of dialogue but really tells us a lot about the characters. As well there's so much in here, the characters, location, the actions and dialogue between the characters. It's a great scene to start off with and is also the beginning of the 'zombie outbreak'.

2. Drunk walk home. 

The next scene is straight after the previous. Ed and Shaun are both drunk, walking home and singing Grandmaster Flash 'White Lines' when they see and hear a zombie go 'uhhhh'. However, drunk they continue sing and believe he's just drunk and continue to walk home. This scene is only short but works and is needed to work with the next scene, there's plenty of opportunities on what I could change in my own style here as well. 

3. The Walk to the Shop

This is the main scene I wanted to redirect and luckily all 3 scenes work together really well as a sequence. Here, Shaun walks up hungover and asks Ed if he wants anything from the shop. Ed Answers 'Cornetto'. Shaun walks over to the shop to get a coke and a cornetto. While walking, Shaun fails to notice abandoned cars, people running or that there isn't anyone around. When he gets into the shop he fails to notice the blood on the glass of the fridge and then walks back to the house. This entire scene goes without showing any detail on whats going on and is done in a single shot. I like this scene because there's so much I could do with it such as location, directing the actors, set, extras (zombies) etc. 

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(All photos from google.com)

(All videos taken from youtube.com)