Case Study - Fast and Furious 4

Poster Analysis

This poster is simple and has a good layout. There are the four main characters and then the car. The four people in the background appear to be the main characters the two men and the two women. They appear and pose as if they are going to be working as a team. The two men are quite serious looking and the two women look not so serious. In the foreground of the poster is the car, possibly the one that is in the film. The car is shiny light has been shone on the body work to make the light reflect, the effect of this is it makes the car stand out and shine. It makes it look expensive and a very fast car.

Case Study on Fast and Furious
(Also known as Fast and Furious 4)

I have chosen to research the thriller film Fast and Furious directed by Justin Lin a Taiwanese American film director and written by Chris Morgan an American screen writer. The production company was Universal Pictures. The release date for this film in the UK was 10 April 2009. Fast and furious was made in the USA. Justin Lin had a budget of $85million. The box office returns made a total of $359,264,265. This is preceded by The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

The type of target audience I think this film is aimed at is an audience that enjoys action packed films, containing crime and drama, exhilarating car chases and fights, adrenaline pumping action. Using the IMDB (internet movies database) website I found some user ratings mainly ranging between six to ten out of ten and quoting “the best of the series by a mile”, “better than the first movie”, “best one yet”. Very positive feedback overall.

Technology is constantly changing which enables the user to access the film easier. The audience can watch the movie on DVD or Blu Ray or can watch or download the movie online. Using new technology you could download it on to an iPod and can watch it on the move. Fast and Furious is available on the internet, on DVD or Blu Ray.

Camera movement/angles in the opening to Fast and Furious
The opening begins with a blur picture, the shot then becomes in focus the purpose of beginning with a blur picture is to make the audience think where it is set and what is going to happen. A truck then appears and the camera is moving as if it was on the vehicle in front and the truck is travelling closer to the camera, the audience would get the feel as if they were in the vehicle in front of the truck looking back. The truck then moves past the camera, the camera pans left as it drives by as if you were being overtaken by the truck. It then cuts to a close up shot of Vin Diesel playing Dom Toretto, which then cuts to a women climbing out of the car.

All these shots are from outside of the car the purpose and effect of this is to make the audience feel as if they were driving beside them and are in on the action and are part of the plan. The camera then zooms in from a high angle shot of all the cars, the purpose is so that we can see all angles of what is going on. The next shot is cut so we now see two new characters that are in another car the shot is a medium close up so the audience are able to see their faces clearly. The next two characters are shown in a medium close up as well.

The characters communicate using a radio control/walkie talkie as each characters talks the camera alternates so that the audience can see who is talking the purpose is so the audience can see who is talking and can learn more about their personality from the dialogue. As the women jumps from the car to the truck there are quick shots of her and Dom driving the car beside her. As they are driving down the road the camera pans along to the truck driver side to get the feel as if we were in the vehicle beside the truck. It then cuts to a point of view shot from the cab when Dom pulls in front of the truck driver. The audience then see a low angle shot in the cab from the camilian’s point of view which is sitting on the cab passenger seat.

The previous shot then cuts to a long shot of all the vehicles which then zooms in. The next shot cuts to the two characters, which then cuts to a sequence of quick shots showing the pedal, gear stick and speed dial, the purpose of showing these shots is so the audience know that something is now about happen and know that the car is most likely to speed up and get involved in the chase of the truck.

As the car pulls the stunt of a 180 degree turn and reverses to the truck we see a close up of the bar slamming down connecting to the containers on the truck. This close up notifies and shows the audience that they are stealing the containers on the truck. The next shot leads on from this shot of a close up of the truck driver’s face this is so the audience can see his emotions and can tell how he feels about the situation. As the action builds up the shots don’t last long and cut from one shot to another in seconds this helps build suspense and the audience know something will happen.

A high angle shot is then shown from above the truck which then zooms in to the end of the road showing the sharp right hand turn at the very end, the purpose of this shot is so that the audience know there is danger ahead, it may end in disaster and also time is running out for the crew to get what they want. Throughout the opening there are no still shots the camera is either panning or changing quickly from one shot to another as the pace of the action gets quicker.

Towards the end of the scene once the women has got into back into the car having had to jump off the truck and also the driver of the truck had jumped out we then see Dom pull a 180 degree turn then stop, the camera is then behind the car showing one of the containers off the truck coming towards them. It then cuts to a close up of Dom cutting to the wheels spinning abruptly then the car sets off fast and then as it gets closer to the container and is about to go under it the camera is at the side of the road and the audience see in a slow motion medium shot the car drive straight under the container and live to tell the tale.

The camera then pans down as the container goes down the cliff edge. The opening then ends with the camera going closer to the smoke created from the explosion of the container and then fades out in the black smoke and the scene ends.

Justin Lin mad made use of digetic sound more than non – digetic sound. The digetic sound that was used in the opening was from, car wheels screeching showing that the car is building speed up or pulling stunts, the camilian makes a noise whilst sitting in the cab of the truck. The horn of the lorry showing the truck driver is annoyed with what is going on and signals this through the horn notifying the other drivers.

As the crew are stealing the containers we hear the hook slam down abruptly which really grabs the audience’s attention and makes them aware what the crew are doing. As the woman is spraying ice to break the lock to free the containers we hear it being sprayed. The truck driver fires several rounds from a gun which is loud, and makes it clear he is not happy with the situation and what Dom’s crew are up to.

As the car changes gears we clearly hear this showing they are in a hurry and want to get it over with. The last noise is the loud explosion of the truck as it falls down the cliff edge. The soundtrack (non-digetic) the music in the background can be heard through most of the opening and is being played. The music is upbeat and builds suspense and gets louder and gets faster as they get closer to the action or the something big that will happen.

In the opening there are a couple of CGI’s (Computer Generated images) or special effects included. One being the lorry going over Dom’s car with the fake flames this was a computer generated image as this shot/stunt would have been to dangerous to properly do so for health and safety reasons this shot was a special effect. The other special effect is when the lorry takes the fall down the cliff edge exploding all the way down. Again this shot would have been dangerous to film because of health and safety and taking into consideration the environment it is easier just to do a special effect because also with these types of shots if you were to actually see them through and film them you would only have one shot at filming.

Character types
All of Dom’s crew are dressed in informal/casual clothes and they are geared up with all their equipment needed, they are well organised and planned and ready to get the job done. They are all confident and are aware of the dangers involved in the job they pull at the beginning. They speak in both English and Spanish. Dom is in control of the crew. They do it for the money and make the plan as they go along according to the situation they go with the flow and just stick to a basic plan and not a detailed plan. All these characters in the opening would most likely to fit in the middle class because of the casual cloths and what appears to be their occupation.


The audience can tell from the opening what type of genre the film is.
Thriller/action can be seen from the car chase and the stunts pulled whilst trying to get a hold of the containers. Crime can be seen from Dom’s crew stealing the containers from the truck.

Narrative structure strengthens the film by having the point of view shots from more than one character; the audience are able to see it from each person/side. Certain camera shots make the audience feels as if they are involved and are in and driving a vehicle beside the action that is happening making them feel part of the team and joining in.

The message that the film appears to communicate with the audience is “people will do anything for money” I suggest this because Dom’s crew are stealing the containers to get money for them most likely to pay for their rides/cars. Another message that may be communicated is “women and men are both the same and both genders are capable of getting the job done” I suggest this because the women jumps off the car and goes onto the lorry do the main job of separating the containers from the truck.

Hear we can see she needs to get off the lorry as soon as possible because it is getting near the end of the road. It is a medium shot so the audience are able to see both her on the lorry and where she has to jump to which is Dom’s car.

Hear we can see her having jumped off the lorry and is now on the bonnet of the car and now has to jump into the car. It is a medium shot so we can see both characters in the shot as they are both involved.