Zack Snyder Explains his Use of Slow Motion, “Slow Motion is Awesome”

Zack Snyder, over his career, has built up a unique and recognisable visual style that includes moody colour grading, shallow depth of field, and of course—an abundance of slow motion. Thus, the director’s use of slo-mo has become a controversial talking point in the culture as people believe it’s overused or unnecessary. 

Now, with the release of Snyder’s latest film, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, discussion about the use of slow motion has reignited.

Zack Snyder is Asked why he Uses Slow Motion

To promote Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, Snyder appeared on Wired’s Tech Support series which sees craftsmen answer questions from the internet about their craft. So, Snyder appeared to answer questions on filmmaking.

In the interview, the first question the director is asked is “Why did Rebel Moon’s action scenes have so much slomo?” and he responds with:

“The obvious answer is slow motion is awesome. These movies are physical. There’s a physicality to what our heroes go through. The use of slow motion to me is a way of just embellishing heroic moments that our heroes go through. Because I think I’m a fan of beautiful classic artwork or paintings, I like to kind of make the moments into those iconographic frames that you can hang on and see.” This reasoning is justifiable considering Snyder’s films are commonly praised for involving striking visuals.

However, this isn’t Snyder’s first time talking about slow-mo in an interview. Previously, in May 2021, the director appeared on Wired’s Autocomplete Interview to promote Army of the Dead. Autocomplete Interview sees interviewees answer questions from the autocomplete suggestions on search engines. So, when Snyder is asked “What is Zack Snyder known for?” He answers with Justice League and, of course, slow motion:

“People would think I was known for slow motion. I like slow motion. I don’t really like slow motion that much. If you do a percentage of slow motion in my movies. I would think you’d find that it’s 1% or something like that. I know someone’s analysing it right now and they’re gonna say ‘no, it’s 50.%.’”

How Much Slow Motion is in Zack Snyder’s Films?

Fans online have in fact actually calculated how much slo-mo the director has used in his films and the answers may surprise you. IGN calculated how much slow motion is in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and their results came out with 24 minutes and 7 seconds—or 10.35%. However, keep in mind the film does have a lofty runtime of 4 hours and 2 minutes.

Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver is streaming exclusively on Netflix as of Friday, April 19. The film stars Sofia Boutella as Kora, Charlie Hunman as Kai, Anthony Hopkins as Jimmy, Ed Skrein as Atticus, Charlotte Maggi as Sam, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar, Djimon Hounsou as Titus, Stuart Martin as Den, Staz Nair as Tarak, Bae Doona as Nemesis, Sky Yang as Aris, and Fra Fee as Balisarius. 

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