https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXB6slJSbL4

For the life of me I could not think of a scene to deconstruct, but during the writing of my previous post on editing, it had hit me… the church scene in Kingsmen! The moment I first saw it I was completely captivated and have been in awe of it ever since. So what was it that stood out to me so much that I smiled my head off?  No, it wasn’t the content despite how entertaining it was, it was the shot composition and more importantly the editing of the scene which made me fall in love with it.  Throughout the scene the audience is constantly bombarded with information/events and stimulus but are still able to easily follow it due to its seemingly continuous stylised long shot. . in an age where quick cuts dominate fight scenes (at an average of 3-4 shots per second in more intense ones), Kingsmen took a different and more ‘simple’ approach: for the most part, follow the protagonist in a single shot and only shift the lens away from him when something significant is shown off side. As for when the protagonist it shown performing actions, they are typically slowed down to enhance detail, showing us more of the action, or sped up to show a quick succession of multiple actions, (with footage also being sped up between more comparatively insignificant actions), additionally, thanks to intermittent reaction shots of other characters watching the same scene as the audience as well as hidden cuts in the ‘long shot’, the scene is able to be well edited to be in time with the music; a strange but fitting choice of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’.
With almost every beat we are presented with an accompanying intense physical action, offering the audience nothing short of what could be described as a beautifully violent dance. Thanks to the power of editing we are given an exciting and exhilaratingly intense scene in place of what could have been a terribly generic, lacking, and more common fight scene. Most scenes of the same nature allows for mixed responses and interpretations, usually limited to just ‘look, action things are happening’. But this scene is slightly different: thanks to its pacing and manipulation/contortion of time the audience is almost subconsciously commanded to have fun. The jarring ebb and flow of the scene paired with melody forces the heart of an immersed viewer to fluctuate at an unsettling rhythm. If time were left unaltered, the scene would likely drag on far too long, despite the shot composition, but with some clever editing we are left with what I perceive to be one of the best (or at least most fun) action scenes in history.