Car Accident Shots

Matt Senior · March 6, 2013

Hello I'm currently making a short film.

One such day time involves a car accident, where an actress gets hit by a car whilst not looking when crossing a road.

There are two main characters to the film, the actress who is crossing the road, her husband who is waiting at the other side watching her cross the road.

I am finding this scene particularly difficult to piece together, as I want to build tension and I'm not sure how to show the accident in the most effective way as this is the heart of the film. I feel perhaps a fast pace, inter-cutting close-ups of her crossing the road, his reaction while watching her, and/or close-ups of tires moving.

So my question is how can I piece this scene together and structure it effectively in terms of which camera shots and angles I can use, the pace of the scene etc?

Please note: That as these are the only two characters I don't feel it is necessary to introduce the driver of the car as I want the focus to be on them two.

Also, due to health and safety reasons and low budget I don't intend to show the actress making contact with the car.

Due to it being exterior I won't being using any lighting either.

Any help would be HUGELY appreciated!

Thanks very much

Kevin W Wilson · March 6, 2013

Moments like these I find are far more impressive when viewed from very close. A big wide shot of someone being hit with a car will be complicated no matter how you handle it. Whether you get a stunt person or do wire work it will be annoyingly complex and utilize lots of resources and personnel. If you think small though, you can easily get your point across with something like this. Just think about it in small pieces like you would when structuring in the edit.

Think of the chaos that happens when someone is struck by a vehicle. It's terrifying when viewed from an outside perspective. Think of it playing out in slow motion. Play on the husbands reaction, CU on his face as he sees the car and realizes what's about to happen. ECU of her eyes with the reflection of the car inching into her field of view. She drops the umbrella she's holding, CU of her fingers letting go before the impact. CU on the driver's face as he sees the woman in his path, he jerks the wheel, CU of his foot pounding on the brake. CU of her umbrella tumbling down and hitting the ground. Back to regular time. Cut to the husband who is frozen with shock and unable to move. Show his POV, he sees his wife laying in the street next to her umbrella as the driver flees the scene.

No physical impact required and you get a very dramatic scene with good build up and tension. Sound will help sell the scene better than visuals anyway. Get a good post person to do sound for the final version and that will be half the work right there. Sound helps sell visuals, not the other way around.

You could also approach it from a very minimal postion, we see her begin to cross the street, cut to the husband who hears the whole thing happen behind him he turns and sees the aftermath, just her lying on the ground. Add sound effects and your finished. Most people are terrified of minimalism but it's what cinema is based on and it can be incredibly powerful when utilized properly. Get creative and you'll have this in the can no problem.

Good luck and be safe out there.

Matt Senior · March 9, 2013

Thanks for your help. What you've said sounds very impressive and will look really good, if I can pull it off! But I'm definitely going to take it into account, so thanks again.

When she's crossing the street the reason why she isn't looking is actually because she's trying to put her keys in her bag. So instead of the umbrella I could implement the same shots as the umbrella, just with the keys I suppose, so slowmo CU of fingers opening as keys drop out of shot, and slowmo CU of keys falling to the ground.

The other thing was how can I build the scene up before the impact. So I was thinking perhaps, long shot of her crossing, then cut to CU of wheels moving, then cut back to his CU watching her cross, CU of her bag trying to put keys in, CU of tires again, cut back to her etc. etc.

The idea is to just build a certain amount of tension before the impact so the viewer has something to feed off. What do you think?

Thanks

Kevin W Wilson · March 10, 2013

Sounds like you have this under control, go out and shoot it. Don't overthink it, just get what you want from the scene and you'll always be happy in the end.

Good luck young Jedi.