no the x-men were named for the x and
charles xavier
since i am sheldon cooper you will be my
seamen
hi this is artiktif and today i'm
joining forces with the
y men that is the youtube men to take up
the
one excellent scene challenge where
youtubers give their take on one
favorite scene from
anything x-men i shall be dissecting the
incredible montage sequence from
x-men first class a masterpiece of a
superhero film directed by
matthew vaughn that literally reignited
the x-men franchise with
two spectacular films and two not so
spectacular films
so let's dive in and explore how the
film making enhances the quality
of the characters the music the pacing
and
the story itself this is yours
no it's ours
entire film has been building up to this
montage the film before the montage has
the mutants
scattered scared and disjointed
i expect more from you they haven't
explored their full potential
they're afraid of their powers they're
afraid of who they might become
they're afraid of hurting others and
afraid
of letting the past consume them which
is where charles xavier
the most powerful and accomplished of
all mutants
comes in to reform them in his very
first class
which will also birth the first class of
the x-men hence
the title the training montage is
literally the film's title signifying
the major character development
and tonal shifts that will affect the
entire outcome
of the rest of the film the title is
also derived from the comic book
it is loosely based on speaking of comic
books
the initial striking detail in the
montage are the transitions
aptly mimicking the comic book panels
they perfectly align with the action
unfolding on screen like transitioning
to a rectangular door as it opens
or to the squares of glass panes as they
shatter
transitions may be comic booky but it's
not all style
no substance there's also the
transitional shift in the characters
themselves
a shift where they finally discover
their true self i will teach you to
control this alex
you could divide the film into two
sections one before the montage and one
after it
and literally see how dramatic a change
the mutants have gone through
and this is all thanks to the classic
setup versus payoff
story structure where you set up a plot
line
mutant and proud only to pay it off
eventually with a memorable bang mutant
and proud and the setup is done in a way
that all the plot lines although
different
in story are connected thematically you
know you can deflect it then you're not
challenging yourself
whatever happened to the man who's
trying to raise a submarine
what i can't something that big
i need the situation the anger the yang
is not enough
for example we begin with eric whose
rage is holding him back he can dodge a
bullet but
not his troubled past we then transition
to a similar mutant alex
who is held back by fear of hurting
other people
you know when i do this bad things tend
to happen it's because you can't control
it
it controls you that's why we're here
alex
that's why we're training
we come to cassidy aka banshee who is
probably the most
normal of the bunch but doesn't know how
he can contribute to the group
but this it's like any other muscle in
the body you can control it
before eventually coming to hank who is
holding back
from what he might become locked in an
eternal struggle off to be or not to be
it's that struggle which is holding you
back
jekyll was afraid of what he could be
capable of you are too or rather
to beast or not to beast remarks the
montage has now set the stage
it set and we now enter the training
phase
we see the mutants fail again and again
and again we see their own
vulnerabilities in action
but it is still disguised under this
amazing comedy both
verbally through exciting character
interactions you need the sound waves to
be supersonic
catch them at the right angle and they
should carry you they should currently
that's reassuring what's up
and don't forget to scream and visually
particularly in the use of
invisible comedy where we don't see a
certain action happening
and this is exactly what makes it
funnier
we can see how the scene strings
together all of the mutants failures
attempts and their inevitable successes
together
if you like those all you need is a red
nose right bozo
imagine if alex's entire sequence right
from his failure to his success
is then followed by banshees it will
feel like alex's and banshee's training
are different
if we mix their sequences together
though there's not only a beautiful
poetic sense of accomplishment but we
actually feel like alex and banshee
although training differently you're
serious
are still working towards the exact same
goal
wow
i steal a bozo yes hank you're still a
boza
do nice job
and this training is also true for raven
a mutant with complete control over her
powers
but still untrained in accepting that
very control
up to this point in the film braven has
been desperately hunting for support
first in charles who initially accepted
her for herself but
as the years passed he got defensive did
not welcome raven's
little stunts right so as not to blow
her cover
and hence no longer wished raven's true
form
god's sake raven wear your clothes
put some clothes on he loved raven but
society would never accept her so he
built walls to protect her
unknown to charles this very act turns
raven
rebellious the confused raven next tries
to find
solace in hank so your mutation is what
you're
super smart he inadvertently pushes her
further in
accepting her true form i wish that's
all it was but because of his internal
struggle of to be or not to be he pulls
her back
eventually raven faces eric who
completely accepts her for who she truly
is
if i look like you i wouldn't change a
thing
and even challenges her like charles
challenges his first
class of mutants if you're using half
your concentration to look normal
then you're only half paying attention
to whatever else you're doing
just pointing out something that could
save your life now why is all of this
relevant
because a scene or in this case the
training montage is a part of a whole
or in this case the film itself a great
film always has
every moment every scene every look
every emotion
adds something to the overall experience
of the film you want society to accept
you
but you can't even accept yourself or
push the story of the film forward
meaningfully the training montage is
exactly that most of the setup
established in the first half of the
film
is paid off whatever happened to the man
who's trying to raise a submarine
while simultaneously setting up new
character development
that will be paid off in the final
showdown
and it may not seem like it but the
division between charles and eric begins
to take shape
in this montage how well charles breaks
the ice
making eric discover his true powers
that inadvertently opens up his spent up
hatred for the fear-mongering humanity
a sentiment that passes on to raven
finally ending her
own internal conflict this is ironic
given that the training montage is the
first time the mutants finally see
eye to eye but in their own individual
journeys they discover
their true calling as well charles's
calling was to
start his own school for kids with
special abilities
eric establishes his goal of bringing
the mutant revolution
raven is inspired to spread the message
of acceptance to any troubled mutant she
can find
and hank's use of his intellect aids
mutants through
clever tools like q does in james bond
this is literally the foundation upon
which the entirety of x-men is built
upon
now of course it's not fun if you
translate these themes
visually through performances editing
dialogue which is all good
but you can also do that through music
as well
which is exactly what composer henry
jackman did
in predominantly three ways jackman uses
a lot of electric guitar that
apart from sounding extremely cool also
plays around the fact that the mutants
are something
new something refreshing as opposed to
the
traditional orchestra that takes up more
than 70 percent of the
soundtrack
this is highlighted further by the fact
that this music choice is extremely
unusual
for the 60s era the film takes place in
the sound of the guitar is very sparse
in the first half of the film but
finally gains prominence in you guessed
it the training montage
a scene wherein the mutants finally
unite explore
and evolve and with the mutants is
evolving the x-men theme
itself as the mutants make progress so
does the main theme
we get to hear the first of it during
alex's first run
which flows into banshees but the theme
is still not completely
clearly recognizable it's just there
trying to find a footing before fizzling
out too quickly
like doubt pulling the mutants back in
we finally get the first true glimpse of
it when alex starts his training
hopeful that it will finally come
together but there are short pauses
between every beat
before eventually dying out with alex's
failure
the theme tries to soar high in the sky
once again without any pauses this time
as if the music and banshee will
probably make it
but there's another important thing the
music is doing
the timing in technical terms the small
bits of the main theme we heard to this
point
have been playing in double time but as
the mutants finally begin to succeed
the music gradually slows down in speed
piece by piece
bit by bit before reaching half time or
half of the speed to give that
epic sense of total victory
in a 2011 interview jackman said what's
ironic in x-men first class
is that the mutants do have superpowers
but because it's a prequel
they are not a team they are disjointed
and don't know what to do with their
powers
some of them don't even want to have
them while i at first thought to have
the score start off with truly heroic
music matthew
and i decided it was better to save that
moment for
later on in the score to do that i
stretched out
the main theme in halftime which gave
the score a sense of striving towards
that big
superman moment the music is a
destination for the characters to find
their powers it's pregnant with
superhero potential
yet it isn't too sure of itself see that
try turning it to face us and can you
guess who is also not sure of himself
to give the training montage that
powerful bang legendary film editor
lee smith yes the guy behind literally
all
christopher nolan films makes a
conscious decision of beginning
and ending the montage with eric to make
everything
come full circle you know i believe that
true focus lies somewhere between rage
and serenity as previously established
the montage
strings all the failures and successes
of the mutants together
and that same treatment to eric's
character is the big
cherry on the cake this is the final
punch line that
gives away what actually is holding
every mutant back
rage and serenity the rage is the very
power
of all mutants but serenity is how the
mutants
wield it control it accept it and
execute it
charles has finally succeeded in
teaching this philosophy to his first
class of mutants
and the montage has been building up
like a crescendo as
he teaches his final student what did
you just do to me
i access the brightest corner of your
memory system
it's a very beautiful memory eric thank
you
i didn't know i still had that
everything from the sweet guitar sound
to the slowed down music to the
character development
is about to reach nirvana in what is one
of the most memorable moments
i have personally witnessed in any film
hell even michael fassbender's powerful
performance is about to be paid off
when you realize how he initially uses
two hands
with extreme rage before eventually
being able to master his powers
with a serene flick of a single palm
well done
i do like the x-men
you
