Art of the Chase: BARRY versus motorbikes

shooting with clarity even amidst chaotic action and changing POVs

Before this chase from Barry 3.06 "710N" someone puts a price on Barry’s head. He’s unaware a bike gang is after him . . . until the first few seconds of this clip.

Take a look, then we’ll dig into how the scene keeps us feeling the chaos and danger then lands the punch lines with absurdist hilarity.

For some shots in a chase like this you figure out the ‘how’ first and back-engineer from there, so let’s dig into both creative and technical; the ‘why’ and the ‘how.’

0:00-0:07

Creative: closeup as Barry waits at a red light; we can see his facial reaction to a bike engine growing louder and someone asking “what do we do?” and another responding “shoot him?” He looks forward and takes off; it’s all setup, but we only see his face a few times, and getting a closeup of his realisation, as well as that being what starts the chase, is key.

Technical: the camera is outside / attached to the car

0:07-0:18

Creative: we are over Barry’s shoulder, looking at where he’s driving; it doesn’t put us directly ‘in his shoes’ but does give us some sympathetic feels. The rack focus at 0:09 draws our attention to the rearview mirror, and because not much is happening in the road, our eyes stay there for the bang! truck we don’t see coming. When Barry turns, the focus racks to him, and we’re fixated on his face, the better for the second surprise of a bullet hitting his windshield.

Technical: the camera is in the back seat for the ‘big picture,’ and all the rearview mirror action can be shot / comped separately. The small size being very forgiving for stuntwork and VFX is a cherry on top of the ‘oooh, cool shot’ sundae. The focus pull to Barry means the windshield is soft for the moment of impact; another thing which has creative reason, but also makes VFX easier.

0:18-0:19

Creative: we see Barry’s face again, just for a moment, as he flinches and tries to see what’s happening in front of him.

The shot lengths are quite short, because everything happens almost at once.

Technical: the camera is mounted to the car again, with Barry in focus to best allow the matching VFX bullet holes to look realistic.

0:20

Creative: we’re fully in Barry’s POV, just for a moment.

Technical: Earlier the camera was in the back seat, now it’s in the front . . . or more likely they just removed the front seat altogether, the easier to get the shot.

0:21-0:32

Creative: we’re inside the car right next to Barry; because the other closeups have had a window or car seat between us and him, this is the closest we’ve been, which makes the crash and his reaction to it quite effective and visceral.

Technical: this is an easy, safe shot to do with a little travel sim (eg ‘shaking the car’), crew just offscreen left pushing a fake body through the safety glass, and replacing the background to make it look like things are flying by at pace.

0:33-0:40

Creative: another barrier between us and Barry, as we and he are somewhat confused what just happened.

As he leans back, it reveals movement behind him, which turns out to be a postie. As he turns to look, a cut.

Technical: straightforward

0:41-0:44

Creative: from the cut on Barry’s turn, we jump back outside the car; not in the postie’s POV, but still more detached than the ‘crash’ angle was.

This shot may feel unnecessary, but does ‘bridge the gap’ from inside the car to the next shot outside with the postie. Perhaps most importantly, it prolongs the stunned silence, which is key because Barry is, after all, a dark comedy first, and this sequence is awkwardly hilarious.

Technical: straightforward again, probably the second-easiest shot (reflections can be a drag).

0:44-0:47

Creative: the postie just stands there . . . still automatically rifling through his mail, and if that isn’t funny, what is?

Technical: probably the easiest shot of the lot.

0:48-0:53

Creative: we’re getting wider and wider outside the car, and this is the widest of the whole scene, showing just how calm and absurd the whole scene looks from a bird’s-eye view. What was chaotic and life-or-death when we were in the car with Barry is . . . a fallen motorcycle and a car which ran only partly up a curb before being stopped by a telephone pole.

Technical: this would have been fun! But the sun has DEFINITELY moved; check the postie now in shade and the length of those fence shadows.

0:54-0:56

In one of a few duplicate setups; the rest are straightforward setups technically, they’re not about stunt safety, action, etc. but selling the joke.

So, back beside the car, we see Barry’s face fall, before:

0:57-1:01

Only now the full reveal of his windshield, carefully hidden in prior angles because the second punch line is those legs sticking out. Cut on Barry’s turn again . . .

1:01-1:03

Creative: to end on another not-quite-POV shot as Barry stares at would-be biker dead in his front seat.

We’re again in sympathy but we are not in his POV; note his suit coat prominent in the right third