H/W - Cinema Development

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Continuity Editing Portfolio

Parallel Editing

Is the edit of continuously alternating two or more scenes that often take place together but in different locations. It is used to create tension as it shows multiple points of views and can create dramatic irony when the characters in the production are unaware of an even/plot unfolding beneath they’re eyes. This technique gained notice from Edwin S. Porter in the film, The Great Train Robbery (1903). Porter only introduced the concept of parallel editing; allowing future directors to build on the technique. D.W Griffith developed the technique to develop suspense, he did this in the film, The Lonedale Operator (1911). 

Cross Cutting 

Is similar to parallel editing, however, this technique allows the director to cut between different sets of action that can occur simultaneously or at different times. It is largely used to build suspense. and establish continuity.  The purpose of using both edits is that it creates motivation for the production as the cuts allow the audience to believe something intense, dramatic or highly interesting will take place. Moreover, it has a storytelling effects as the two unique scenes engage the audience as they wonder what will eventually happen in the production.
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Shot/Reverse Shot

A mainstream film technique where one character is shown looking at another character, and the other character is shown looking back at the first character. As the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the audience will assume that the characters are looking at each other.
Shot/ Reverse shot establish continuity as it shows a conservation between two or more people to make it more realistic. D.W Griffith discovered Shot/ Reverse shot and other techniques through Continuity. As Shot/ reverse shot is a form of Continuity, this mean it should not violate the 180 degree rule. 

Transitions

Transition cuts are used when we film a shot or a scene we use transitions to cut out and cut in different transitions such as cut in and cut out. The was in which these were gradually developed was from George Melies as in his films he used jump cuts and transitions to create a sense of atmosphere or the viewers. there are also shot dissolves for example in the film psycho which was directed by Hitchcock in the shower scene were we see the victim get ruthlessly murdered we see the plug hole and it uses a dissolve transition and cuts to her eye. this shows us she's dying as the plug hole shows darkness.  So the transition technique was used mainly by Alfred Hitchcock were he used two transition types in his film Psycho. 

Jump cuts

Jump cuts play a huge part in the editing we do today and it was discovered by accident George Melies was filming a bus but since he is only able to record 10 minuets of footage he had to just keep filming but his camera jammed and the bus was now a car as he fixed it. But as Melies was a live performer he used this to his advantage and then used the jump cut as some what of an allusion this made the audience very entertained as they have not yet seen film in this sort of manner from this point forward all over film pioneers used the jump cut for the sort of realistic events as we see in modern films today.

Motivated cut

Motivated cuts or also known as Motivated editing is when a scene in the film cuts to an another scene that was not in the frame at previous scenes of films but this is done quickly for the audience because they could think that the use of continuity editing has been broken. This is usually used in narrative terms in movies for example: flashbacks where this technique is used to create tension of what is going to happen next in the film but the pioneer that came up with this technique was again D.W Griffith as he was discovering other techniques which are associated with Continuity editing. Also the purpose of this technique is to show what happening in the next scene that was not in the frame in the previous scene of a movie.
In this music video it follows the drum like so it looks like it is running smooth and fits in well with the montage sequence.

Metric editing 

Metric editing also known as editing to the beat is a form of montage editing created by the soviets. It is a technique that often follows the beat in music videos or sets a pace for films.

Eye-match

An eye-line match is simply an editing technique which falls under continuity editing. It involves one shot of the character's gaze and the next shot has to be the object the character is looking at. This technique was discovered by D.W Griffiths who is the 'father' of continuity editing.

Point-of-view

Point of View shot - This is a technique where it will show the scene from the characters point of view, so you can see the events from their perspective, allowing the audience to feel involved in the film because they can see it as if they are there.

Seamless Editing:

Seamless editing or also known as invisible editing is when the cuts matches with the action. This means that there is no editing involved at all just cuts in between shots so it matches the action of what is happening in the film in a certain scene and continues to have the flow without breaking or ruining it but this certain technique was used by D.W Griffith.

180 Degree Rule:

180 degree rule is an technique that show the relationship between two characters in an film as well as keeping them on screen. This type of editing technique was used by D.W Griffith (one of the film pioneers) who used this through trial and error as he was discovering different techniques while making films in the 1900's.

Week 7 H/W - Film Analysis 2 [EDITED & IMPROVED IN THE CONCLUSION]

2AM: The Smiling Man

In this scene, the director has used depth of field to focus on the main character meanwhile making the background slightly blurred to show that the location is not as relevant as the subject. Moreover, low key lighting is used to not give away too much of what will take place. It perfectly has an element of suspense to link to the Thriller genre. Subtle music plays at the beginning because nothing has taken place yet.

In the next shot a mid-shot is used to show the main character in
more detail, moreover he is now seen starring at something with not so much emotion upon his face. This is interesting for the audience as they receive the thought that a situation will now take place.

In this long shot a strange man is shown walking oddly towards the main character starring at him. The long shot allows the subject and the area in which the subject is in to be seen. This helps to create a feeling of unease for audience as they would feel uncomfortable to be in the situation of the normal male character. It would be scary for a strange man to walk towards you in the late hours of the night. Dark lighting is used for this scene to not reveal too much of the strange man which will build anticipation for audience to know what he looks like, what he's doing and what his intentions are.

Next, the normal male character turns to his side and walks another way to avoid the strange male
character, the camera follows the male (this technique is called panning).  While doing this, the camera is shot in a over the shoulder camera shot to not reveal the face of the strange male character.

The males face is still not revealed to continue the element of suspicion. During, the sequences that having taken place so far include dark and gloominess to represent evil, which may take place soon within the plot.




In this scene the male is shown creeping towards the male causing great discomfort for the normal
male character - at about this time eerie, electrifying music plays to allow the audience to understand how strange and awful the situation is at about this time.



Depth of field and a close-up is used to show the audience the true feelings of the normal male at about this time as he is feeling vulnerable and scared as the weird 'smiling man' creeps towards.
Also, the background is not important at the moment which is why it's blurred.

The smiling man turns away from the normal man and begins to walk away from him. The normal man exhales a deep breath of relief and walks the opposite way from the smiling man. However, just as he turns away the smiling man turns back around and races towards him as if he is going to attack him. This triggers even more intense, electrifying music to play to make the audiences adrenaline beat as they wonder why the smiling man is behaving so strangely and what he will do to the normal man. This results in the next camera shot being recorded in a hand camera (shaky effect) to make the scene seem terrifying and realistic at the same time. This allows the audience to place themselves in the normals mans position.

In this final screen shot it shows the normal male panting as he stops in the middle of a road as he is out of breath and believes he's escaped the smiling man. However, he's wrong as when he lifts his head the smiling man is right beside of him. A close-up is used to show the smiling mans crazy facial expression. Moreover, the normal is slightly blurred as he's no longer important because the smiling man's face is only now revealed furthermore it could suggest that he is not important as he will die at the hands of the smiling man. Lastly, terrifying loud music ends the production to symbolise that the normal man is in a bad situation and may be in  danger.

In conclusion to this analysis, i believe the director has manipulated sounds and music to create dramatic effect to the plot as the production begins with melancholy music, which then ends in wild-electrifying music as the plot gets tense. Natural street lighting is used to make the plot seem realistic  however each scene is dark to emphasise the terror within the plot. It has a linear narrative as the scenes are all in order to clearly show the simple plot. The sounds are non-digetic as editors have allowed only the audience to hear the sounds set in place to create effect. The narrative of this production is a single drama as there will not be a continuation of this production. Moreover, contunity is shown as the sequence of shots flow without any unorderly timed cut-shots which make the production seem realistic. The pace of cuts are quick throughout the production to build drama as to what is happening.

Week 7 H/W - Film Analysis

Breathless

This shot is a close-up of a half-naked lady being handcuffed by a dominant figure. Perhaps this suggests she is dangerous which most Thrillers include (danger) to keep the audience's anticipation of 'what will happen?' to grow. 

This 2-shot is presented to show the intimacy between the two characters. This may show the close relationship the two-characters have. Moreover, both characters are in bathing suits which suggests that they will partake in 
aquatic-activity.

Low angle shot is used to show the character is powerful and dominant. This shows that the character in this scene will lead this performance/take action to do something interesting in this scene. 

High angle shot is used to show the character is inferior or vulnerable. The female character in this shot is seen holding her breath under water. She seems to be at high risk of danger if she is short of breath and does not return to the surface in time, which could result in her suffocating. The lighting in this scene is quite dull and gloomy which is associated with 'badness and death'. Perhaps this shows that she may die on account of what she is doing in the scene. 

It is revealed in this shot that the male character has placed a cement block on top of the female character which is important to the plot of the short film as it could reveal that the duo are stunt performers or just daredevils. This creates an eerie effect for the viewers as they are unsure if she will be able to pull of the stunt. 

The male stares at the female performing the stunt as he wait for her to succeed the risky act. A close-up is used to show his anticipation for her success. Continuity is shown throughout the production as each cut shot links to next shot/scene to show that the production 

A close-up is used in this scene to show the characters emotion as the female seems as if she is in an intense state.  The character is now in danger as she is drowning in a bath. The lighting of this sign is very blue-ish to create an effect as if she is sinking in a ocean with no chance of survival - this allows the audience to believe there is no hope for her. During this scene the editor(s) cuts to the shot from her being seen drowning in the ocean-like-bath to a black screen repeatedly. This reveals that her life is flashing before her eyes before she dies, this allow the audience to know that she was also surprised at the fact that she couldn't pull off the stunt. 

At about this time, the male looks at his watch to see how long it is taking her to perform the stunt. However, the editor has made this scene go in slow motion as the male may still believe there is time for the female to successfully perform and survive the stunt. The director of this production has made the decision to shoot a level shot in the next scene to make the audience feel as if we are in the same situation as the male character in this scene. At this point of the production the male character has placed a heavy cement block on top of the female character in a bath filled with water, I believe he was timing her to see how long it will take her to uplift the block and return to the surface for air. However, she fails to do so and drowns which shocks the male character, leading him to drop his watch. Perhaps this could show that the timing of what the female character's stunt was deadly - but the dropping of the watch now gives the audience info and a feel that the watch is irrelevant as the female character has drowned. This may also allow the audience to feel the same displeasure the male character is feeling at about this time.

In this scene a close-up is aimed at the concrete being lifted off the female character in the bath tub who has by now drowned to death. This scene is important as the concrete is the key factor of her death. 

A low angle shot is taken in this scene as the male character lifts the female character out of the bath tub and places her on the floor. This makes him seem like a hero. However, the shade of lighting on his body is dark which may suggest he is bad; as he could of saved the female by removing the concrete of her body as soon as he saw her suffocating below the water. 


The male character begins to resuscitate the female before it's 'too late'. A close-up is used to show his desperation for her survival. It allows the audience to know that she is important to him. 

Another close-up is used for this shot as the female is seen conscience and the director wanted the audience to see her grand facial expression as she realizes she has in fact died. She lies on the floor as a ghostly figure and stares at her lifeless body.



In this final screenshot the close relationship between the two characters is shown once again in the 2-shot angle as the man comforts the dead lady. Moreover, this is also a tilt shot as the situation is unfortunate it creates and unpleasant feeling for the viewers to clearly visualize what has just taken place. 

In conclusion to the film analysis, the main lighting effects used in this production are natural room lighting so that the viewers feel that the plot is realistic. Furthermore, as the female suffocates, a slow motion edit is added to the scenes to create a tension for the audience as it causes them to speculate if she will survive or not. The pace of cuts start of at a medium pace as everything is fine for a very short while in the film, however, the pace then slows down as the woman struggles to return to the surface for air. This creates a dramatic effect as it allows the audience to feel what the male character is feeling; anxious and worried for here stunt performance. However, the pace swiftly speeds up as the female begins to drown as it shows everything is happening so fast in her perspective also to show that death is approaching her quickly.  Continuity is shown as each scene links to the next scene correctly time-wise. The narrative is linear and non-realistic as each scene is in a correct start to middle to end, order and it was not based of a true story or realistic as the lady was shown at the end of the short film as a ghost. The proudction is a single drama as the plot will end in the this short film with no conituation. Lastly, there are not many special noises in this production as they wanted the plot to be very realistic. However, an eerie tune is released when the lady begins to suffocate meanwhile the splashes of water drown out quietly. Continuity is shown as each scene links to the next scene correctly time-wise.