Summary
- Director Zack Snyder has explained his thought process behind using slow motion.
- Zack Snyder’s approach to slow motion is intentional and thoughtful, as he avoids slowing down footage shot at a different frame rate.
- He decides to use slow motion based on his intuition and the specific moments he wants to emphasize in a scene.
Director Zack Snyder is well-known for his use (some might argue “overuse”) of slow motion, and the filmmaker has now explained how he approaches the technique, and how he decides what will be in slo-mo what won’t. From 300, to Watchmen, to his adventures in the DC cinematic universe, Snyder has always loved to slow things right down and thus allow audiences to see every detail of the action. But, rather than simply thinking that slow motion looks cool, Snyder’s thought process is a in fact a little more detailed…
“What I don’t like doing, what I never have done and I try not to do, is slow anything down that was photographed at another frame rate. Like if I shot something at 24 frames, I never would say, ‘Oh, let’s slow it down so it looks like slow motion.’ The only reason we did something similar to that in ‘Watchmen’ in the title sequence, we had to do that fake slow motion because we couldn’t get the cameras. At that time, there was no Phantom, it was only Photo-Sonic. So in order to get, like, 1000 frames, we would have the actors act like they were in more slow motion than they were, so that’s what we were thinking. Then in CG you’d make the spit, or the shell casings, to make it look like it was super slow. ”
Speaking with Collider, Snyder explained that his decision to make something slow motion or not is “intuitive,” and that he would never make something slo-mo just for the sake of it, with the moments he wants to slow down coming to him either before or during filming.
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Audiences Should Expect to See a Lot of Slo-Mo in Rebel Moon
Snyder’s use of slow motion has been divisive in the past, and while it has become something of a signature for the Man of Steel filmmaker, there are those who feel he uses it far too often and that his films would sometimes be half the length without it.
Whatever your thoughts on Snyder’s use of slow motion, audiences and fans are currently waiting to see how well the director fares when crafting his own science fiction franchise with the upcoming Rebel Moon saga.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is due to be released on Netflix on December 21, 2023, and introduces a universe controlled by the corrupt government of the Motherworld. When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of this tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival.
Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge.
Snyder is already planning an R-rated ‘director’s cut’ of the first Rebel Moon, and it will reportedly clock in at a full hour longer than the original cut, which already has a runtime of nearly two and a half hours. We will have to wait and see whether this additional length is due to story and characterization, or whether there is just a whole lot more slo-mo…
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 15, 2023, before landing on Netflix on December 22, 2023. A sequel, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, is confirmed and set to be released on April 19, 2024. Check out the trailer below:
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