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.