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I am trying to identify a cinematic style where a common activity is filmed as if it was way more epic than it really is (usually with a comedic intent).

As an example: a guy could be just drinking coffee while the camera pans around, makes slowdowns and dramatic shots of the mug, his eyes and his mouth, while an action song is played.

I am sure I have watched examples of this in movies, but I can't remember any.

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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is asking for a list of movies and not about a specific movie.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
    Sep 18, 2014 at 10:23
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    I've edited the question so that Kikito can identify the style and create his own list, so we can keep this as being on-topic. When re-opened, I also have an answer for him...
    – John Smith Optional
    Sep 18, 2014 at 10:51
  • Is there a clip you could provide to go along with your example?
    – MattD
    Sep 18, 2014 at 14:48
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    This style is used a lot in movies with Simon Pegg. For example, in "Sean of the Dead" he put on his shirt, jacket, name badge, etc. in rapid jump-cuts with loud awesome noises. The same technique was used in "The World's End" and "Hot Fuzz".
    – BrettFromLA
    Sep 18, 2014 at 16:50
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    @NapoleonWilson, I was going to post an answer about Edgar wright and 'ramping', but felt that simply pointing to Edgar wright in the comments would send someone down the right track and come up with an answer of their own... obviously not! I'll muse this over and produce one when I can... unless someone beats me to it!
    – John Smith Optional
    Oct 11, 2014 at 12:33

1 Answer 1

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It's TvTropes to the rescue again, where they decided to call the technique Mundane Made Awesome and present a few billion examples from movies, TV, advertising and other media. Edgar Wright's films get a mention, of course, as they are particularly rife with the specific example you've mentioned: parodies of tooling-up montages (Tropes calls it Lock and Load), where mundane activities are accompanied by close ups, ramped up action and loud music. Da Ali G Show uses similar devices in its intro [Warning: Sacha Butt].

Also mentioned in the Tropes page are bits like the opening bowling sequence in Big Lebowski, the title sequence of Dexter and one of my favorites, the epic Xander-Harmony slap fight in BtVS (though I can't seem to find another favorite there: The Crimson Permanent Assurance). But it's impossible to name all the examples, so... Enjoy wasting a week on them. :)

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    Thanks a lot! If it serves, I read your answer while imagining some awesome music playing out.
    – kikito
    Mar 12, 2015 at 14:30

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