Thursday 13 November 2008

Assignment on Camera Work and Editing

Here you should be able to click on the extract we want you to use for the assignment we have set on the above.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fh6ls/EastEnders_11112008

This will need to be the episode for Friday November 14th

Addtional Editing handouts

Here are the other editing handouts you have been given:

FILM STUDIES AND MEDIA STUDIES AT AS LEVEL

THE EDITING PROCESS AND EDITING USES

Most of the information and explanations on this topic are found in your booklets. This handout is designed to record your notes and analysis while you are in lessons on editing.

1 What is editing and what are its uses?








What kinds of joins are available to film makers? Make notes below.




1 Type of Join:
Example from:
One advantage of this join:




2 Type of Join:
Example from:
One advantage of this join:




3 Type of Join:
Example from:
One advantage of this join:



4 Type of Join:
Example from:
One advantage of this join:


2 How does editing manipulate time?

Pace

For each of the extracts, suggest reasons and effects to explain the pace of editing.
1


2


3



Acceleration/Speed








Comment on the effect of this post-production technique below:


Slow Motion


Comment on the use of this technique in the example/s you are shown.


Overlapping Editing
How is this achieved?



What might be the reason for doing this?



Working with the story order
What is the effect for the viewer of editing decisions made here in relation to the story order?


EDITING HANDOUT 2:

FILM STUDIES AS LEVEL, UNIT FM1

THE EDITING PROCESS AND EDITING USES – PART TWO

As for the previous work on editing, you will find all of the terms and further application exercises in your booklets. This handout is designed to organise your notes.

3 How does editing manipulate ‘space’?
When we talk about ‘space’ in a film analysis context, we mean ‘location’ or setting.

What illusion of space can editing create?
Why is this important in the creation of a story world?






Draw a sequence of 2 shots below that would appear to take place in adjoining rooms, but may not be filmed in adjoining places. Include labels for shot size, angle and movement. Include arrows to show character and camera movement.









In the extract viewed, explain below how the illusion may be achieved.

Extract from:



Define ‘Parallel Editing’ below:



Using the extract as an example, explain what a film maker might use this technique for:




Define ‘Cross Cutting’ below:



What is cross cutting used for?


What is the difference between Parallel Editing and Cross Cutting?
Draw the diagrams below to show the relationship between the cutting and the action in each.














What is split screen used for? What examples do you know of its use?



What is Hollywood or Classical Montage Editing?
What can it be used for?

Examples:

Welcome!

Welcome to my Media Studies blog where you will be able to access assignments and find links to set extracts. This is still in the initial stages of being established, so there may be some 'teething problems'!

Below, you should find the handout on Continuity Editing that you have been using for the work in class. This should be used alongside your booklet.

MEDIA STUDIES AS LEVEL, UNIT G322
THE EDITING PROCESS AND EDITING USES – PART THREE

How does editing create continuity?

As with the previous work on editing, you will find further information and definitions in your booklet.
The most important overall function of editing for film-making is its ability to create continuity in any given sequence of shots. This continuity in film and TV is essential to coherent storytelling. Film and TV makers aim to make editing invisible to the viewer so that our involvement in the story is not interrupted by the evidence of cutting and other aspects of the text’s construction. You will need to learn the various ways in which editing can do this, and be able to identify and explain the use of each in any film sequence.

The following methods are used to produce continuity:

The 180 degree rule: don’t cross the line!

This rule is used widely throughout the film-making world, and essentially means that when setting up shots, film-makers will never cross an imaginary line (axis of action) drawn between characters. It is particularly used in sequences involving dialogue or interaction between characters, and is less relevant for landscape or establishing shots. You might find it useful to think of the way a football or equivalent team game is filmed. What would happen if the game were shot from both sides of the pitch?

Study the explanation and diagram on pages 33 and 34 of your booklet carefully.
Why is position 4 not likely to be used in a normal shot sequence?





Watch the tutorial from a film-maker on YouTube to help you to understand. If you are still confused about this technique at the end of this session, there are very many tutorials accessible through YouTube or diagrams in books available in the library. You will need to make sure that you understand the method.

On the storyboard sheets provided in your booklet, draw a sequence of 3 shots that would include and could follow on from the one shown below from the film ‘Dumplings’ (Gaudzi, Hong Kong 2004):
Character 1 Character 2











This sequence is a shot/reverse shot sequence in the original, in which shot 1 is an over the shoulder shot of character 2; shot 2 is a reverse shot showing what character 2 is looking at, and shot 3 returns to the position held by shot 1. The shot/reverse shot technique is another essential part of creating continuity in a dialogue sequence.

Watch the 180 degree line sequences on the dvd compilation, and for each of them decide where the ‘axis of action’ (or 180 degree line) would be drawn, and show approximate camera positions. Sketch this below in an overhead view, as in the diagram in the booklet.




Notice also the use of shot/reverse shot in both sequences.

What happens when the 180 degree rule is broken?

Sometimes the 180 degree rule is broken deliberately in film and television. Examples of film-makers who do this are Stanley Kubrick and Jean Luc Godard. Look at the example from The Shining. What do you think Kubrick was hoping to communicate to viewers with this technique? Look out for this intentional rule breaking in TV dramas such as Skins or recently, Little Dorrit.





When this rule is broken unintentionally, the result is very problematic. In student work, unintentional breaking of this rule will lead to a very low grade. Look at one example of this (there are many others on YouTube) and explain the effect below:




The Establishing Shot

Establishing shots in film and TV ensure that we understand where action involving a character takes place – it gives the action a spatial context, and will be used at the start of a film or episode, but will also be used to contextualise characters when the action shifts to a new location. Notice the use of camera in the example shown.





Match on Action (also called ‘Cutting on Action’)

Return to the 2 storyboarded shots you created for the work on the manipulation of space. For this exercise, you may have drawn a character moving from one space to another apparently adjoining space to create the illusion of adjoining rooms. However, the most difficult thing about shooting this sequence would have been making the action of the character walking from one space to the other ‘flow’ or be continuous. The creation of continuity in any movement occurring in the frame from one shot to the next is absolutely crucial to continuity editing.

Watch the sequence from Dr Who again. Identify the match on action used here. What kind of preparation and what processes do you think led to the smoothness of flow in the action here?





Next time you watch any film or TV text, notice the use of match on action. It is a very common technique.

Eyeline Match

Study your booklet, page 20 for a definition of this common technique. In what sense have we already seen this being used as part of the shot/reverse shot technique? Explain how this technique creates continuity. How might eyeline match also add to our involvement with a character?

Graphic Match

Watch the examples of this technique on the dvd and describe the technique.
Can you explain why they are considered to contribute to continuity when there is no continuity of action?

Examples from:

Explanations:







Cutaway Shot

A cutaway is used in the continuity process to hide continuity errors or to focus on objects relevant to the story. This technique is simply a cut away from the main scene to an object within the scene – a prop for example. This object can be used as ‘glue’ to join together two shots that wouldn’t otherwise join smoothly. Look at the example from Harry Potter and explain how the cutaway to the book is used here.






Cross Cutting and Parallel Editing

Revise the difference between these terms.
Can you explain why they are often described as part of the continuity editing system?