Hot Fuzz - Cinematography

Prior to his work on Hot Fuzz, Jess Hall had worked on two other films – 2003’s Strander, 2007’s Son of Rambow. He has done commercials for some of the biggest and most recognizable companies in the world -Royal Caribbean, Hewlett-Packard, Adidas, Carlsburg, Barclays, Guinness, Vodafone, Reebok, Visa, Heineken, Fiat, Orange, DHL, Gatorade, ESPN, Coke, NASCAR, and Verizon just to name a few. Hall has done music videos for Massive Attack, All Saints, and Eagle Eye Cherry. To this day he still prefers to use film to shoot his movies. He is a self-proclaimed photography naturalist. In an interview with ONFILM he says, “I never really want to feel aware of artificial lighting.”

                Hot Fuzz makes use of every type of shot possible in film. One action scene in particular makes good use of various types of shots. Sgt. Angel confronts a shoplifter at the local grocery store. It’s initially a medium-shot, as the shoplifter realizes he’s been caught, the camera zooms in tighter and tighter until it’s just their eyes in the frame. The chase ensues with various camera angles and just when one thinks the shoplifter is going to get away, Sgt. Angel takes a shortcut and as he retreats from the camera to give chase the long-shot materializes. One of the few times in the film where a standard camera angle isn’t used, at Ellroy Farms, SSgts. Angel and Butterman encounter quite an impressive weapons stash including a sea mine. When the mine is hit with the butt of a rifle it starts to tick and the lack of control of the situation is lost and the tension can be felt as indicated by the oblique camera angles. There are lots of quick cuts and jump cuts during the transition sequences, especially after someone is arrested. The film utilized zooming as opposed to using a dolly, specifically in the scene just before Leslie Tiller’s murder, to make things more intense.

                Some of the best lighting in the film comes in the pub sequences; according to Edgar Wright he considers it “proper moody cop shots.” Also, towards the end when Sgt. Angel goes to confront the NWA at the castle; the darkness of the scene clearly indicates the sinister nature of the NWA and their actions.