Which films use variable frame rate combat?

Seven Samurai (1954), Ran (1985), The Green Hornet (2011).

What kind of technique is variable frame rate combat?

It is a editing technique. Related editing techniques include others listed on the CineCode techniques page.

Editing technique · used in 3 films

Variable Frame Rate Combat

Switching between slow motion and fast motion inside the same battle scene. The changing speed controls how the violence feels and how long each moment seems to last.

Examples

3 films that use it

Seven Samurai
Akira Kurosawa · 1954
Kurosawa changes the camera speed during fights. He uses slow motion at key moments. When the thief holding a child hostage dies early in the film, the image slows down, and his death gets a weight and length that fast action can't give. Because the speed keeps changing, you feel the rhythm of the fight as well as seeing where everyone is.
Where to see it: The thief's death outside the barn after Kambei rescues the child. The slow motion turns his fall into a long, heavy moment.
Ran
Akira Kurosawa · 1985
The siege of the third castle plays with almost none of the battle's own sounds. Kurosawa replaces them with Takemitsu's mournful music. The missing sound makes the violence feel dreamlike and sad.
Where to see it: The third castle massacre. The music replaces the sound of each atrocity, so you have time to think about it as well as witness it.
The Green Hornet
Michel Gondry · 2011
In Kato-Vision fights, Kato moves fast while his attackers slow down, and each fighter is retimed separately within the shot. The effect was built from high-speed Phantom camera footage that was then taken apart and rebuilt in post, so you feel what it is like to see a fight before it happens.
Where to see it: Kato-Vision fights: Kato fights his opponents while moving at a different speed from everyone else.

Questions

Quick answers

What is variable frame rate combat in film?: Switching between slow motion and fast motion inside the same battle scene. The changing speed controls how the violence feels and how long each moment seems to last.
Which films use variable frame rate combat?: Seven Samurai (1954), Ran (1985), The Green Hornet (2011).
What kind of technique is variable frame rate combat?: It is a editing technique. Related editing techniques include others listed on the CineCode techniques page.

Keep exploring

3 films that use it

Seven Samurai

Ran

The Green Hornet

Quick answers

Related techniques