BLOG 5: MARTIAL ARTS IN CINEMA

BLOG 5: MARTIAL ARTS IN CINEMA

Hey, lovely, welcome back to my blog! 

    Today's blog will be about a recently released Netflix movie called "Officer Black Belt." YES🙄!!! I know it's not related to my baby girl, Meo, but since my boo, Kim Woo-Bin💓, starred in this movie, I'll spare some of my precious time analyzing this movie😚. We will mainly discuss the different camera angles and how they were able to convey the feeling that was meant to be expressed by the scene. With that being said, let's move on to today's blog content!!

WARNING⚠️⚠️ Spoilers Ahead!!

- Officer Black Belt -

Jeong-do is driving to his father's chicken places.

    The movie revolves around Lee Jeong-do (played by Kim Woo-Bin), who seems to be an ordinary guy yet he's SECRETLY a prodigy in the martial arts; he achieved the HIGHEST rank in taekwondo, kendo, and judo. Hasn't been able to find a stable job; he delivers foods for his father's chicken place instead.  In the beginning, I noticed the director used a wide shot to introduce the restaurant, which the viewers saw for the first time ever; the director emphasizes the exterior design of the chicken's place while leaving a tiny screen time for Jeong-do. This successfully portraits Jeong-do's position as well as draws a clear connection between him and the restaurant—a delivery guy and a chicken restaurant. This selection of shots helps reveal relevant information about our main character, which in this case is his profession, the location of his job and even his working schedule. This somewhat helps evoke a sense of intimacy as the wide shot is able to show what an everyday life for Jeong-do would be; this boosts the personal connection between him and the viewers.

   

        Jeong-do's running to his hair lady salon.          

    Approaching the middle of the movie, the director decided to add a full shot to suggest urgency. This happens after Jeong-do secures a position as a martial arts officer after helping out another martial arts officer who was being attacked by a probationer wearing an ankle monitor. In this sense, Jeong-do, who is desperately running toward his hair lady's salon after suspecting an sex offender's attempt to target her. With the long shot, the director is able to capture all his body language while somewhat emphasizing the background. With the background's bluriness and Jeong-do's hurried plus intense body language, the shot perfectly brings out a sense of urgency as Jeong-do's determination to rescue the hair lady. By placing only Jeong-do in the center, the director enhances the significance of the character in this scenario; this gives the viewers more hope as someone will finally arrive on time to stop an unfortunate incident.    

Jeong-do's fighting against the perpetrator.

    In Jeong-do's third mission (which takes place in the second part of the film), he is assigned to monitor a DANGEROUS sex offender with a high risk of recidivism. When he unintentionally discovers the criminal's attempt for another child pornography, he immediately chases down the perpetrator and confronts him. The director chose to capture this scene through a close up shot, where his facial expression is clearly shown. By taking the shot at close range, the director PERFECTLY displays Jeong-do's explosive anger. This further highlights Jeong-do's emotional state, as the viewers can obviously tell Jeong-do is right on the edge of losing control; all he knows now is to attack the immoral offender. This reflects his pure nature, as he wholeheartedly wants to save the poor child that is being held captive by the probationer. This adds to the viewers' satisfaction as the perpetrator has finally been punished. 

Jeong-do's ready to fight at the criminal's hideout.

    Following an unsuccessful attempt to capture the perpetrator, Jeong-do and his unblood brothers plan out a master plan to capture the criminal once and for all. They went around gathering information about the criminal's location after narrowing it down to a specific neighborhood. Jeong-do's geared up; headed to the perpetrator's motel, ready to fight the evil villain in this movie. In the scene, the director uses a low angle shot to highlight the main character's power. By placing the camera looking up, it helps EXAGGERATE Jeong-do's size; this shot flawlessly captured Jeong-do's imtimidated aura while emphasizing his determination. This all creates an overwhelming feeling; the viewers may feel the chills going down their spines as this camera angle strongly enhances the main character's powerfulness while portraying his heroic.    

 Jeong-do's heading to the next mission with his boss.

    The movie ends with a cowboy shot; the director purposely chose this to display the body language of the two characters, where they confidently heading to their next mission. The cowboy shot also allows the viewers to observe the characters' facial expression, which can seem like a focused and somewhat laid back expression; this helps emphasize their FIERCE confidence. Additionally, this angle makes the characters seem larger (as they filled up almost half of the screen). This makes them look more significant, which can add an element of heroism to the characters. By ending the entire watching experience with a cowboy shot, this might makes the viewers emotional as they have witnessed Jeong-do's growing process, from delivering food for his father to being a martial arts officer that saved many lives.

    Moreover, you can clearly tell how different camera shots can evoke different types of emotion, from as simple as evoke a sense of intimacy to as extreme as sending chills down viewers' spines from an overwhelming sensation of overload. These demonstrate the importance of camera angels in how they add affect to the scene, as well as their influence on our emotions regarding the characters. This will wrap up today's blog and I'll see you next time, lovely💖!