Final: Preliminary Evaluation of Continuity Editing Sequence

Evaluation of the Preliminary Exercise

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

I worked in a group of four (including myself) with Sam Durdy, Jack Laurence and Chris Pangalos for planning and filming of the preliminary video.

We shared tasks equally between the four of us and we had equal input into all of the planning and when working as a pair with Chris we shared editing equally and managed an end result that we were both pleased with

How did you plan your sequence?

We delegated the tasks equally between ourselves, we all worked together on the concept for the short clip and came to the decision that we would use action as our genre. We then worked together crafting the shot list and then the script, finally we had to create our storyboard which would help to give us an idea of what our sequence should look like, it also allowed us to identify the different set ups we could use and how to utilize the space we had so as not to break the 180* rule.

What technology did you use to complete the task?

In order to plan, we simply used lined pages provided and came up with our idea, script, shotlist and storyboard.

To film, we had been given access to Mini-DV Cannon Legeria camcorders, this resulted in our clip being filmed at a resolution of 720p.

In order to edit, we used Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. This software allowed us to sequence our clips and to cut them in order to make the clip seem continuous. This software allowed us to export our clip in High Definition to youtube.

We also were given tripods in order to stabilize our shots and eliminate unneeded camera movement and judders, it also aided us in panning and reducing background noise.

Finally, we were given Paglights incase we needed to lighten up our setting or focus lighting in a different way than which the setting offered. We didn’t use them for our clip.

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

Whilst planning, we had to take into consideration the range of props that we had access to so that we could make the best out of what we had. We decided that we would need two suits for the two main characters, a table, a brief case and a gun (fake of course).



During shooting, we had to take into account that there were other groups around the media block also carrying out the same preliminary task and we had to take care not to disturb them and to silence their noises and make sure they didn't appear during the fimling of our clips as othewise, our film clip may have contained more continuity errors.

As we had a time limit of one hour to shoot our clip, we had to make sure that our group was ready for any possible changes that we had to make on the day due to unforeseen circumstances. We made sure that our group also was ready to film straight away and  we kept our story board and shot list to hand.
 We also were told on the day that we could not use our original shoot location, this meant a change of setting and a couple of extra minutes to draw out a plan of the block and the room allocated to us in order to re plan our set ups and to make small changes to our shot list.

During the filming of our clip, we realised that our original plan of having the lights in the room off would not work as the camera created very fuzzy images in low light conditions due to it's limited ISO settings. This meant we had to turn the lights which made our group fear that the clip would lose tension

We had to also take into account that we were filming in a school and it wouldn't be possible to empty out the room that we were filming in as it would be far too much hassle for everyone and could pose a possible danger risk to others using the block at the same time.

Whilst editing, we had to keep refering to the theory that we had learnt in class and we urgently tried to avoid jump cuts and iffy continuity sequences. We also had to consider that because we filmed the sequence using different set ups, volume differed through out the clip and that because our speech sequences had background noise, we'd have to incorporate this throughout the clip, or it would lead to a disorientating audio sequence for viewers.

How successful was your sequence?

I felt our sequence was quite successful because it was continuous and obeyed many film makers conventions and rules.

I felt that the continuity editing was quite successful as the transitions from shot to shot seemed to be quite seamless and 

I felt that this was successful

There weren’t any jumpcuts as we were able to identify them during editing and eradicate them.

What have you learnt from completing the task and how will this knowledge be significant during the rest of your foundation course?

During this task, I’ve learnt about continuity rules, conventions of film makers, how to effectively edit a clip to be continuous. We learnt how to use mastershots effectively in our clip and how to make the audience aware of the space in which we were filming.

I think I’ll be able to take my skils that I’ve learnt for continuity editing into my foundations coursework and further improve upon them whilst editing later. Also the media theory that we have learnt will come in handy for when we film again. 

Dexter Re-Edit Evaluation

Our task for the 'Dexter' Re-Edit was to create a new title track for the Dexter opening sequence, for this we were given a clip of the Dexter opening sequence which was edited so that it didn't

1. Summarise the conventions of the ttile sequnces that were most important to this task
The titles had to be standardized throughout the scene
They had to include roles of everyone involved in the production of bunvit
They had to match with the color scheme of Dexter


2. How did your group plan to edit the sequence?
We decided to edit the sequence so that a title would come up at key scenes where there was space in the background to write our titles into.
As none of us had scene the clip before, it was interesting to see how close we came to the original

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group
We decided on a dark maroon color for our fonts, this seemed to initially fit in with the color scheme of dexter on our smaller screen with a higher resolution, however we discovered that on a larger screen, some of the text on a darker background was hardly visible

Some of our titles also had a slanted effect which again, made the titles harder to read which wouldn't have been the case in the original title sequence of 'Dexter'


4. How does your reedit compare to the original
Some of our titles seemed to be in the same places as those which were placed by the dexter editors. However the color used by the original is lighter in color and a lot easier to read against dark and light backgounds. Also, there were many more titles in the original, around 22 whereas our re-edit didn't have so many.

Evaluation of Preliminary Exercise: Part 1

Evaluation of the Preliminary Exercise

Group Work

I worked in a group of four (including myself) with Sam Durdy, Jack Laurence and Chris Pangalos for planning and filming of the preliminary video.

We delegated the tasks equally between ourselves, we all worked together on the concept for the short clip and came to the decision that we would use action as our genre. We then worked together crafting the shot list and then the script, finally we had to create our storyboard which would help to give us an idea of what our sequence should look like, it also allowed us to identify the different set ups we could use and how to utilize the space we had so as not to break the 180* rule.



Technology and Editing 

In order to plan, we simply used lined pages provided and came up with our idea, script, shotlist and storyboard.

To film, we had been given access to Mini-DV Cannon Legeria camcorders, this resulted in our clip being filmed at a resolution of 576i.

Finally, in order to edit, we used Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. This software allowed us to sequence our clips and to cut them in order to make the clip seem continuous.

Factors when planning, filming and editing

Whilst planning, we had to take into consideration the range of props that we had access to so that we could make the best out of what we had. We decided that we would need two suits for the two main characters, a table, a brief case and a gun (fake of course).

During shooting, we had to take into account that there were other groups around the media block also carrying out the same preliminary task and we had to take care not to disturb them and to silence their noises and make sure they didn't appear during the fimling of our clips as othewise, our film clip may have contained more continuity errors.

 We also were told on the day that we could not use our original shoot location, this meant a change of setting and a couple of extra minutes to draw out a plan of the block and the room allocated to us in order to re plan our set ups and to make small changes to our shot list.

During the filming of our clip, we realised that our original plan of having the lights in the room off would not work as the camera created very fuzzy images in low light conditions due to it's limited ISO settings. This meant we had to turn the lights which made our group fear that the clip would lose tension

We had to also take into account that we were filming in a school and it wouldn't be possible to empty out the room that we were filming in as it would be far too much hassle for everyone and could pose a possible danger risk to others using the block at the same time.

Whilst editing, we had to keep refering to the theory that we had learnt in class and we urgently tried to avoid jump cuts and iffy continuity sequences. We also had to consider that because we filmed the sequence using different set ups, volume differed through out the clip and that because our speech sequences had background noise, we'd have to incorporate this throughout the clip, or it would lead to a disorientating audio sequence for viewers.

DYM Homework,Sound Analysis

Clip- Wall-E Opening Sequence

Sound analysis

From the first scene with the Pixar logo, the viewer can tell straightaway that the clip is going to be cartoon based due to the exaggerated cartoon like sounds created by the lamp moving and the squeaky jumps.

The song used in the opening sequence is very upbeat and gives the audience a sense of journey and explorations, this tells us that there is going to be some kind of quest in this film/clip and that it will be quite interesting

Everytime there is a new chord, the scene changes so the music sets the pace of the journey that the audience is having through this clip

When shown the earth from outer space, along with the music, the audience expects there to be some kind of beauty and wonder associated with the earth, however we find that this is not the case when we zoom into the earth and fly past orbital debris and then continue to find mountains of junk and dirt in comparison to the beautiful scenery that you would associate with the music and the previous shots

When we are shown the earth, the music seems to oppose the video that the audience is being shown, this provides juxtaposition which could make the audience feel uncomfortable

However the music still allows us to believe that a quest of some sort is going to happen buti it isn't evident form the visuals we are shown

BLK H/W: Continuity in films

This scene is taken from the Avengers and is an example of the seamless transitions that you should have when you create a continuity clip unlike those that we made previously, however, the producers of the film will have had access to editing suites which would have helped them perfect the sequence rather than being forced to create match on action continuity.

In this clip, there is a lot of movement in terms of framing and camera, even in shots where the characters are still, you can notice gentle zooms or pans which helps to make the shot more interesting for the viewer

In terms of continuity, the sequence seems to be flawless cutting to the next shot without any jump cutting or positions changing.

The first two shots of the sequence are easily identifiable as master shots, the first one allows you to see where Director Nick Fury is in relation to Loki''s placement, this helps us identify where they are spatially which in turn makes the sequence look more linear during the OTS shots during conversation. The second shot of the scene is a low angle shot which shows us the device that Loki is trapped in, and how it is suspended by 4 weak looking struts, this has no relevance to this scene in particular but makes sense later on in the film where someone is ejected in this capsule.

Shots 5 to 8 are cross-cuts, so while you can still hear the diagetic sound of Nick Fury and Loki talking, we are seeing the reactions of the Avengers, the first cross cut is to Black Widow who is looking at the conversation through a computer, this helps the audience identify where they are so it doesn't seem like a random cross cut that had no relevance, we then go on to see her face in the next shot which shows her reaction, the camera then cuts to Bruce Banner and then in the next shot, the camera moves up and pans down on Thor and the other Avengers which shows us their worries.

After this, the shots are just OTS cutting from one character to the other, the use of the blurred shoulder is very useful in helping focus the audiences attention to the character speaking than looking around the frame at the surroundings. During this conversation, at 30 seconds after Nick Fury mentions the word war, we get some non diagetic sound that creates tension in this scene.

The last shot is a master where Nick Fury leaves Loki, in this shot, we cut back to the master shot, this suggests that the conversational exchange is over and so is the scene. We can also notice that the music gets louder and more prominent at the end of this shot.

BLK Homework- Continuity Reflection

In this short continuity clip we produced, our objective was to portray an accident in any form possible and to show the progression of how the accident happens or the consequences of this accident. As we were not allowed access to editing scenes, we had to match on action meaning we had to cut every frame at the right moment to continue the sense of continuity.

What worked?
Our concept was easily identified as Arianna portrayed a sense of urgency throughout the clip
It was also easily identifiable that we were aiming to try and have continuity in our clip and I felt that
Although our opening frame was cut out, it's still possible to establish a sense of setting from the pan shot in shot 2

What didn't work?
I felt that our continuity wasn't quite spot on and it seemed as if Arianna was repeating her actions, for example from shot 2 to 3; In shot 2, we filmed her running and the camera panned across as she ran, then in shot three, she was at a standstill before starting to run again, this is clearly a continuity error and it's called a Jump shot.
We also found that we had broken the 30 degree rule where the camera setup must not be further than 30 degrees from it's last position, this rule was broken in the transition from 4 to 5 where in scene 4 we are on the left of the bathroom door and Arianna has her back to the camera and then in scene five the camera where the camera is on the oppsite side, almost 180 degrees from the last camera placement
Finally, we were advised that in shot 4, the sense of urgency would have been continued better had we made Arianna run into the shot rather than already be in it before the camera was rolling

All in all, I think that the negatives of our clip outweigh the positives and our attempts to create match on action were close but not good enough, I feel that if we had another chance to do it, we would be able to create a more technically correct clip as we now know where we went wrong and how we can avoid these problems next time

Enigma code- There's wonder as to what the Police are searching for and why so many police are there to capture one person, it's also mysterious as to what the Lady is doing by herself in the dark room and finally, when the man in a suit said "Lieutenant, your men are already dead",  you don't know what to expect in the next scene.

Action Code- Police armed with guns and breaking down the doors suggests an intense fight scene.
                      You get the feeling that the Lady isn't going to go easily which is proved by the fight scene
                      between the Lady and the Police squad.

Semiotic Code- The lady is assumed to be evil as she is fighting the cops who are seen to be the good              people in this scene. The police and men in suits represent good as they are trying to arrest the lady who's killing the cops.

Cultural Code- The lady is wearing black which has negative connotations as it is a colour used for hiding and evasion so we assume she's a bad character. We assume the people in suits to be CIA or FBI agents as they work with the police officers and try to help arrest the lady in black.

Symbolic Code- Law vs Crime
                          Good vs Evil