Codes and Conventions for a Chase Sequence

For a sucessful chase sequence there are some codes and conventions which must be followed; it starts off with slow music which has to be non-diegetic, which slowly gathers beat and enhances in speed as the scene enters the climax (main part) of the chase, at this point the music must be loud and fast to entice the audience.

 

Another aspect which must be used is the editing skills, the cuts must be shorter no longer than 2 seconds per cut; this will ensure that the audience understand the speed of the character and it surely must get faster as the chase gets closer to the climax; however, it must be cut between the person running and the person chasing.

 

A sucessful chase sequence will have to include cuts of the whole body via mid shots, low shots, and long shots; a close could also be used to see the anticipation of the character who is trying so hard to run away as well as the character who is trying very hard to catch that character who is running.

The longshot could be used to display the distance in which the character is running and to inform the audience of his desired destination of safety.

A final trick which could be used is the slow-motion editing, this could be used as one character is close to another; this could allow the audience to question the fact if the runner is going to be caught or is he going to get a lucky escape.