Preliminary Evaluation of Continuity Editing Sequence (BLK)

Preliminary Evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

• I worked with Matthew, Daniel and Jeremy on this task.
• We tried to manage the task as equal as possible between us. To start with though came up with ideas for what we should do in are brainstorming session and ended up with a mix of everyone's for the final idea.
• We then organised things for each of us in the group to do at home, such as the shot list and script. I had the task of doing the storyboard.
• When it came to filming three of us were actors, shots mostly of myself and Matthew and a few shots of Daniel. So Jeremy and Daniel did most of the camera work and directing, but when someone wasn't acting they would have a go at filming or directing.
• When editing we split up so we could have more editing time each. I worked with Matthew, while Daniel and Jeremy worked together. 

How did you plan your sequence? what processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

• Brainstorming- The first thing we did was brainstorming, we each thought of a couple of ideas and eventually settled on a serious themed thriller that would have a funny twist to the end. However we worked around the idea that the genre was a thriller, as the comedy aspect wouldn't be known until the end of are planned sequence. We thought it would be interesting to try working around this genre as we all liked the genre and hoped it would be a fun challenge.
• Shot list- Our shot list was done by Matthew, it was the second step that we felt needed to be done before we needed to move on to our next steps. Once Matthew had done it he posted it on a Facebook message we made, so that it was accessible by others in the group. The shot list was a great way of seeing the shots we had to do on are shooting day, once we had finished filming a shot we crossed it off so we knew it was done. We also wrote on the shot list what order we would take the shots taking into account setups and time slots such as when we were allowed to shoot in the media lobby.
• Storyboard- I had the job of doing the storyboard and made it after Matthew had created and posted the shot list on Facebook. I used the shot list to plan out the order of the shots and fill in the descriptive parts such as type of shot and what happens in shot. Then after drew the drawings of how the shots would roughly look for when we would film our preliminary sequence. I had to take into account cinematography throughout creating the storyboard, like making sure I drew the pictures in frame depending on what the type of  shot was. Also, indicating using arrows when the shot was being panned or zoomed in and making sure to keep continuity, such as thinking not breaking the 30 degree and 180 degree rules and including match-on-action shots.
• Script- Daniel had the job of writing the script for the conversation in our sequence. This helped myself and Matthew easily learn and remember what we would have to say for the shots of our conversation. 

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

• Before the day of filming we didn't really use any technology, all that was required to plan the sequence was our minds and general writing and drawing equipment. The only technology we used before hand was computers to type up the shot list and script.
• On the day of filming we used a video camera and tripod, the valuable video camera allowed us to easily film many shots and had a long battery life. The tripod  kept the camera steady when filming and also helped create panning shots without difficulty. We did not use any lighting as it was sufficient to use natural lighting.
• We used the high tech editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro, to adjust and order the shots and create a sequence. The software was easy to use and get your head around and we did our best to edit and create a well cut and ordered sequence.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

• In planning we had to make sure we equally spread the load of  tasks and jobs, to help us do this we made a Facebook message where we could post work, and discuss issues and ideas, and be ready for production day.
• When shooting we had ordered the shooting schedule using setups, and made sure we didn't spend too long on a shot, this allowed the time it took to for the overall filming production stage to be very well-timed.
• When editing we made sure that we cut out all parts of shots that we thought of us unnecessary, this allowed our sequence to be shorter and correctly timed and not too slow and dull.
• For the overall process we had to make sure we included had good continuity, this was especially important as was the main point of the task. We did this by including some match-on-action shots where possible and making sure we did not break the 30 degree rule and also thinking about the 180 degree rule.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/ do differently?

• I think are sequence was overall quite successful, I think we made quite a humourous and exciting sequence and included good continuity techniques that we had learnt in class such as use of match-on-action, establishing shots and working around the 30 degree and 180 degree rules.  
• When editing we realised that some of our shots didn't transition how we had planned. Like when we wanted to show Boy A (Acted by Me) looking at clock after the shot of packing his pack we realised the attempt on match-on-action wasn't quite right and couldn't do anything about it, except edit it as best we could.
• If we could do the sequence differently, I think we would have taken more care and thought into getting the match-on-action and transition shots done correctly, as it can really cause a problem trying to get it to look right when editing.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

• The exercise helped me to see the importance of continuity in filming, especially making the transitions between shots look right and not breaking the 30 degree and 180 degree rules which can make your footage look wrong if not taken into account.
• Also the exercise helped me improve in my skills as working as a group, we shared tasks out evenly which not only made it fairer, but also made the planning and overall process easily and efficiently done.
• I also realised how being well-organised for the production day made the process less complicated and we didn't get into any difficulties on the day since we had planned so well before hand. I especially found planning what order we would do shots according to their setup was very useful, as it greatly shortens the amount of time spent on filming.    

DEXTER title sequence re-edit: Evaluation

Dexter title sequence re-edit Evaluation

1. Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task. 

• It was most important to include titles in the task, displaying names of people who should be credited for contributing to the film such as actors and producers.
• It was important to make the titles look interesting, maybe add some effects to them and change the colours.
• It was also important to make sure the titles were a good size not too small, but not too big as well and the positioning had to be somewhere where the title wasn't blocking a key part of the shot like a character's face.   

2. How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (consider timings, industry requirements etc). 

We watched the sequence (without titles) before adding some titles, so we could see where: 

• How many titles we could include.
• Where we could position the titles.
• What effects we could make on the titles, which would fit with the shots.

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

• We chose what effects we would apply to the titles such as changing to colour red.
• Where we positioned the titles in the shots.
• How many titles to include.

4. How does your re-edit compare to the original?

• We had far less titles than the original.
• Our titles had more special effects than the original.
• Both titles in ours and the original were coloured red. 

BLK Continuity Clip Analysis

This is a scene from the film Knowing (2009), it is when a disaster subway train crash is about to occur. The clip includes many continuity techniques to assure the sequence flows correctly throughout the action packed scenes.

Ways in which this scene has good continuity:

• The scene uses lots of match on action, such as at the start when John (Nicolas Cage) tells a woman to get off the train, as he moves his hand to try and direct her off the train the next shot at a different angle shows his hand on her shoulder still attempting to direct her off the train.
• This scene also uses the continuity technique cross cutting as it cuts from shots of the people on the train to the driver of the train so the audience can tell the events are happening and simultaneous periods in time.
• At 0:36 you see a shot of the train tipping over and the following shot shows perspective of the train tilting too, followed by a shot of all the people inside the train falling over as the train moves. This is to ensure continuity and creates realism of what would happen.

A.O.T.T sound analysis (DYM)

Music

• Strange mysterious music can be heard from start, making the sequence more interesting and exciting.
• It connotes the genre as it is about someone trying to follow someone else around the world, and is a mystery where they went.
• The musical instruments are quite jazzy such as a snare drum/clapping sound, xylophone and a saxophone, which make the title sequence quite enjoyable and unique.
• The music is very repetitive, these parts of the music come back so the audience can familiarise with the music.
• Some parts of the music sync with the shots shown such as 0:38 where a shot is shown of a character climbing up some 'stairs', as the music rises up in notes like a scale.

 Title Sequence

• This title sequence portrays the ideas and themes that are present in the film. The overall sequence shows a character following another through different settings, like a sort of chase. And the film's theme is about someone trying to catch another.
• The sequence shows a character's as silhouettes wearing costumes, leaving enigma about the character so makes the audience want to find out more about them.
• The idea of travelling is presenting by many shots of little planes flying around such as 0:09. 

BLK Homework- Continuity Sequence

The clips above show our continuity sequence first the original, then an edited version

What worked well:

• We started with a good establishing shot, so the audience would be shown the setting.
• Some of the transitions between shots were good such as from 0:09 to 0:10 (unedited version)
• We used match on action effects throughout the sequence which  look very good when edited as shown in the edited version.

What we could have done better:

• The second shot almost broke the 30 degree rule, so for reassurance we could have done the second shot for at a larger angle.
• We could have also been sharper in pausing the camera to end each shot.
• The overall concept is quite unrealistic and the last shot of the 'unreachable card' seems quite possible to reach.

Film Opening Analysis (DYM)

I have chosen to analyse the 'Welcome to Jurassic park' scene from Jurassic Park (1993)

Enigma Code:

• What is he looking at and why is he so surprised (0:05)
• Why are there dinosaurs in modern day times? (0:37)
• Why is the old man not surprised by the dinosaurs? (1:55)
• How did the dinosaurs get there? (2:25)
• How are the dinosaurs able to survive? (2:34)
• Where in the world could this be? (2:40)
• How is this possible? (2:52)

Action Code:

• We prepare ourselves for something very shocking, just from looking at the woman's face. (0:29)
• We expect something exciting to happen when the dinosaur stands on two legs and the people stumble back with shock. (1:28)
• We learn there is a T-Rex so expect danger from them. (1:56)
• We see many dinosaurs and anticipate the action they will cause. (2:25)

Semiotic Code:

• The safari-like jeeps with a logo on them, suggests the setting is some kind of travel tourist attraction. (0:01)
• The logo says "Jurassic Park" so we get the idea it is some kind of a nature park. (0:02)
• The fact all the characters are wearing sunglasses makes us think the area is quite sunny or the time of year is. (0:05)
• The vast amount of wildlife and nature, makes the setting seem like a well preserved land. (2:33)

Cultural Code:

• We can tell the man and woman who leave the jeep are some kind of tourist adventurers from the cloths they wear. (0:47)
• The old man can be recognised as a clever scientist from his clothes, glasses and his white hair suggests he is experienced. (1:03)
• We know the creatures are dinosaurs from knowledge learnt from being taught, reading books, watching films and visiting museums etc.

Symbolic Code:

• Shock- The things seen by the people are shocking and unbelievable. (0:32)
• Amazement- They are interested by what they see and go closer to the dinosaur. (1:00)
• Happiness- They are happy and excited about what they have seen. (2:45)