In lesson we were given a preliminary task of a demonstration os continuity editing.
It must show that we can successfully use:
Match on action
Shot/Reverse Shot
180 degree rule
Eye-line match
Match-on-action
when we see a character start an action in one shot and then we see them continue it in the next shot.
The 180 Degree Rule
the 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other.
If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting two subjects, it is called crossing the line.
Editing is the process of looking at all footage shot during the making of the film/TV programme and placing it in the desired order and joining it to together.
There are two key areas to concentrate on with editing:
speed of editing: how long each shot lasts
style of editing: how each shot is joined to the next
Speed of editing
In a film, each scene may last a matter of seconds or it could continue for minutes but length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along.
The speed of editing will help to determine the mood of what is taking on screen.
If a relaxed mood is desired, the scene lasts longer and changes less frequently. For example in a romantic comedy.
Scenes at the beginning of a film, as it begins begins to tell it's story must be long, probably introduces into main characters.
As the film progresses, scenes may become shorter as editing cuts between telling two or more story lines simultaneously.
Straight Cut
Most common and 'invisible' form of transition. one shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audience's attention.
Jump Cut
A jump cut is where the audience's attention is brought into focus on something very suddenly. This occurs by breaking the continuity editing.
Dissolve
A change of shots without a black out. Fading on shot of the screen while another shot is fading in.
Fade
--->
A gradual darkening or lightning of an image until it becomes black or white.
Wipes
one image is pushed off the screen by another. image can be pushed from left or right but usually to the left, used to signal a movement between different locations.
Graphic Match
The film maker can choose a place or a picture with a similar one.
stedi cam
A stedi cam is used to capture movement of characters whilst it allows to perform different techniques like a tilt, pan, crane and more without disruptions because it is strapped to the cinematographer's body and it is also easy to use because it is weighted.
Cinematography is the way the moving image is recorded mainly to do with the camera and lighting, the person operating the camera is the cinematographer.
These people will work closely with the director, Gaffer and Grips.
Director of photographer (DOP)
Camera operator
Focus puller
clapper loader
lighting department (Gaffer and Sparks)
Grip department (Riggers)
Lighting
key light
The key light is the bright and main light on the subject.
Filler light
The filler light softens the harsh key light and eliminates shadows
Back light
The back light adds to depth of the field, counters the key light and makes the subject look more rounded.
Under Light
The under light is when the main source of light id from the key and the filler light to create deep shadows.
Top Lighting
Top lighting is when the main source of lighting comes from above the subject, highlighting features to create a glamorous and flattering look
Low-key Lighting
Using the the key and back-lights, a sharp contrast of light and dark is created, forming deep shadows.
High-key lighting
Using more filler lights to create a bright, daylight effect
'In Time' is one of the thriller films I watched in my own time, to get get me more familiar with the thriller genre.
'In Time' is about a world where time has become the ultimate currency. You stop ageing at 25, but there's a catch: you're genetically-engineered to live only one more year, unless you can buy your way out of it. The rich "earn" decades at a time (remaining at age 25), becoming essentially immortal, while the rest beg, borrow or steal enough hours to make it through the day. When a man from the wrong side of the tracks called Will Salas is falsely accused of murder, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage called Sylvia Weis. Living minute to minute, the duo's love becomes a powerful tool in their war against the system.
North by Northwest is a thriller film about how a helpless, innocent New York advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent by the name of George Kaplan. A of foreign spies called Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate Roger Thornhill , and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. However, when Thornhill tries to make sense of this case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets a beautiful blond, Eve Kendall, who helps him to evade the authorities. His world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Not all is as it seems however, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Ernest Lehman. The stars are, Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, Thrillers are characterised by fast pacing, frequent action. There were quite a handful of fast paced action in 'North by Northwest', for example, when Roger Thornhill was chased by the crop duster in the corn field would keep the audience interested as it is a very odd weapon to kill someone with. Another fast paced action scene was when Roger Thornhill was was chased in the train station by the foreign spies. There was a lot of straight cuts which adds to the speed of the atmosphere. The literal cliff hanger at the end keeps the reader interested and think of what could have happened in the end and how they got safe. Thrillers include resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans more powerful and better equipped villains. In North by Northwest, Roger Thornhill was very clever in escaping from the spies in the middle of the action by running into the hands of the police.Roger Thornhill thwart the plans of the spies by pretending to be killed by blanks which is very heroic of him.
Devices such as suspense, red herring and cliffhangers are used extensively in thrillers. In 'The Birds' was an element of suspense when Roger Thornhill was awaiting the person he thought he was supposed to meet in the cornfield and suddenly this odd crop dusting plane was approaching him from afar, this creates an element of suspense as the scene was quiet with no background music and all we could hear is the sound of the crop duster getting closer and closer.A red herring was used when Roger Thornhill was shot with blanks by Eva Marie Saint in order to fool the foreign spies that Roger Thornhill is dead. A cliffhanger was used toward the end when Roger Thornhill and Eva Marie Saint was in danger hanging off a cliff and then we get a dissolve shot to a scene where they are well and safe. This is a cliff hanger because it doesn't tell us how the got safe or what happens to the foreign spies..
-->
A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the her must overcome. In 'North by Northwest' the foreign spies drove the plot as the storyline depended on what mishaps they would make for Roger Thornhill next.
