BLK4- Continuity Principles

This clip is from one of the most popular movies of all time; The Shawshank Redemption, made in 1994, by Frank Darabont, the screenplay is adapted from the book by Stephen King. The film is about the bond formed between the protagonist Andy Dufrense and Red over the years they are in prison. This clip shows the warden discovering Andy Dufrense's escape from prison.

The Shawshank Redemption - Escape from Andy Dufrense


1. The clip opens with an establishing shot of the whole prison block, as the guards walk in.
2. Then we cut to a CU of the cell doors opening, and Red (Morgan Freeman) exiting his cell.
3. We then see from Red's POV, the view down the corridor, we see here that the 180 degree rule is not broken, as we remain on the same side of the wall, simply facing the opposite direction.
4. The action then cuts back to the first shot, which accurately shows the guards standing in position, in conjunction with the time which has passed between shots (the guards are all where they should be).
5. We then see the guard from the opposite angle, this is a shot-reverse-shot.
6. Return to 1.
7. Return to 2.
8. Return to 3.
9. Cut to CU of the warden, zoomed in shot of the set up from 1 (establishing shot).
10. Return to 5.
11. Return to 1.
12. Camera sweeps past the cell doors as the guard walks past, the mise-en-scene matches up, with the same cells and order of prisoners.
13. Internal shot from cell, we see the guards and prisoners in the background, exactly where they should be for the scene to continue to make sense, and stay accurate to the surroundings, we also see a match on action when the guard turns from the previous shot, and ends up at the doorway.
14. Cut to the warden in his office, tying his shoes as the alarm bell goes off.
15. Back to the set up of 2, but without the men outside, and the cell doors are closed, this is accurately following the storyline.
16. CU Red's face through the bars, same costumes etc. THE WARDEN USES A DIFFERENT HAND TO POINT AT RED IN SCENE 15 AND 16.
17. Warden inside Andy's cell, exactly the same look of the character (costume, hair), and the accurate lighting for the setting and time of day.
18. Two guards speaking, the room is seen to be the exact same set up as previously seen.
19. Return to 17.
20. Return to 18.
21. Shot reverse shot, other side of guards, looking to the warden, the room has the exact same set up.
22. Return to 18.
23. Return to 17, but further away.
24. Return to 18, but with a match on action as the warden walks forward from the previous shot into this, posters remain the same position, Red is brought into the room.
25. Return to 17.
26. CU Red
27. CU Warden
28. Return to 26.
29. Return to 27.
30. Return to 26.
31. Return to 17.
32. Return to 26.
33. Doesn't break the 180 degrees rule from the shots of the warden, makes geographical sense.
34. Poster on the wall- seen previously in the film, remains in the same place.
35. Return to 26.
36. Return to 33.
37. Return to 26.
38. Return to 33.
39. Return to 26.
40. Return to 33.
41. 26, Stone is thrown from out of shot at Red, we see and hear the stone, relative to the time it is thrown.
42. Return to 33.
43. Return to 26.
44. 33, stone is thrown towards the camera, where the poster would be.
45. Return to 26.
46. Return to 33, sound of the stone falling is heard.
47. Return to 26, camera zooms back, and the warden walks forward into the scene, this makes sense due to his positioning within the scene.
48. Attempted match on action, as the warden rips the poster away the camera has moved to the inside of the wall, looking out from the escape hole at the warden, the guard and Red, in Andy's cell. Andy's pictures are seen to be in the same places on the walls. HOWEVER- THOUGH IN THE PREVIOUS SCENE THE WARDEN PUSHES HIS WHOLE ARM THROUGH THE POSTER, IN THIS SCENE HE ONLY USES HIS HAND TO PULL IT AWAY FROM  THE OTHER SIDE.

OVERALL:
The costumes and hair and make up do not change, and the set up of Andy's room remains the same too.

BLK3- Continuity Sequence

Our very first shooting task of AS Level Media was to create a 6 shot sequence of an Accident. We had to film the shots in the order they would be shown, and we weren't allowed to edit the shots together, so what appears here is exactly what we shot.

Our Accident
We planned to show a girl walking, and tripping onto a boy sitting down, ending with a tense romantic 'meeting'. Our first shot was a long establishing shot, showing the girl exiting the building, distractedly looking in her bag, followed by a MS pan as she continues walking past. The next shot is a tilted close up showing her foot tripping over an umbrella, followed by two shots of her falling, from different angles, with the second including the boy she is about to fall on. We finished with a close up shot of the boy and girl looking at each other.

POSITIVES
We attempted to create a match on action.
Tilted shot creates a sense of disorientation and adds diversity
The shots linked together quite well, and the overall story did make sense.
The first shot established setting, and story (distracted rummaging leading to a trip)
Continuously kept on one side of the action.
I think our panning shot as the girl walks past is good, and effectively conveys what is going on.

NEGATIVES
On either end of each shot, there was more time than needed, leading to awkward cuts and lack of synchronicity  leading to us not creating an exact match on action, though we tried to.
Jump cut to last shot.
Last shot is too static and doesn't fit in with the other shots of movement.
The falling shots are too similar

&FINALLY

This is an edited version of our continuity sequence, as you can see it makes a lot more sense, as most of the excess video between each shot has been edited out, allowing the whole sequence to flow a lot better and make a lot more sense.

 I think we did quite well for a first attempt, especially as I thought this task was quite difficult. However there are obviously a lot of improvements to make, and I will bear these in mind in our next project.

BLK2- Film Clip Analysis

MEAN GIRLS

This is a well known American comedy film starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, the clip I've chosen is one of the most memorable and famous scenes from the film.

FILM-MAKING CONVENTIONS

-Set in an American high school cafeteria- typical setting, white, clean, set with tables and chairs.
-Students look typical of an American high school- clip features a voice over narrative explaining the types of social clique, these cliques are typical of the comedy, rom com genre, and will be familiar to teenagers across the world.
-Upbeat musical track
-Voiced over by character: Janis Ian
-Begins with a hand drawn map, fades into actual film of the students
-High school slang clique names
-Centres around stereotypes of highschool cliques
-Ends with the most important and influential group, leading into the next scene and dialogue exchange
-Quick blurred sweeping camera motion between groups of people

CULTURAL CODES

-High school, fitting in
-Sterotypical 'Queen Bee'
-Stereyipcal behaviour from each table eg. Girls eating, couples kissing- entire clip is based on recognisable stereotypes, these are recognisable to audiences from all over the world, not just those already exposed to the American high school environment
-Heroines attire: shirt and jeans, tomboy, dressed down, shy, doesn't want to draw attention to herself
-Plastics attire: fashionable, tight clothing, perfectly styled hair and make up- effort taken in their appearance, clearly are the girls who everyone aspires to be like (esp, the 'wannabees')
-Cafeteria, an everyday regular setting

BLK1- Film Stills &Evaluation

THRILLER-
My shot depicts a teenage boy roughly being pushed against a brick wall by a pair of hands. It is a close-up shot, focusing in on his facial expression and the action taking place. I think this represents my chosen genre of 'Thriller' as it has very dark colours, with dim lighting, and half of his face shadowed.

To achieve this effect I asked my actor to look scared, whilst another actor held him roughly against the wall, I then framed this to only show the face and the hands, so a lot is unclear. The shot is low angled, so he seems more powerful, despite him being threatened. I made the shot dark, to create a feeling of mystery and danger, and the boys face is half shadowed, which suggests he may have something to hide. The actor looks slightly scared, but also seems quite strong and in control, without breaking his gaze, which gives him a persona of strength, presenting him as the hero (or anti-hero) of the film. Wearing the colours black and red communicate darkness, mystery, intensity and danger to the audience. The setting, with the brick wall in the background shows this incident takes place on the street, which is an appropriate and common setting for the Thriller genre.

I think the most successful thing in this shot is the framing, as this really draws the whole image together, and also the lighting. However in hindsight, I might change the position of the actors to create more tension, such as a tighter hold on the collar and a more emotional facial expression.