Continuity Task 2 (BLK)

A scene from the film 'Titanic'
 

• At the very beginning of the clip, the camera arcs around the actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) as to position him as the centre of attention, and is at a high angle, possibly to show that he is powerless in the middle of the ocean, as well as showing some of the surroundings and allows the audience to see that he is on a boat at sea.
• This then cuts to a mid-close up which tracks forward to close up of his face, allowing the audience to have an insight into his emotions and witness that he looks melancholy, giving some context as to why he is standing at the front of the boat (perhaps to clear his head about something). In the background, another actor (Kate Winslet) speaks and at the end of this shot, Leonardo can be seen to start turning his head, which shows that he is reacting to her voice as one would and therefore creates good continuity because his actions makes sense.
• This shot beings with a match on action as Leonardo continues to turn his head from the same position it was in at the end of the previous shot, which is vital in continuity editing, so that the audience feels like the film is reality and it doesn't 'go back in time'.
• Then there is a shot/reverse/shot between the two actors (meaning the shots go back and forth between each actor), with their eyelines matching to give the audience a sense of the space and their equal relationship (if one was looking down onto the other then they would possess the power in the relationship). This shot finishes with with a pan of Kate walking towards where Leonardo is standing. The pan is useful in following the natural movement of the actor and establishing a setting, in this case, they are at the front of a boat
• The shot cuts to Kate now standing where Leonardo is and then more shot/reverse/shots are seen, before a long shot is used. This helps to establish the setting further and show the beautiful sunset which sets the romantic mood and makes the scene feel believable, that they really are out at sea, which is very important in continuity - the audience should feel like what they are watching is real.
• Later, an over-the-shoulder shot is used to frame the image of what they are seeing, which is an amazing view of the sunset over the sea, allowing the audience to feel involved in the story and a part of what is going on. This is commonly used in continuity editing as it shows the characters point of view which always interests the audience.
• A crane shot is used as well to show the vastness of where they are and show the epic nature of the large set. It makes the actors seem like the only people on the boat, which serves to make the moment even more special and amazing. This shot also makes the film a bit more intriguing as it is majorly different to most other shots.

Evaluation of AOTT Activity (DYM)

• The idea we had for our film was that a girl would be killed (by an unknown person) and later found trapped in a hole alive. She ends up being possessed and the demon inside of her wants revenge on the person who killed her and hid her body in the hole/dungeon. In the opening, the girl is seen dead (hanging) and a series of spooky events occur as she begins her mission to find whoever killed her.
• In the film opening, the audience are introduced to the main character as well as being made aware of her death and strong determination to find revenge. The genre (horror) is made very clear through the showing of blood and disturbing images such as the baby doll's head and the girl's feet both with blood dripping down from them.
• The titles include images that all connote fear, panic and darkness which obviously links to the film as these are all common features of the horror genre. They also focus mainly on the girl and her possession which helps to show that the film idea is mostly about her.
• By the end of the opening, the audience should be intrigued as to what will happen in the rest of the film because we chose to keep it quite ambiguous as to leave room for mystery which another key feature of horror films. If the film opening was how we hoped it would be, then the audience should be left feeling unsettled and scared, due to the disconcerting images.
• We included the introduction of the main character in order to add some sort of understanding that the film would be about her and to allow the audience an insight into her life and personality before the rest of the film goes on to explore other things. Also, we included opening credits as these are required by the law for all film openings, they show who the producer/director/etc is. Furthermore, a variation of camera angles was used to make it a bit more interesting as it would be boring for the audience if they were all the same. The different camera angles also help the understanding of the film, such as the low angle shot on the baby helps to show that baby is perhaps powerful and important and could be significant later on in the film as the story progresses.
• I think our film opening was successful to an extent as it portrayed all the characteristics of a horror film that we wanted and appears ambiguous and intriguing. It also makes use of a variety of shot types and camera angles, which broadened our knowledge of  them and enabled us to put them into practice. Ultimately, looking back on it, I would have liked to experiment further with lighting as this could have helped emphasise certain aspects more, such as the element of mystery.

Film Opening Analysis and AOTT Research (DYM)

• The opening sequence above is from a James Bond film called 'Casino Royale' and is a part of the action/thriller genre.
• The short opening sequence doesn't reveal a particular setting or time-scale as it is a montage of different events and unique animations, however, if the film is watched, it can be discovered that it is set in many locations such as Miami and Montenegro and takes place over the course of a few days/weeks.
• The events that take place aren't put in a specific order as they are mostly just intricate designs and animations of guns being fired and the reoccurring theme of violence, as a blacked-out figure who we presume to be James Bond is seen fighting and killing people. Towards the end of the sequence, an image of '007 is confirmed' is shown and this gives the audience a brief insight into James Bond's life and what his occupation might be. At the end,  a close up of Daniel Craig's face (who plays James Bond) comes into view and breaks away from the non-naturalistic style of the opening sequence. It was put at the end to finally bring the film to reality and allow the audience to feel more involved in the action.
• The events are mostly distinct and unconnected, except they all involve some element of violence (which is a main part of James Bond films) as well as the underlying theme of casinos and cards, as often the audience can see clubs (a card suit). 
• The character James Bond is introduced as he is the main character and story revolves around him. He can be depicted as quite violent and powerful as he is seen to fight people (possibly the 'baddies'). Also, the idea that he is wearing a suit could suggest his profession and formality. 
• Not much story information is revealed, creating ambiguity and leaving the audience wanting to find out more. The fact that the opening sequence is made up of animations creates intrigue because no one knows what is yet to come and is aesthetically pleasing to watch. The main thing that is deliberately withheld is who James Bond is and what he does that would involve such violence. 
• At the start of my film, the audience would need to know who the main character is so that they have some kind of insight into who the story is about and they would need knowledge of the genre so that they know what to expect. 

The first opening sequence is from 'Casino Royale' and the second one is from 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs'. The one from Casino Royale shows images that have a lot of the colour  red in them, connoting blood and violence, which contrasts greatly to the one from 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' which consists of a variety of colours and rainbows which suggests that the film is less intense. The colour scheme of each sequence hugely implies the dissimilar genres; action/thriller vs adventure/comedy. However, both sequences are animated and introduce the main character(s), allowing the audience some insight into the stories. Both films have a disjointed order of events that aren't significant to the understanding of the stories and have underlying themes (eg. in Casino Royale it's violence and casinos, and in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs it's food and joy). The aesthetic styles are both visually attractive as they each involve interesting images and are non-naturalistic and obscure. 

Continuity Task 1 (BLK)

1. The group that made this video had to follow the brief of showing an accident using only six camera shots. The storyline follows a girl (Character A) who enters a lift, where another girl is already patiently waiting (Character B). The lift doors shut behind Character A, a digital display of the lift going down is shown, and then reopen again with the audience seeing Character A walking out after pressing the alarm button, whilst Character B lies still on the floor of the lift. We presume that Character A has inflicted some kind of pain on Character B, possibly even killed her, although it remains uncertain.

2. The group attempted to create narrative flow through starting off the short opening sequence with an establishing shot, which conveyed the setting, as well as introducing Character A.They also used transitions between the shots and incorporated a digital display to suggest the lift was going down.

3. The group did not achieve full continuity as the transition between the shots wasn't always perfect, however, if they were able to edit their video then they would be able to brush up on this. Shot 1, as mentioned earlier, was a good establishing shot, but leading on to shot 2, there was a break in continuity and they didn't achieve a match on action, as at the end of shot 1, Character A walked into the lift yet at the beginning of shot 2 she appeared outside of it - almost as if going back in time! They did, however, manage to introduce Character B in this shot which helped to progress the story forwards. In shot 3, their aim to show the lift going down wasn't clear as the shot jumped straight into a close up of a digital display, without giving the audience any awareness of context. It raised questions such as; is the digital display at eye level, who is looking at it, and where is the lift going to? Again, the audience were unable to follow along with shot 4, as it showed the alarm button in the lift being pressed, yet the alarm didn't go off and there was no lead up as to why the alarm button was being pressed. Although, the shot of the finger pressing the button was at a good, interesting camera angle. Shot 5 was successful in matching the action of shot 4, therefore using good continuity, and the body on the floor helped to create a storyline and regain the audience's attention. Shot 6 shows another break in continuity as the action didn't match the end of shot 5, much like the transition  between shot 1 and shot 2. But there was good use of the camera panning from left to right and followed Character A walking out the lift.

4. In hindsight, in order to improve the narrative flow of the video and tell the story more effectively, the group could have focused more on trying to match up the actions between each shot. Also, instead of jumping to the digital display, they could have had a medium close up shot of Character A looking up at the digital display, then shown the lift going down (digital display), then another shot of Character A (now pressing the alarm button) and finally kept shot 6 as it is. This would help to eliminate some of the questions the audience may have had, and helped them to follow along with the storyline more easily.

My Film Still Analysis (BLK)

In this close-up shot of a girls face, it is clear that the genre we wanted to depict was horror. You can see her hair falling over her face masking key features such as her eyes, which was intended to create ambiguity and mystery, often common features of horror films. Also, the red lighting helps to symbolise fear and panic, as the colour red reflects these emotions as well as having connotations of anger which is another underlying theme found in the horror genre. However, the girl in the picture looks calm and almost demonic which juxtaposes the idea of panic and follows more with the subject of anger. To achieve this we used portable lighting and placed a red plastic sheet in front of the lights to create a red glow. Furthermore, we found a small stairway leading down into a hole to communicate to the audience a background story – perhaps that the girl is trying to escape from somewhere or someone (the bars surrounding her show that she is trapped) in order to reach safety, or the more likely story that the girl herself is the 'someone' that others need escape from. Referring to the earlier point of ambiguity, the shot was taken in such a way that the storyline is open for interpretation. Ultimately, the shot was successful in portraying the emotions found in horrors and the idea that a girl is in the image helps to follow along with stereotypes and also emphasises a heightened sense of vulnerability, yet for others in the story or for the girl herself, is uncertain. In hindsight, we might as a group, have experimented with different shots, in particular, a birds-eye view to show the depth and darkness of the hole and therefore playing more on the notion of vulnerability and maybe even loneliness.