By: Greg Payne
Chase scenes in Hollywood movies are often known for the heart-racing music that plays over them, whether it's hard rock/punk instrumental (think Pretty Handsome Awkward by The Used in Transformers), an eclectic mix of electronica and orchestral (think Mona Lisa Overdrive by Juno Reactor in The Matrix: Reloaded), or a score meant to reflect the environment the chase is set in (think African Rundown by David Arnold in Casino Royale).
Well, I'm convinced that a film that includes a fast-paced foot chase, preferably in a city setting, needs to utilize Incubus' Anna Molly for its musical selection.
If you haven't heard the song, take a look at the official video below (you might get redirected to YouTube):
I'm not crazy, right? This song is perfect, isn't it? Can't you picture the setting being a bit city like New York or Chicago, the protagonist needed to reach the woman/man that he/she loves, when they look behind them and realize that the villain and his/her minions are hot on their tail? Cue the opening of this song, with the furious symbol tapping and the guitar, as the protagonist begins to move at a faster pace, not sure if the villain has spotted them yet.
Slowly we build up and up, the pace getting a bit faster, the sound a bit heavier. Then, at the 23-second mark, the protagonist is spotted, the minions are dispatched, and that's when the real chase begins, just as the song breaks open. Now the protagonist is flying down the sidewalk, weaving between the many walkers with briefcases and newspapers. He hurtles into the street, dodging taxi cabs and buses, his pursuers slowly gaining on him.
This keeps up through the first and second verses, with the action always picking up somehow during the chorus, whether it be the protagonist lunging over the hood of a cab or dispensing of a pursuer who has caught up to him. All the while he's frantically racing forward, arms swinging, head snapping back and forth to gauge how far ahead he is of his attackers. And still his eyes are never locked behind him long enough to miss who he's searching for in front of him.
Then, tragedy appears to strike, just as we hit the bridge of the song at the 2:13 mark. The protagonist collides with a pedestrian, or a pole, or some other object and is knocked to the ground, practically senseless. All seems lost for him. But then he looks up, disoriented, and he sees who he's been searching for, and a fire is lit inside of him. The camera, at this juncture, would be right on the ground in front of the protagonist, with the pursuers out of focus, but still in the frame, in the background. We'd cut to the beautiful woman standing on the corner, then back to the protagonist and we'd see his face contort in determination. He'd rise back to his feet at the 2:33 mark of the song and just as it explodes into a furious instrumental he'd push forward at an even faster pace than before.
Then for the next 19 seconds, it'd be all-out chaos, with Incubus tearing it up in the background. The edits would have to be quick here to help the pace seem faster, and we'd most likely have to see one of the pursuers right on the heels of the protagonist (or maybe we stop and have a brief fistfight), but we'd find a way to get the desired effect, which is an edge-of-your-seat, completely enthralling chase scene, and those 19 seconds would pretty much be the climax.
There's a little less than a minute left of the song at this point, so we might have to cut things down a bit, but after another scramble through the street, an accidental take-down of a crowd of people, and a lightning quick dodge of a bus taking a sharp corner, we'd have the protagonist's target realize he's gunning for her and end things sharply around the 3:35 mark of the song, with him grabbing her by the wrist, yanking her forward, and the pair of them disappearing down a staircase leading down to the subway, where they hop on board a train and escape the danger. The song cuts out like the snap of a finger and the pace of the scene would change just as drastically.
Clearly I've put a lot of thought into this. What do you guys think? Would you like to see Incubus' Anna Molly play over a chase scene similar to the one I've described?
gregpayne0@gmail.com
@Greg_Payne
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