Evaluation of my continuity sequence

Evaluation



During the shooting of this sequence we were told to abide by the rules of continuity and focus on the main elements of filming such as; camera work, lighting, camera movement and the 180 degree rule when recording over the shoulder scenes. Our finished project succeeded in all the above aspects and incorporated the package exchange too.

We used three different soundtracks in the sequence to carryout suspense through the whole scene. These tracks varied from action/suspense music to accompany the character running with the package, intense/eerie music to overlay the footage of the actor making a slow entrance seen as the most powerful and lastly the slow/dark music to represent the death at the end of the sequence. When all was put together it really made the project seem more professional. 

For mise en scene we mainly focused on the lighting. This was used very carefully throughout to contrast the bad guy with low key lighting and the good guy with a more high key lighting, however this concept was slightly of in some scenes of the running actor as a few shots are lower lit than the bad guy. Yet this could be an improvement that I could work on next time. Towards the end of the sequence we see both pairs of feet appear in the shot, the bad guy is standing in the shadows as the god character step into place within the highly lit area, we found this a great way to contrast good and evil.

Close-up

We used a variety of high and low angles to convey power and weakness between characters in the sequence. Such as the beginning shot where he runs below the camera compared the shot where the other is on his phone and the camera is looking up at him, this helped show that he was demanding him to get there. We tried to focus on mainly only using high angled shots for the runner to give over the effect of him working for the other guy, which is why the low angles were used to show the bad guy as a more dominant character.

Low angle

We used many close distance shots during the sequence to create the sense of urgency and make the audience pay more attention to detail such as the phone and watch scene. The first shot was of a further distance to include the location as well as the actor running past the camera, this gives the viewer an understanding of the scene and gather their first impressions of the character, we also classes the start of this shot as an establishing shot as half of it is location and the other, just character.  In one of the shots we positioned the camera a fair distance away from the actors feet so he would progressively get close to show him and the other person will soon meet.

Close-up

In the sequence we used a POV shot which included camera movement to show the character looking around to spot the person he needs to give grant the package to, this makes the scene more intense as it is of a fast speed. The camera was place behind the bad characters shoulder at one point to show him walking into position, the camera moved with the actor to show the slowness in which the character was walking to emphasize his power.

OTS shot

For the scene of the exchange taking place we used a shot-reverse-shot sequence, this gave both perspectives from both characters. A mid shot was used aswell to split it up a little to give some variation in shots. We found that by doing this it would be the easiest way to show the package getting from one person to the other , so we went with it and the outcome turned out great as you can see everything happening in exact detail.

Mid shot/OTS

At the end of the final exchanging shot we used a fade to black as the character proceeded in walking away. this gives the effect that the sequence has ended, however a gunshot sound effect used to create a dramatic effect of suspense and aggression. Eventually we have a cut transition to continue, with the bad guy laying dead on the floor. We came to a decision to not use any dissolve transitions as this would make the pace of the scene seem much slower which would eliminate the fast action speed of the cuts and camera work.

Wide shot


During the project I learnt many new techniques and rules when using the camera, this abled me and my group to produce a great short movie following the continuity process. Editing also played a massive part in the film, such as transitions, music and colour correction, having edited a lot in my time I found it easier to grasp the software and to use it to my full potential. Finally I have to say that I enjoyed working as a group the most and directing the scenes, this felt great for me as I love how using the camera can completely change the way you look at things in the end production.