Presented above, is our final version of our short movie called ‘The Accident.’ Our original task was to learn the names of the different camera techniques and to work out which one’s fit suitably with the scenes we were about to film. This was probably the first time for any of us where we were given the opportunity to act, direct and edit our own original film. We were ecstatic to start this project, so we jumped straight into the task feet first and began shooting our film. Our first attempt to edit our film did not go as well as we would have hoped to, for the reason that as being new to the media facilities we weren’t sure what effects and techniques to use which would result in our movie looking far more professional and realistic. Due to our poor editing skills, the movie looked unrehearsed and messy; as each individual scene did not show any sign of continuity. Each section jumped scenes and was completely out of sync with each other.
Thankfully, our class teacher gave us the opportunity to edit our film for the second time, by doing so we were able to change the timings of the scenes so that each segment flowed gracefully alongside one another. This highlighted the use of continuity and it demonstrated that no time had passed during each scene. We were also able to add transitions and effects to our film, so we decided to go for a black fading backdrop which zoomed onto the screen at the beginning of the film and it gradually faded away towards the end of the film. One might say that by using this particular effect this has resulted in the film looking dramatic, possibly eerie and suspenseful.
Additionally, I believe that by being given a second chance to make changes to our film, we were able to use some of the transitions and camera techniques which we had learnt in class in the weeks before, and add this to the final version of our film. Thereby, our movie gave the impression of being professional and each scene began to run smoothly alongside one another demonstrating the use of continuity.
In class we were asked to produce a short film sequence demonstrating the use of continuity and how it allows scenes to flow gracefully alongside one another. Whilst filming our short film sequence we were asked to include a short segment of dialogue and display how to open and walk through door ways in numerous shots/takes. After watching back our first attempt of our continuity video, we realised that it did not flow as well as we would have liked, as some of the scenes kept jumping alongside each other. However, after much hard work in the media pod we managed to adjust a few scenes and edit sections of the dialogue so that the continuity film ran more smoothly. Thankfully, we managed to produce a well equipped film sequence.
1) What do you think was the point of the activity?
One might say that the aim of this activity was to understand the use of continuity and how it is used in today’s media industry and how this technique is used numerous times in films, TV and so on. We were asked to practice on our filming and editing abilities so that we could produce an effective continuity film sequence. In our movie, we were asked to capture one of the two characters opening a door and walking through it into the next room. We had to consider which camera shots/techniques that we were going to use and which shots would enable us to create a clean continuity sequence. Additionally, we had to think about the location where we wanted to film our scene and where about we could attract enough lighting.
2) In regard to your finished sequence what worked well?
It may be said that our continuity sequence came together successfully for the reason that each scene flowed continuously alongside each other gracefully without any hiccups or problems. The camera shots were extremely clean/neat as it followed from one scene to the next. For example, when our actor opened the door and walked through it, we were able to capture a fluent shot which demonstrated the use of continuity. We filmed the shot as a long shot, and the camera tracked the character as she walked down the corridor. When we filmed the scene where both characters were having a conversation, we included a variety of camera shots such as a face to face shot, a reaction shot, an over the shoulder shot and a close up/point of view shot (POV). Apart from some disruptions and background noise when filming, I believe that our finished sequence came together successfully as we took our time and effort to produce a well equipped continuity film sequence.
3) What would you aim to improve about your sequence? What continuity mistakes did you make?
If I was given the opportunity to re-film our continuity sequence, I would definitely want to edit the last scene of our film, for the reason that in the last few seconds of the scene the camera seems to jump as it tracks the characters movements. Unfortunately, this creates an unprofessional, unclean camera shot. Additionally, when filming each segment of the film I would make sure that the camera keeps rolling for a few more minutes before ‘cutting’ the scene. This allows us, the directors/editors to add more chunks of the scene into different areas of the film if we are in desperate need of a couple more minutes of footage.
4) What did you learn from this activity?
This activity, allowed me to have a greater understanding of how important continuity is and how it allows scenes to flow more elegantly alongside one another. Furthermore, I was given the opportunity to learn how to edit the scenes which we had filmed on a software called ‘Final Cut Express.’ Additionally, I learnt how to use different camera shots and which ones worked best when filming certain scenes, for example when we filmed the scene where both characters were deep in conversation we often used a ‘reaction shot’ as this would illustrate the expression on the character’s face. What’s more, is that the activity taught me that when you’re filming a character walking or running, the camera should always be tracking the actor/actress so that you do not lose the character in your shot, this also highlights the use of continuity as the character moves from one scene to the next as if no time has passed during the film.
5)Compared to ‘The Accident,’ how would you rate your pre-production, production and post production this time around? Justify/Explain.
Compared to ‘The Accident,’ our continuity sequence was extremely successful and impressive for the reason that our sequence flowed gracefully alongside one another and demonstrated the use of continuity, whilst ‘The Accident’ lacked continuity and jumped between each scene making our film look unprofessional and amateurish. Our pre-production for our continuity sequence was well thought out, as we planned what camera shots we were going to use, in which order we were going to film our camera shots and lastly, how we were going to link our shots together to produce a successful film sequence. The production of our continuity sequence flowed efficiently as it took us no time at all to film each scene of our movie, as we already knew what type of camera shots we wanted to use. Post-production, was exceedingly easy for us as we only had to edit and shape up a couple of seconds at the beginning and ending of each scene so that the continuity flowed alongside each scene of the film sequence gracefully. Realistically, the pre-production, production and post-production of our movie successfully enhanced the continuity in our film.
2a) Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen film genre:
The film which our group produced was called 'The Accident,' we explained how our film represented our chosen film genre, drama. The camera shot we took of this particular photo resembles a 'Crane down, Look up' however it also bears a resemblance to a 'Meduim, Close Up.' The photo contains two teenagers, one male and one female looking down at something or someone in disbelief and in shock! Whilst one of the females hand is placed gently onto her chest, the other is seen gripping onto the staircase in fright. This illustrates that she is in a state of shock as her body language looks shifty. On the other hand, the male teenager looks horror stricken and looks as if he is paralyzed, perhaps this has something to do with the image that is in full view of them. It is clear to the audience that someone else is a part of the scene, due to the absurd reactions on the actors face and the fact that they are both looking down on something. The shot of our photo resembles a 'window' through which the audience are able to look into the world which we have created. Since the audience are unable to identify the third member in the photograph, this draws the viewers in as they want to understand what has happened in the scene and why the actors are looking on in shock. In addition, this adds mystery and uncertainty, perfect when filming a movie to fit into the genre of 'drama.'
b) What did you actually do to achieve the effect?
To create a bright effect, the only source of light which was available to us was two small wall lights, gleaming directly onto the front and back of the actor’s bodies. We used the camera’s manual settings to shoot the photo, steadying the camera until the light beam hit the correct spot to create extra brightness and to make sure that the background was visible to display the mise-en-scene so that it did not cast a shadow on the actor’s expressions or body language. The director found it hard to capture a shocked expression on the actor’s faces as minutes before hand we had been laughing with one another, but we finally managed to pull ourselves together and get back into character which the director used to his advantage and using a fast shutter speed, he took the photograph. I had been deliberately asked to place one of my hands onto my chest in order to show me looking down at the ground in disbelief/horror stricken. We chose to do a ‘Crane Down, Look Up’ photograph for the reason that it looked more realistic and to allow the audience to remember that there is a third person in the scene.
c) Identify what is successful about your shot?
One might say that the shot we created was successful because it outlines the film genre clearly. The lightning is distinctive and the actor’s expression undoubtedly suggests shock and disbelief. Without a doubt, each of these sections which made up the final snapshot worked well together to display the typical, classic conventions of what makes up a ‘drama.’
d) What would you do differently in hindsight?
If I were to re-shoot this photograph, I would definitely, without a doubt make sure that the characters expression looked a lot more realistic rather than looking staged. In my honest opinion, I believe that an actors expression gives a way a lot of what the character is thinking and seeing, if the expression looks staged it might be hard for the viewers to understand and empathise with the character. Whilst this is a minor alteration, I think that with just one adjustment the photograph will look far more realistic and proffessional.
1a) How successful is the editing of framing/composition of the shots? Refer to specific shots and justify/deconstruct.
After going through the hard work of filming, editing and framing our movie ‘The Accident,’ was produced successfully. It took both me and our group to come to grips with the use of different camera techniques which are used in today’s media industry when editing a film. However, after a few practice shots and a quick go at learning how to use ‘Final Cut Express’ we were on our way to creating a successful film. Before filming our movie, we discussed what camera shots we were going to apply to
our film and how it would benefit and make our film clip look realistic to the audience. The square which encloses every frame/shot of our film became similar to a ‘window’ through which the audience/viewer is able to look into the world which we had created ourselves. Throughout the duration of my film ‘The Accident,’ I wanted the audience to want this to be their reality. However, the one thing we were continually reminded of when shooting our film was that even with the ‘window,’ it unfortunately does not provide the audience with the ability to look around and take in the surroundings and information that we give them; sadly the audience are limited to only the knowledge we provide them through visual imagery.
b) How successful is the editing? Refer to specific examples of cuts and explain how successfully (or not) the audience has been positioned.
I believe that the editing of our film was created successfully, for the reason that we spent a lot of time and effort considering the finest and most professional, realistic way to cut and edit our camera shots in a bid to create a well equipped film. When editing and trimming our shots on ‘Final Cut Express,’ we paid attention to detail and made sure that the shots flowed elegantly beside one another, rather than jumping from different scenes as this would make the film look messy and untidy. The shots that we paid most attention to were the ones which consisted of dialogue in view of the fact that each shot had to be edited extremely well because if even a second of the shot was slightly out of place, this would ruin the rest of the movie making us, the directors look like amateurs.
c) How efficient was the shoot?
When we started filming our movie, we were extremely excited to start as this was probably the first time for any of us where we were given the opportunity to act and direct in our own original film. We jumped straight into the task feet first and began shooting our film. For the majority of the filming we managed to stay in character and film well equipped professional scenes for our movie. However, there were times when we experienced a few hiccups and began to either laugh, trip of get disturbed by the school bell ringing halfway through a scene, but despite all of this we still managed to have fun and produced a great movie.
d) In hindsight, what would you do differently at any of the stages?
If I was given the opportunity to do something differently, I would want to re-create sections of our movie preferably filming in a different environment or setting because when we originally filmed sections of our film, we were often disturbed by other students or teachers passing by. Unfortunately, this disrupted our scenes as segments of it picked up background noise or foot steps from other people. Therefore, if we were given the chance to re-create some of the scenes from our movie we would be able to film in a quieter environment, making the film look more professional and realistic.
I have created a mood board using a variety of pictures from the famous, popular movie 'The Holiday,' starring Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. This film is a romantic comedy highlighting the different aspects of love and how it can tear people apart but also bring people together. The pictures which I have chosen for my mood board, illustrate the main themes of the movie. Considering, every picture is worth a thousand words, hopefully these images will give you an insight into what a romantic comedy is all about!
I took a picture of a young teenager in the composition of a 'rule of third.'
I thought that this would be a brilliant technique to re-create for the reason that the picture begins to look realistic rather than staged.
This picture has been taken perfectly as the subject of the picture is shown clearly.
The image also captures a beautiful, realistic backdrop; thereby illustrating that the picture is a 'rule of third.'
I took a picture of a male teenager demonstrating a close up camera composition.
I thought that this particular photograph looked realistic and professional as it illustrates the features and expression of the actor. By cutting off a small part of his head but keeping his chin in view, this allows the picture to look realistic rather than it looking wrong to the viewer.
As the photographer, I did not include the backdrop into the photo because it would no longer resemble a close up camera composition.
This is a picture of male teenager signifying an extreme long shot camera composition.
This picture is an extremely significant photo which is used many times in the media industry today as it demonstrates that the background in the scene is just as important as the character.
Not only is the character noticed in this photo but the backdrop plays an important role as well. This gives the actor moving room in the direction they are heading and allows the viewer to see where they are going.
1) What is the point of this sequence? Describe briefly how tension is created through the editing?
The point of this sequence is to build up tension, to do this the director of the movie has filmed quick snap shots of the actors faces, hands, computer etc. Clearly, the sequence has been produced in this way so that the movie will engage the audience. Tension is created through the editing by using fast paced snap shots of the actors changing every few seconds, demonstrating different and rapidly changing camera shots and angles and dramatic background music.
2) Look at the use of CU or medium CU. Why are they primarily used here? Refer to specific shots.
In this particular section of the movie the use of close ups and medium close ups are used every few seconds for the reason that it builds up tension and makes the scene more dramatic. The use of close ups also show expression, emotion as well as the movement of the body. In each of these two screen shots I have chosen, they are both close ups. Each picture highlights emotion and expression on the characters faces, these are important aspects of a movie as they allow people to understand how the characters are feeling, and allowing the audience to sympathise and empathise with the actors. Enemy of the State Screen Pictures
3) Choose 15-20 seconds from anywhere in the sequence and describe each shot in detail, explaining its effect/function for the audience, as well as commenting on how the cuts (editing) adds to the meaning?
I picked out 20 seconds from the scene in Enemy of the State (1:54-2:14) for the reason that I thought it had the best camera shots and effects. Furthermore, this section of the sequence had a range of close ups and medium close ups. In the first two shots they are both close ups of each character, clearly their expression and emotion is the main focus of these shots. The third and fourth shot are extreme close ups of a computer screen showing codes and a clip of ducks, although this is a simple pair of shots it engages the audience as we want to find out what these clips mean and their importance to the rest of the movie. The next few shots are filled with both close ups and extreme close ups of both the actors again zooming in on their expression showing their confusion and worrying ness about someone they believe to be an important character. The other shot shows an extreme close up of one of the characters typing in a code into his computer in a bid to find out who another man is. This section draws the audience in as they want to find out whether he is relevant to the movie or not. The last few shots are taken from a computer screen encrypting codes and DNA samples, this section of the sequence builds up tension as we, the audience want to find out the ID of this person and find out more about him. The editing of this sequence builds up anxiety and worry and engages the audience drawing them into every scene of the movie.
4) How far does the editing of this sequence fit in with the genre of the thriller?
The editing of this sequence fits in with the genre of the thriller exceptionally well as the fast paced snap shots increases the tension and nervousness and makes the scene more dramatic and susepensful, clearly making the audience fascinated and putting them onto the edge of their seats.
The picture is a close up mise-en-scene of a fair skinned teenage male.
The teenager is wearing an army jacket, black hat and hoody placed just above his forehead, illustrating his scars and bruises signifying that he may get into different situations of danger/trouble.
He stands close to the door in the dark with only a spotlight glowing on him. This captures a cornered effect.
As a part of his face is covered, the visible side of his face is scarred. This reveals a sense of mystery as well as a shadow of darkness which might represent malevolance.
The teenager is giving only the slightest direct address to the camera which seems frightening and gives the audience a sense of dreadfulness.
The photo is in colour but the actor is actually wearing dark clothing that is black and navy. As he is the main focus of the picture we are drawn to him.
When I took this picture I turned off all the main lights in the bedroom except a bedside lamp so that the teenager was surrounded only by darkness. The only light visible was the spotlight, as if to signify that the actor had been captured by a local resident. In addition, the teenager looks like a 'rabbit in the headlights.' This allowed us to capture a realistic moment where the actor was not expecting to be captured.
The picture was taken using a male teenager backed up against a door, surrounded in darkness with only the slightest bit of light. I used a bedside lamp to achieve this particular shot. I also used make up on the actor to create dark circles, scars, cuts and bruises to give him a more mysterious, horror stricken look.
What did you have to do and what was the purpose of the task?
The purpose of the task was to learn that by taking one individual picture you could come up with lots of different scenarios allowing you to identify how each section of a picture tells a different story. What we had to do was that with the picture we had been given, crop out certain parts of the picture and using our imagination, come up with different headlines and bullet points explaining the story behind the picture.
What have you learnt in terms of skills, key concepts and ideas etc...
I have learnt that by taking one picture you can crop out certain parts of it and come up with your own ideas and scenarios explaining your understanding of the picture.
What would you do differently if you had the chance? What lessons have you learnt in terms of pre-production/production; in other words, how will you be more efficient next time?
If I had the opportunity to re-do the task I think that I would try to come up with a lot more scenarios in the picture and discuss them in a bit more depth, explaining not only the story behind the picture but my opinion towards it as well.
What did you have to do and what was the purpose of the task?
The purpose of the task was to re-create a scene from the movie "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," by using different camera techniques which we had studied in the lesson. Our task was to go away and take snap shots of ourselves playing the roles of the characters within the film "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." We had to produce the same exact snap shots which had been used in this particular scene of the movie.
What have you learnt in terms of skills, key concepts and ideas?
I have learnt in terms of skills some of the main camera movements which are used in todays media industry, that is close up, extreme close up, long shot, pan, face to face, and over the shoulder. In addition, I learnt how to use the software 'imovie' when creating a mini movie using the previous snap shots that we had taken of ourselves.
What would you do differently if you had the chance? What lessons have you learnt in terms of pre-production/production; in other words how will you be more efficient next time?
If I had the chance to re take some of the snap shots we took, I think that I would try to make ourselves look more realistic by incorporating some props thereby allowing us to re-enact the scene more realistically.
