Learning aim A
What is a shot
In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time.By combining different types of film shots, movements, and angles, filmmakers can emphasize different actions and emotions for different scenes.
What is sequence
In film, a sequence is a series of
scenes that form a distinct narrative unit, which is usually connected either by a unity of location or a unity of timeSequence shots ensure that the editor ends up with plenty of shot sizes to tell the story and keep the audience's attention.
What is editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information.
What is the role of an editor
An editor is the 'boss' of a newspaper and is ultimately responsible for what is published. Editors oversee the work of all the newspaper staff. They allocate space for articles, photographs, advertisements, etc
What is continuity editing
Continuity editing is the process of editing together different but related shots to give viewers the experience of a consistent story in both time and space
What is non-continuity editing
Non-continuity editing is when shots are mismatched to disrupt the impression of time and space. This draws the audiences' attention to the process of cutting and disturbs the illusion of 'reality'
What is montage editing
Montage, in motion pictures, the editing technique of assembling separate pieces of thematically related film and putting them together into a sequence.
History
Louie Le Prince
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera, possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film.He has been credited as "Father of Cinematogrophy". In October 1888, he filmed moving-picture sequences of family members in Roundhay Garden and his son playing the accordion, using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper negative film. At some point in the following eighteen months he also made a film of Leeds Bridge. This work may have been slightly in advance of the inventions of contemporaneous moving-picture pioneers, such as the British inventors William Friese-Greene and Wordsworth Donisthorpe, and was years in advance of that of Auguste and Louis Lumière and William Kennedy Dickson
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Thomas Edison
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Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world.He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison was raised in the American Midwest. Early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions were developed. He later established a botanical laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida, in collaboration with businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey S. Firestone, and a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, that featured the world's first film studio, the Black Maria.
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Lumiere Brothers
In 1895, Louis and Auguste Lumière gave birth to the big screen thanks to their revolutionary camera and projector, the Cinématographe. Auguste and Louis Lumière invented a camera that could record, develop, and project film, but they regarded their creation as little more than a curious novelty.
Edwin S. Porter
Edwin Stanton Porter was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. He revolutionized filmmaking by inventing the technique of dramatic editing
Techniques
Straight Cut
A straight cut is an editing technique which is used in almost all films. It allows one shot to suddenly end and the next shot to abruptly come onto the screen. It allows unnecessary footage to be removed or shortened.For example, say you have a wide shot clip of a horse running as well as a close up clip of a woman's eyes watching. The “cut” would occur when the first shot ends and is followed by the second shot.
Elliptical Editing
Elliptical editing is a method of film editing in which a long set of clips that are not entirely necessary for the overall narrative of the film are condensed and shortened to provide a more interesting finished video for the audience. An example of elliptical editing could be a man on a journey; he could be walking through different landscapes and weather conditions every time the shot dissolves, until he reaches his destination.
Long Takes
A long take is a single shot with a much longer duration than the conventional editing pace of a movie; long takes can last several minutes and may also incorporate movement of the camera via dolly or otherwise. Long takes that capture minutes long scenes without a single edit or an opportunity for filmmakers to tell their story in a much more dynamic. And intriguing way than usual
L-Cut​
An L-cut in video production is a split film-editing technique that extends the audio to overlap from the preceding video clip on to the next video clip. L-cut is a great way to transition from one shot to another while moving ahead in the storyline. The audio in the L-Cut keeps going along with the next shot while creating pace in the video.
Transitions
FADES:A fade is a subtype of dissolve transition used as an editing tecnique that gradually moves to or from an image to or from black. Fades are often used at the beginning/end of movies.
DISSOLVED: A dissolve is a classic editing technique used to transition between shots, typically shots that bridge two scenes together. As opposed to a straight cut from one shot to another, a dissolve involves the gradual transition from the first image to the next.
WASH:The washout is an optical transition used for editing purposes that is similar to the fade. Unlike the fade-out, where the images fade to black, in a washout the images suddenly start to bleach out or to color until the screen becomes a frame of white or colored light. A new scene will then follow.
WIPES:A wipe involves one shot replacing another, traveling from one side of the frame to another. Think of a vertical line passing from the right side of the frame to the left. On the left side of this line, we have shot A, and on the right side of this line is shot B. When this line reaches the left edge of the frame, shot B will completely fill the scene, and the transition is complete. This example describes a vertical line wipe, though this is but one type of wipe.
Cross-Cutting
In film editing, crosscutting describes the video editing technique of switching back and forth between scenes, often giving the impression that the action occurring in different locations is unfolding at the same moment.
Cutaway
A cutaway shot is a shot that "cuts away" from the main action to any shot that adds visual information, and then returns to the original shot with new meaning.
Quick Cuts
Fast cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less). It can be used to quickly convey much information, or to imply either energy or chaos.
Cut-Ins
Essentially, cut-ins are when we cut from a shot into a closer element of that same shot. For example: say we have a wide shot of a character holding a book. If we want to emphasize what the character is reading, we may cut-in to a shot of the book's cover.
Match On Action
Cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.
Reverse Shot
A shot-reverse shot starts with a shot of a character, and then cuts to a shot of what or who that character is looking at , and finally cuts back to the initial shot to show the character's reaction.
J-Cut
To explain, a J cut, so named because the clip looks like a little "J" in the timeline, is when the audio of the next shot precedes the video,
With this technique, the viewer hears the dialogue of Character A but only sees Character B on screen.
Eyeline Match
An eyeline match is a continuity editing technique commonly used when two characters are having a conversation with each other.
30 Degree Rule
The 30-DEGREE RULE states that if an editor cuts to the same character or object in another shot, the second shot must be positioned at least 30 degrees away from the first camera setup
Establishing Shot
An establishing shot is a shot in filmmaking or television that sets up the context for the scene ahead, designed to inform the audience where the action will be taking place. For example, a scene about a murder in a college lecture hall might begin with a shot that shows the entire room, including the lecturing professor and the students taking notes.
180 Degree Rule
The 180-degree rule states that two characters (or more) in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship with each other. The rule dictates that you draw an imaginary line between these two characters (or subjects) and try to keep your camera(s) on the same side of this 180-degree line.
Freeze Frame
A freeze frame effect is just that—a frozen video frame within a piece of video or film. Freeze frames halt the movement within the video. They essentially convert the moving picture into a still photography shot for a given period of time.
Reaction Shot
A reaction shot refers to when an action takes place on screen, and then cuts to a separate shot that allows the viewer to see the reaction to this action from other players in the scene.
Graphic Match
A graphic match occurs when the shapes, colors and/or overall movement of two shots match in composition, either within a scene or, especially, across a transition between two scenes.
Slow Motion
Slow motion may be achieved either by speeding up the camera or by slowing down the projector, and accelerated motion is obtained in the opposite way. For example, someone pushing a door open and walking out into the street would appear to start off in slow motion, but in a few seconds later within the same shot the person would appear to walk in "realtime"
Split Screen
In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye.
Flashback
Flashback, in motion pictures and literature, narrative technique of interrupting the chronological sequence of events to interject events of earlier occurrence. The earlier events often take the form of reminiscence.
Jump Cut
A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time.
Narrative Divaces
Enigma Codes
The Enigma Code is simply a theory that suggests a text (whether that can be television, film or a poster) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in. This allows the audience to pose questions and as such become intrigues in the piece.
Non Linear
This is a narrative technique where events are portrayed out of chronological order or the logical order presented in the story. The pattern of events needs to jump around and not follow a linear pattern.
Serial Narrative
This is a narrative where the story unfolds over many episodes/ it's like a single story is told over several installments. You need to watch a serial in a specific order.
It would have a long running plot
Flexi-Narrative
This is a more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving narratives. This technique challenges the audience and keeps them watching. There will be twists and turns and surprises, and characters will become more complex.
Unrealistic Narrative
In this narrative type, the viewer/audience is given more information than is necessary.
This is when the audience knows more than the character, but not anything. The narrator supplies information to create a sense of expectation.
Linear
That means we see the events of the story unfolding in the order in which they occurred. For example, in Toy Story we follow Woody and Buzz's adventure in a linear order, starting at the beginning and ending with the conclusion of the story.
Multi-Strand Narratives
Multi-strand is telling a story from several main characters perspectives who all have their own small story lines within the narratives. These storylines usually collide together and overlap which the audience see themselves from their own perspective.
Series Narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional or fictional.
Episodic Drama
The action unfolds as a series of episodes all connected but perhaps out of chronological sequence. Most scenes are of equal significance; that is to say, no one is necessarily more climatic than another though some episodes may have their own mini-climax.
Restricted Narrative
The amount of info the audience are given is limited as the viewers only know as much as the characters (digetic)
Purpose
Manipulating the sense of the time ( linear/non-linear narratives )
- Flashback moves the story forward or reveal information about the character. It bridge time, place and action to reveal a past emotional event or physical conflict that affects the character.
- Freeze Frame call attention to a specific action or, better yet, focus the scene on narration for a moment.
- Slow-motion capture action and stunts at a much higher frame rate than normal playback; this can create a very dramatic effect, especially when you make use of some of the more extreme slow-motion techniques.
Controlling the perception of space to create a logical and believable space between characters/objects not sharing the same shot/angle.
- Split screen gives the vewers a different perspective of the same scene. This allows the actor or actors to appear more than once in a scene.
Controlling the rhythm and pace of to control the flow of the production
Match on action
quick cuts its quick succession of simultaneous cuts that just keep going and going creating the situation to be fast speed
Creating a narrative through motivation
The editing techniques that can create narrative through motivation are match on action and eyeliner match. This is because the character is looking at the character/subject that was in the previous shot.
Creating a sense of drama through the withholding of information
Embracing continuity between different shots/ angles
Engaging the viewer through suspense and causing an audience reaction
Form meaning through juxtaposition elements within editing and creating a sense of personal connection and empathy with a character
Core Assessment
A movie trailer gives us a restrictive narrative, his because a trailer is about giving us a summery, an idea about what the movie is about but leaving us with questions and curiosity.
From the beginning of the trailer we have short scenes of the protagonist ( tiffany) in different situations of her current life while describing a specific section. Until moment 0.10 she tells us about her career to which then a fade is being used and she changes her argument and talk about her relationship with her fiancé and the fact that she is getting married which follows with scenes of them two together and at moment 0.21 another fade comes in and then she talks about herself and goals. The fade is being used to help us understand and differentiate the different sections that she is talking about, which can appeal to us like chapters and gives us a moment to explore moment of her life.
At moment 0.21 until 0.26 there is the use of elliptical editing to show how the character reached the building and into her office. The elliptical editing allows us to see her journey of how she gets to the office with short scenes of the different locations that made her get there. This type of editing manipulates time, instead of showing the whole journey which could get to be boring they used short shots of her walking towards the building for then her being in the building and then reaches her office which was her destination and that made us understand how she got from one place to another. To give this effect while using another editing technique I would use a wipe for each of the shots, it will be like a timeline to show her journey in a shorter way, but it could also suggest that this is her daily routine of her getting to her job.
At moment 0.31 they are introducing shots of flashbacks from her past. At this specific moment the protagonist (Tiffany) is being introduced to Mr. Larson to which the flashback is used to show us that they already know each other, and it also matches the conversation they are having in the present to the one of the flashbacks in where Mr. Larson repeats Tiffanys name. All the flashbacks come in at a moment where something that happened in the past is being talked about in the present and which allows us to learn about the tragic story that happened to Tiffany. For the flashbacks we can see that the color used also changes, it tends to get into a dull color which could also try to reflect the mood of the whole story which is not happy and doesn’t have a positive outcome. For the moments when flashbacks are being used, to make the scene even more interested and particular I would of added a white fade or a flash to make it obvious to the audience that we are moving back in time and is a past memory being played.
At 0.33 there is the use of a shot reverse shot in which we can see Tiffany talking to Mr. Larson. This type of editing allows us to see the relationship between them and makes us focus only on them, for this there has been the help of a high aperture in which we can see that everything besides the two characters is unfocused.
A graphic match has been used at 0.49 where we can see her in a wedding dress and while she turns around a shot from a flashback comes in while matching the action of her turning around facing the camera. The two scenes come from two different moments of her life but somehow, they connect. The fact that they used this editing method could suggest that at this moment she found herself at the same position she was in the moment of the flashback or because the moment she was living reminded her of that specific moment and the feeling she had at that point.
Eyeline match is also used at moment 0.52 where there is a eyeline match in the flashback shot where there are students in the canteen and because of the eyeline match we can understand that when the guy sitting at the table looks up and then another shot comes in and shows the prospective of what he had in front of him. This type of editing also lets the viewer see the tension between the two characters making us wonder why and what has happened.
The use of slow-motion was used at moment 1.42 where an explosion happened. The use of slow-motion gives a more dramatic effect because it allows us to see the action in a slower way. WE can see the damage and the strong impact that it had. This can make the audience shocked and be more engaged because it captures their attention, especially because it seems to be an important and extreme scene.
In the beginning there is the narration that explains that a new family has moved in a house and an establishing shot has been used at 0.06 where it shows us the house. The establishing shot has been used here to make the audience know that the house was the most important part and is the source of the whole story, and place where most of the action will take place.
Throughout the video there is the use of fades especially at the beginning. The fades give a sense of mystery, because you expect something to happen at any moment and because there is a moment when everything turns black it increases the excitement and curiosity of knowing what might come up next. The fade also gives continuity to the video because it makes it obvious that there is still something that will come up and that it is not the end of the story.
At moment 1.49 there is a scene of the man running down the stairs in which there has been the use of jump cuts. The jump cuts allow us to understand what is happening in the scene without leaving the entire shot, this not only makes the scene shorter but because it has a quicker pass it increases the feeling of fear and shocker and it makes it more engaging, everything happens so fast which makes you pay attention at the actions. I think that this technique is perfect for this moment because it matches the scene and is the one technique that fits more.
At 2.28 we have a series of quick cuts from different scenes which raises the tension because it makes it feel extreme, full of action and questions. The fast changes in the scenes do not allow us to understand what is happening which can add mystery and fear because something unexpected and scary could happen. Before all of the quick cuts because the scene before was quite and calm I would of added a wash which would of has a separation between the two scenes which would of seemed like a pause and would of made it even more intense because after having a pause and them having all of the jump cuts could of made the audience feel more tense.
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During the video there is also the use of straight cuts, moving from a scene to another allows the audience to see only a limited amount of a scene from the movie, which doesn’t only increase the audience curiosity but also confusion and excitement. Moving from one scene to another makes the viewer not concentrate on only a part of the video and also it does not reveal the whole scene which is exactly the purpose of a trailer.
At the beginning at 0.01 we have an establishing shot which tells us where the scene is taking place. This helps the audience to have an idea of where everything is taking place and it can help to understand further content. Also, the establishing shot is like the beginning of zooming in to the main place of where the scene is being filmed, if feels like is teleporting you from far away to closer of where the main action takes place. In my opinion for this scene, they could have used a cut away because it would give more knowledge about the environment they were in and would have established the location better.
At moment 0.10 there has been the use of match on action, the prospective (angle) has changed but the subject remains the same. This type of edit makes the audience understand what the main subject is and what we are paying attention to. Also, the match on action takes us closer to the subject, the shot was first outside, the next shot was on the bus where she was in and the final one was a close up of the girl.
At 0.15 we can see that there is an eyeline match where the girl looks down and then there is the shot that shows us the subject she looks at. This technique allows the viewer to see the subject from the same view as the character, from the way we would view it with our eyes. It makes the viewer to be more engaged.
A reaction shot has been used at 0.40, the men seem a little confused on the girl’s actions because he invited her in the car with a certain intention while when she then gets closer instead of joining him at the front the way he was expecting she instead puts the hat on his head and goes and sits at the back waiting for him to start driving. The reaction shot allows the viewer to understand that the man was expecting her to sit next to him and he had the intention of being friends while she was not interested in that.
CONTINUITY
Experiment
My own continuity sequence
Someone getting ready to leave their house
Shot list
Storyboard
For this learning aim I was asked to create my own continuity video without breaking continuity while changing to a different angle. For the sequence I chose the scenario of someone getting ready to leave their house because I thought there can be more content to work with. The techniques that I tried to used because it would of made the transactions more smoother and which could make it to be continuate are for example is match on action when the subject grabbed the perfume because on the previous shot there was her getting towords it and completing the action on the shot after it. I also used the eyeline match because i believe it gives a more realistic view to the person watching and it feels as if you as a person watching you would be there, and at my advantage this technique gives a clearer view of what the person is actually doing. As an improvement i think i should try and not make so many shots just for a action to finish for example towords the end of the sequence i had to film various shots just to show how the subject was leaving the house and it quite boring and repetitive.
NON-CONTINUITY
Experiment
My own non- continuity sequence
Shot list
Advert for a new jewellery collection
Storyboard
For this Non-continuity sequence I choose to make an advert for a jewellery brand. With non-continuity it gives more freedom when editing the video without making it in a chronological order, but also I was able to add flashes and slow-motion. Because it is an advert to promote a product I had to use a lot of close ups to make the product be well viewed by the watcher. I tried to use colours that would evedenciate the jewellery by having a bright white light when filming close ups while showing the collection , while at times when i recorded the model i used warm colours as pink and and yellow which could assumes that the advert is concentrate and also wants to attract the feminine viewer. As for the editing techniques i used slow-motion when the globe was spinning, this because when i was editing i sow that initially it was spinning too fast and it was not clear of what was happening but also my intention was to have a 360 dregee vision of the packaging and to show the spark of it and by the use of slow-motion it made me achieve the impression i wanted to give. Another technique i have used was jump cuts where i showed the product from different angles and between the change of angles i added flashes to make it more eye catching but also to make it obvious of the change of prospective. Something that i think i should work on for the next time is to have more shots of the model with the product and not having shots that are similar between them because it feels like i'am repeating the same shots.
Learning aim C
Narrative breakdown
Shot list
Storyboard
Video log sheet
Final trailer
https://youtu.be/m2MVsYDv6fI
