Continuity Task 1 (BLK)

In our most recent task, we were required to create a short piece of cinematography (6 shot limit) about an everyday accident, allowing us to explore and experiment with the effectiveness of continuity techniques to convey a story to an audience.

Our sequence follows two main characters, one played by myself who trips over his own feet throwing his books everywhere (A) and one played by Ella who witnesses the accident (B). A third character (C) played by Olamide also witnesses the accident, but only features in the mastershot. A walks down the corridor and enters a room, soon after which he trips and falls flat on his face to B's shock.

In order for our sequence to make sense, we used a variety of continuity techniques which reinforced our narrative flow. For example, our very first shot was a mastershot to establish a scene for the accident to take place within. This gives the audience a sense geographical space and where all the events of the sequence take place. We also used cross cutting to jump between character A outside of the room in the corridor, to character B inside the room where the accident takes place. This alludes to the fact that the room is likely to be an important setting in the narrative and that it is likely that character A is travelling to the room in shot 2. Finally, we also used a smooth pan and slight tilt in shot 5 to follow character A as he entered the room and tripped over his own feet. This meant that the moment of the accident was centered in shot, whilst allowing our character a lot of movement within the room.

We didn't achieve perfect continuity, however this was improved in the edited version shown at the end. Firstly, in shot 2 there is an awkward pause where A is seen standing still at the start of the shot. Secondly, the action at the end of shot 2 and start of shot 3 is not perfect in sync, resulting in a slight backtrack in time, thus not achieving "match on action" Thirdly, shot 6 with B's reaction is slightly oddly placed within the sequence and feels like a delayed reaction, which is made even more awkward by its long duration. Finally, in shot 3 character B does not react to A's entrance to the room, which looks unnatural. These are examples of continuity errors, because they broke the narrative flow

Our continuity could definitely have been improved through the implementation of a few changes. Shot 2 should have been slightly wider, so as to show more geography and give a better sense of setting for A's march to the classroom. Also in this shot, A should have started out of frame and walked in and out of frame, as this would have helped avoid the awkward pause found at the start of the shot and improve the continuity. In shot 3, we should have started the shot with the door being opened by A, so to achieve "match on action" and B should have reacted to A's entrance in a more natural manner, perhaps saying "Hi" or giving a disgruntled sigh. In shot 4, A's trip seems awkward and unnatural, so instead something should have been placed for A to trip over, such as a left out school bag or banana peel if one wanted to achieve a light hearted mood. Then shot 6 and shot 5 should have been switched around, with shot 6 being shortened by just a little, so that it feels slightly less unnatural. Finally, shot 5 should be last and be let to last a little longer, so that A can fully leave the shot before it cuts away. As a whole, I believe these changes would improve the continuity of our sequences.

Finally, here is an edited version of our sequence, which does the shots slightly more justice.

Genre Stylised Photograph Task (BLK)

With our shot we were trying to connote a horror genre through the use of many different components, for example the shots background is low key lit whilst a spotlight focuses on the hand. The darkened surroundings mean it is difficult to make out fine details in the darkness, this hides what may be the cause of the main character’s distress and lets the viewer imagine a truth which is very likely worse than reality. To create this effect we used our two lights and focused their light on the hand and its immediate background, using the barn doors found on the lights, which drew the viewer’s eyes to these features and meant that the darker areas were perceived as darker than they actually were by the camera.

We also used a very exposed, pale female hand with nail varnish for the subject of the shot as it is a signifier of the horror genre, due to the reoccurring theme of a “Damsel in Distress” found in horror films. It is also strongly juxtaposed to the dark and gritty background, which makes the hand “pop” from the background more which results in a more striking image. Due to both the clawed position and exposed nature of the hand, the dominant reading of the shot would suggest a narrative where the owner of the hand (most likely a vulnerable female main character) is threated by something lurking in the darkness encompassing the shot.

However, if I were to repeat this shot I would have changed the position of the camera so that the hand was slightly larger and filled the shot more, as currently I believe there is slightly too much background visible. This would also require us to close the barn doors on the lights slightly more, so as to keep the same balance of light and dark found in this shot, as I feel it creates a horror inspired mise-en-scene and is aesthetically pleasing.