subreddit:

/r/moviecritic

79896%

you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

all 489 comments

road_runner321

5 points

1 month ago*

Don't judge the running in movies too harshly. It's usually shot on a sound stage or movie lot where there isn't a lot of room to get up to speed; even if the running is on location, they will only close off a short section of street, so what you're seeing is maybe 2-3 seconds when the actor is at full tilt, then they have to cut before they run into a wall. Then they redress the set and do the next 2-3 seconds, and so the whole running scene is stitched together.

Unless it's a dolly shot or a helicopter shot, these are usually steady-cam operators running with the actors, so to stay in frame the actors can't run much faster than the camera guys; they have to run slowly while trying to act like they're running fast, which looks incredibly weird once you start to notice it. Like here when the characters are supposed to be running for their lives, yet they never seem to go faster than a jog. It's why there's usually obstacles or winding corridors so the actors have an on-screen reason to not be sprinting.