He began his professional career with his feature-film debut, 1995 Western parody ‘A Fistful of Fingers’. However, he gained national recognition for his work on the Channel 4 show ‘Spaced’, which stars and written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. The show won 2 British Comedy awards and was nominated for 2 BAFTAs and an International Emmy award. 

‘Spaced’ allowed Wright the $6 million budget for his 2nd feature film, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ in 2004. It starred a majority of the same cast as ‘Spaced’ such as Pegg (who also co-wrote the film) and Nick Frost. The film instantly gained critical acclaim for its comedic satire and charismatic leads, leading it to gross $30 million worldwide. It was nominated for 2 BAFTAs- one for Outstanding British Film of the Year- and won multiple awards for Best Screenplay (BIFA), Best Horror Film (Saturn) and Best British Film (Empire), while also appearing in TIME Magazine’s “Top 25 Horror Films of All Time”.

3 years later in 2007, ‘Hot Fuzz’ was released. The film again starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and was another critical hit for Wright with many calling it as one of, if not his best film. It grossed $90 million worldwide and won awards for Best Comedy. Within the film, Wright parodies a variety of action films and styles, ranging from ‘Point Break’ and Michael Bay’s filmography.

To conclude the trilogy, the sci-fi parody, ‘The World’s End’ was released in 2013 and grossed $46.1 million worldwide. Though not grossing as much, it was still well received among critics and audience alike.

Wright has also experimented with other genres of film with ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’ (Comic-book), ‘Baby Driver’ (Action), ‘Last Night in Soho’ (Horror) and ‘The Sparks Brothers’ (Documentary). 

In 2010, Wright released ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’, an adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The film is well-known for its cast with many starting their careers such as Michael Cera and Chris Evans. Unfortunately, it was a reported Box-Office “flop” for Universal as it grossed $49.3 million on a budget of $85 million. However, the film received high praise from critics and fans alike due to its inventive visual style and the use of music. 

Twelve years later in 2022, Netflix announced that the film’s cast will return in voice over roles for an animated adaptation with Wright executive producer of the series. 

Due to his success with his past films, Marvel Studios approached Wright with ‘Ant-Man’, something that had been in development since 2006. He was set to direct and write the film until he exited a year prior to its release in 2014 due to creative differences. Wright stated that “I wanted to make a Marvel movie, but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright film”. Upon release, he still received screenplay, story and executive producer credits.

His next film would be ‘Baby Driver’, a passion project for Wright. He had previously directed a music video for Mint Royale for ‘Blue Song’. This would ignite his interest in a film revolving around a getaway driver and diegetic music. It would end up being his biggest hit, grossing $225 million in 2017. Critics applauded the style of the film with many liking it to a musical where the beat matches up with the action.

What followed in 2021 would be his first and to-date only documentary ‘The Sparks Brothers’ covering cult pop-rock band ‘Sparks’. 

Also in 2021, his latest film, horror-thriller ‘Last Night in Soho’ released. Inspired by psychological horror films ‘Don’t Look Now’ (1973) and Polanski’s ‘Repulsion’ (1965), the film grossed $23 million during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Firstly to research Wright’s cinematography, I created a variety of storyboards showcasing different shots ranging from the best to shots that are similar to what I plan to use in my project. Wright has a distinct style for his films propelled heavily by the editing. Often his shots are designed and framed in ways to tell comedy and show interaction with characters and the space around them.

Within his films, Wright uses exaggerated, quick camera zooms and swipes to reinvent and inject comedy into the more mundane sequences, almost always mimicking different genres. He’s stated that “I like the idea of building up to a true action montage. In Hot Fuzz, the idea was to subvert that by taking the most boring police work like paper work by making it super stylized”.

I plan to use these stylised techniques within my own work as I feel I can create an exaggerated, intense scene where the only action going on is a card game. This may mean implementing quick zooms when a character is dealing and/or showing the hand of another character. 

The editing compliments the cinematography well and helps enhance the action in the scenes. Wright tends to use the same editors for his films, them being Chris Dickens (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz) and Paul Machliss (The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver & Last Night in Soho), who was an Academy Award nominee for Baby Driver. They commonly use techniques such as quick cuts, match cuts, montages and transitions. Some of them sometimes link together such as match cuts being used as transitions to create/keep the momentum in the film’s narrative as well as add comedy into the scenes.

Transitions have been used in various ways in Wright’s films, notably Scott Pilgrim and Hot Fuzz. In Scott Pilgrim, he uses transitions to keep the energy and momentum from one scene to the next. In the introductory scene of Scott and Knives’ relationship, frame wipes serve the purpose of cutting between different locations and carrying on the conversation while also condensing the dialogue into a 1 minute sequence to emphasise the freshness of the relationship. 

Another example in Scott Pilgrim is the scene of Scott changing before the final fight with Gideon. Here transitions are used as a form of visual comedy. A generic scene of someone changing is edited in ways to create excitement and is suddenly broken up with a slow scene of Scott tying his shoes.

In Hot Fuzz when Nicholas is transferred to Sandford, the transitions operate to tell and show the time-scale of the story. They help explain the events in the story without dialogue and explicitly show that Nicholas is moving cities due to the quick jump cuts. The film expertly uses little time for the dull activities to use towards more important plot elements. The scene is enhanced by the audio visuals where Wright uses exaggerated intrusive sounds which acts as a comic jolt. 

As a significant staple of Wright’s films, I plan to use his stylised techniques to take a typical mundane action and reinvent it in a way to add comedy and energy to it. I am a fan of this style as it allows the viewer to be engrossed in the film through creating a sense of excitement while parodying popular genres.

Rhythmic Editing

Wright allows his films to obtain its sense of urgency and kinetic nature through rhythmic editing. This is most notably presented in Baby Driver and famously in its opening scene to ‘The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’ song ‘Bellbottoms. Editor Paul Machliss was on set everyday simultaneously to when the movie was shot to make sure every movement and moment were timed perfectly to the internal beat. 

He also ensures that every moment, act and/or expression is synced to the beat of the scene. This can range from characters walking to a beat to using sound effects to direct the camera and attention to different positions. 

Wright’s use of rhythmic editing impresses me largely and is something that I am determined to attempt in my project. This will most likely be implemented in a montage sequence of blackjack games with a form of pop-rock song playing in the background. I believe that it can create excitement and add energy which can entertain the viewer while reminding how the music is important to the scene. 

Sound design in film combines every piece of audio to create a wider soundscape. Key elements include Ambience, dialogue, sound effects, foley, voiceover and music. Wright uses a blend of these elements to create a unique relationship between the visuals and the sound.

For Wright’s films, the sound design drives the editing process. He uses sound effects to further exaggerate and transition from scene to scene. The exaggerated effects are used generally for non-dramatic actions to create a visceral feeling and help with the montage edits by punctuating each shot. They can also be used to subvert expectations for comic effect, as seen in the renowned “Tap Water” scene in The World’s End. The disruptive sound also acts as a transition to the next scene while providing a cartoonish element. 

Another common technique Wright uses are intrusive sounds. These are often paired with introducing new elements in the story that drive the motion and events. In Shaun of the Dead, Ed is established with disruptive sounds, therefore establishing his personality through the sound rather than taking up some of the runtime on needless dialogue to explain his character to the viewer. 

In an interview with The Independent, Wright’s go-to sound designer Julian Slater admits that he already has strong starting points when producing the soundtrack through visual cues and actions that mimic the beat. He explains that Wright looks for complex soundtracks by adding subtle effects that fit the scene. These effects always relate to the scene, for example in Scott Pilgrim, subtle video game sound effects are sprinkled throughout the film in fight scenes or simply to capture a character’s reaction. The complexity of the soundtracks can be heard in each film in the Cornetto Trilogy. In Shaun of the Dead, the constant city ambience of sirens and alarms give the impression of a chaotic urban environment and masks the impending horror aspects. In Hot Fuzz, Wright plays with layering sound effects to punctuate the feeling of intense police action. And in The World’s End, technological sounds are littered throughout to tie the film with the robots and sci-fi genre.

Baby Driver

Baby Driver is well-known for utilising music to support its plot and characters. Wright chose and constructed the soundtrack to support every component of the film, from character actions to establishing shots. Similarly to his other films, he uses his soundtracks to reinforce the action within the scenes; for example, he uses ‘Bellbottoms’ for the opening car chase and comedically ‘Tequila’ in a shootout midway through the film. 

Another reason why many love the soundtrack is that the lead character has the condition Tinnitus, which is constantly blended into the soundtrack while enhancing the meaning behind the music. The condition allows Wright to incorporate songs that would normally be difficult to include in movies of the same or similar genre.  During the more emotional sequences, the music exists within the occasion, allowing the audience to feel and understand the sentiment towards the characters. Barry White’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” plays, which connotes that the protagonist will do anything for love. 

Needledrops & Soundtracks

Wright is infamous for his film soundtracks, often mixing a variety of different genres together in order to achieve a comedic effect or to match the events on screen. 

In an article with ‘The Quietus’, Wright goes through some of his favourite albums; a lot of them greatly influencing his work. He explains his reasoning for each with some being big inspirations for him upon writing. These vary from Lalo Schifrin’s ‘Mission Impossible’ soundtrack to David Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’. Rock single ‘Kimono My House’ from Sparks is massively relevant to his 2021 documentary ‘The Sparks Brothers’. 

Throughout the albums, several of their songs have featured in Wright’s movies such as ‘Caught by the Fuzz’ by Supergrass in Hot Fuzz, ‘Brighton Rock’ by Queen in Baby Driver and ‘Do You Remember Walter’ by The Kinks, which he states directly inspired the character of Gary King in The World’s End.

Like many other fans of Wright’s films, I am immediately drawn to his soundtracks and how they compliment the action on screen. This is something that I am definitely going to attempt within my project. Moreover, Wright has stated that he listens to a song and starts to imagine a scene - “A lot of times you kind of come up with songs and you think, This would be great in something. That’s probably where the Queen song in Shaun of the Dead came from”. Much like Wright, I tend to imagine scenes when listening to music, whether it is an action/fight scene to a fast-paced song or a more emotional, lighthearted scene to a calmer, more upbeat song. A few songs that I may plan to use in future projects would include Eagles of Death Metal’s ‘Miss Alissa’ and/or The Raconteurs’ ‘Salute Your Solution’, both of those classed under the pop-rock genre, similar to what Wright uses. 

In a case study by Whitmore High, they delved deep into the social and intertextual context that was present in the production of Shaun of the Dead and how it has carried on into Wright’s future films.

Starting off is the intextual connotations. Within the film, there are many references to ‘Spaced’ and the zombie apocalypse video game ‘Resident Evil 2’. He uses the horror aspects from the game and builds upon it with the graphic nature of 2002 British film ‘28 Days Later’, 1973’s ‘The Wicker Man’ and 1998 micro budget film ‘I Zombie’. 

A big part of SotD and the Cornetto Trilogy is its British Representation. Everything in the film is designed to reflect the social culture such as Pubs, dialect and stereotypes. Wright ensures that it’s accurate through the props, lighting and furniture, all of which relating to a dullish, brown colour scheme. 

Throughout the film, there are a combined 58 uses of swear words and/or profanity. Over-the-top swearing is often a large stereotype of British culture and Wright utilises it to his advantage to progress the story and show the relationship between characters. Another common stereotype he uses is the “stiff upper lip” notion, which appears during the film when the characters are under siege.

Ideology

Wright applies different ideologies onto his characters through ironic and escapist comedy. One example is Ed, who has forgiven all his sins, where at the end of the film, becomes a zombie but still is sat on his Playstation. This is Hedonism where in simple terms, it means that Ed, even though he has become a generic zombie, is living and behaving in ways to maximise his pleasure according to the belief that the most important thing in life is to enjoy yourself. 

Another would be the social class divide in which Wright uses as a satire on modern life. This includes the anti-establishment individualism or Youth culture in which they are presented as “slackers” and reflects a mindless consumerist culture of the lower classes.

Wright also attempts to reinforce and challenge gender role stereotypes within the film. Generically, the main female character is presented as the “damsel in distress” and someone destined for a relationship with the male protagonist. However in SotD, Liz starts off having expectations of a relationship, then over the course of the film builds a strong and determined stance to soon become one of the active main characters. 

This follows into Shaun and Ed’s relationship. They are explicitly presented as having a typical “boy-sey” bond, despite Shaun’s softer and more sensitive personality. This bond is a reason why Shaun is prevented from having a “normal” life with Liz. It both reinforces and challenges the stereotypes of romantic relationships in films as it ensures the idea that the love interest doesn’t like the buddy-like friendships but also challenges the norm by not making the characters pursue the romance by the end of the film. 

Narrative

The plot suggests that the Todorovian Narratology can apply within the film. In 1971, Bulgarian narratologist Tzvetan Todorov presented a theory in an essay titled ‘The Two Principles of Narrative’. He claims that all narratives contain the same five formal elements; Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Resolution and New Equilibrium. Within the film, different plot points can be directed to each of those elements.

• Equilibrium is defined as the viewer being familiarised with the setting and character as they observe their everyday life. This can be pinned to the introduction to Shaun and Ed’s rugged existence.

• Disruption is defined as the unforeseen events that disturb the equilibrium. In this case, obviously pointing at the zombie apocalypse.

• Recognition is defined as when the narrative acknowledges the disruption. Here being Shaun’s realisation that he has to act against it, on top of his fragmented livelihood.

• Resolution is defined as the character is driven by the psychological need for uncertain resolution. This is seen when the zombies are defeated towards the end of the film

• New Equilibrium is defined as when the character and plot development culminate in a new equilibrium where the antagonists are defeated and conclusion reaffirms the morality of the story. In the film, this is seen as Shaun and Ed being back together while under different circumstances.

Political

In an interview with Jason Gorber and ScreenAnarchy, Wright reaffirms that he does not call himself a political filmmaker despite the social points that can be inferred from his films. He compares Shaun of the Dead to ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1978) where the metaphor used is “so rich” that both the right and left sides of the political debate can claim as their own. The left portraying the dangers of the witchhunt and the right stating the dangers of communism. 

In The World’s End, Wright deliberately plays both sides of the argument due to its satirical and comedic nature. He asks the question of whether you want to become one of the alien robots or the high school dropout, but because it’s a satire, they want to create a harsh choice for the audience. This links with the character of Gary King as he is presented as deeply flawed. He thinks of his friends as “wage slaves” and fluctuates around the idea of being “free”. Wright calls him “A character with each revelation throughout the movie you think that the man can’t hit rock bottom any lower, yet you still want him to find some sort of triumph”. He concludes by saying that the film is about a man who escapes modern social standards such as therapy in order to trigger his own intervention.

Continuing about The World’s End, Wright makes a point towards modern consumerism and the effect of digital media. He implies issues with modern consumerism through jokes about mega corporations such as Starbucks and Apple. He claims that “it’s easy to rag on Starbucks” and that it’s the “evil face of some folksy, global homogenisation”, yet they still drank a lot during the shoot. 

He too compares the antagonists to Apple, saying that they represent them and asks the audience the question of whether they “are going to be with Apple or are you going to not be with Apple”, which links back to his subtle issues with mega corporations. 

Wright presents the concept of slavery through digital media. He portrays the pros and cons of the modern person’s overreliance on digital technology through Gary King and his exclusion from society, contributed by his failure to join the mainstream culture. This is helped by the characterisation of the side characters and how their lives appear easier when giving in to the inevitably of digitalisation. The idea of slavery by digital media is presented through The Network saying the the term ‘Robot’ (an old Czech word meaning ‘Slave’) is incorrect terminology because they are “very happy” and “not slaves”. This creates the notion that humanity has become slaves to an unknown force through the use of digital media which can be implied as being eerily similar to reality.

Overall, this study has provided great insight into the different aspects of Wright’s films and the close relationship between them in order to create his distinct style. As I plan to continue this research into my final major project, I believe further research will need to be conducted into his screenplays and looking into older films that have inspired or have been inspired by Wright’s work.

Edgar Wright (2024) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wright. 

IMDb (no date) Edgar Wright | director, writer, producer, IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/. 

(No date) BFI Screenonline: Wright, Edgar (1974-) biography. Available at: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1191227/index.html. 

(no date) Speakers Bureau. Available at: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Edgar+Wright/395160. 

Surrey, M. (2021) From cult to common: Edgar Wright’s journey to the mainstream, The Ringer. Available at: https://www.theringer.com/movies/2021/10/27/22748404/edgar-wright-career-arc-last-night-in-soho. 

Newell, C., Farrell, P. and Bolton, R. (2019) From mundane to amazing: The editing of Hot fuzz, Scriptophobic. Available at: https://scriptophobic.ca/2018/08/07/from-mundane-to-amazing-the-editing-of-hot-fuzz/. 

Scott Pilgrim: Style and substance (2020) Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@justindempsey/scott-pilgrim-style-and-substance-dfb57d7532d3. 

Singh, I. (2018) The Cornetto Trilogy, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/all-things-cinema/the-cornetto-trilogy-ca627cde88a2. 

How Edgar Wright Edits His Films | Video Essay (2021). Found in Frames. 22 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU6YTa94V58. 

Edgar Wright - How To Edit To The Beat (2017). konradnoises. 24 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxw7LGGNLYY. 

Edgar Wright’s Style of Video Editing Explained (2019). Movavi Vlog. 18 July. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcwW4brmUfg. 

Edgar Wright - How to Do Visual Comedy (2014). Every frame a Painting . 27 May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4Sfgag.

Andrews, M. (2017) Features: Baker’s dozen: The fabulous, most groovy: Director Edgar Wright’s favourite albums, The Quietus. Available at: https://thequietus.com/articles/22682-edgar-wright-baker-s-dozen.

Frosty (2017) Edgar Wright: The diegetic soundtrack of my life, Red Bull Music Academy Daily. Available at: https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/11/edgar-wright-the-diegetic-soundtrack-of-my-life.

Golsen, T. (2021) The music video that inspired Edgar Wright’s ‘Baby driver’, Far Out Magazine. Available at: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-music-video-that-inspired-edgar-wrights-baby-driver/.

Harrison, M. (2017) Exploring the music of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy, Den of Geek. Available at: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/exploring-the-music-of-edgar-wrights-cornetto-trilogy/.

How Edgar Wright Uses Sound (2020). The Discarded Image. 28 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxrjJZNQPjM.

Riesman, A. (2017) Edgar Wright explains his favorite musical moments in his own films, Vulture. Available at: https://www.vulture.com/2017/06/baby-driver-edgar-wright-music.html.

Shields, M. (2020) How Edgar Wright Foregrounds sound, Film School Rejects. Available at: https://filmschoolrejects.com/edgar-wright-sound/.

Simpson, M.L. (2023) What is sound design in film? definition & examples | backstage, Backstage. Available at: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/what-is-sound-design-in-film-75845/.

Visagie, M. (2018) Sound and cinema - baby driver’s masterful use of music, The Cinema Cult. Available at: https://thecinemacult.com/2018/09/21/sound-and-cinema-baby-drivers-masterful-use-of-music/.

Why Edgar Wright Makes Some of the Best Soundtracks (2018). Vulture. 13 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPIugKyxF1w. 

Shaun of the Dead : Component 1 (no date) Whitmore High . Available at: https://www.whitmorehigh.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SOTD.pdf. 

Gorber, J. (2013) Exclusive interview: Edgar Wright talks the world’s end, politics, fitness instructors, and more, ScreenAnarchy. Available at: https://screenanarchy.com/2013/08/exclusive-interview-edgar-wright-talks-worlds-end-politics-fitness-instructors-and-more.html. 

Rodrigo, S. (2019) Edgar Wright’s ’The world’s end: A prediction of ‘Techno pompeii’, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@sashinirodrigo/edgar-wrights-the-world-s-end-a-prediction-of-techno-pompeii-4bef05c78a37.