Continuity Short Film

Introduction

In this document I will be evaluating my own creative film work. This involved me and two other people (Jack and Connor) to film 11 shots which all had significant features. Features like closes up, long shots, over the shoulder shots and shots that would create a ‘match on action’ when editing the final cut. This mini project was created to test what we learnt and how we could adapt our knowledge continuity in a short film. Each video from each individual group had a time length of 30 – 50 seconds.

Favourite Aspects

To evaluate our work we watched all of the videos and gave comments and developing points that would help us produce our evaluation but also understand our mistakes for future work.

One thing that was mention as a good point was the ‘over the shoulder shot’. This shot was mentioned because it was kept in the 180 degree rule. This is important as it keeps continuity through each ‘match on action’ shot. The music was also mentioned in this shot as it creates creepiness and comedy at the same time. This was intentional to final piece.

This shot was a great example of horror to comedy or vice versa. The idea of our short film was to create a comedy genre or atmosphere. However the outcome was different to what we expected. The room that was assigned to us had no comedy props which made it difficult to create a comedy feel. On the other hand we did find a pair of scissors and a lab coat with blood stains. In conclusion we decided to create a horror / comedy.

Another thing that was mention that was a good point was the amount of dialogue used. We kept it short from cut-to-cut so that the story wouldn't get confusing. Also the amount of shots was only limited. When recording we made sure that the dialogue was seen. Meaning that when Jack was talking, the audience watching could see and hear what he was saying. Also the facial expressions that attached to the dialogue added to the comedy / horror feel.

The last thing that was mentioned was the stillness of the shots. All of the shots were filmed on a tripod to keep the feel of continuity. It was also down to keep the smoothness of the video intact. This shot of the hallway and the door is a great example. The camera itself is kept angled, and is in level height of what is needed to be seen. It also keeps continuity as the audience knows what the story might be about to the way the camera is angled.

What Went Well / Smoothly

Before we even started recording, we had to plan what we wanted our film to base around (genre). We came up with a number of ideas and decided that we should create a comedy short film. When assigned our room we planned what the characters would be and where they would be position in order to complete the correct shots.

 The things that I think went well were the recording itself, the teamwork, and how we compromised our ideas so we could get to the best out of our abilities. When recording we made sure that every shot was perfect. We would watch them over and all agree or disagree to whether we needed to go over the shot again. This was good as one shot could affect the continuity of the whole film. This was done several times through the task.

Another thing that I think went well was the editing process. When editing, we made sure that we all had a turn when editing so that we could get use to the new software (Premier Pro, Adobe). There were no major issues when editing; but when a slight problem did occur, we asked the teacher for some assistants and he / she were able to give us good guidance.

What Didn't Go Well / Smoothly

One thing that I think didn't go smoothly was the acting. Jack was the only one out of the three of us that had skills in acting so we all decided that Jack would have most of the dialogue. His acting went really well but mine wasn't as effective. As it was first time in front of the camera I believe it will improve.

Another thing that I noticed when watching the final cut was that I looked into the camera as I ran out of the room. This is a very big mistake in different kinds of video media. When looking at the camera in a story line film, it is called breaking the 4^th wall. This is not good as it breaks the feel of continuity. Breaking the 4th wall takes the audience out of the feel that the actors are in their own world. It also takes the actors out of their world and it breaks the flow of continuity. In a way it is like the actor has noticed there is someone watching which can most certainly break the flow of continuity.
 

What Could Be Improved

The one things mentioned that could have been improved is the music in the film. When the dialogue was going on, it was hard to hear as the volume of the music was too high. This can put off the feel of continuity. When we start our next project I will try and focus more on the dialogue and the music and see if it is needed for certain scenes.

Another thing that I would improve is how much I focus on the shots. Some of the shots in the film looked like I had jumped from one place to another. So next time I’m filming me and my group will go over the shots and really focus to see if it needs to be rerecorded or kept as it is.
 

The Shot List
In this part of the evaluation I would like to go through what shots were good and why. All together there were 11 shots and only 4 were 'match on action shots'. The first shot was a long shot of the corridor and a person walking through a door. This shot took at least two tries as one was either interrupted or had a bad flow of continuity. Another shot was the close up of the the person opening the door and walking through it. To get this shot to be just right we went through the whole scene from the close up to ensure that the entire clip was there for editing. This was a 'match on action' from the previous shot of the corridor. We then cut it short in the editing process. This was also repeated in the shot where the other person in the room established the other guy walking in. This again was repeated so that the editing process would become easier.

Media Terminology
Lighting was all ambient in this short film, there was access to artificial lighting but with the room we were given, the lighting was perfect to what we wanted to get out of the film. Ambient lighting means natural lighting. This can be used in many ways to improve the effect of continuity or to give off a hidden message about a character. Here is one example in our short film that shows ambient lighting. The arrows indicate which way the light shone on Jack. This is a mix of ambient light and light from the ceiling (artificial). As you can see from the picture is that jack is lit out of shot which can indicate what his character is like. In this case it is dark on one side of his face which indicates his not a normal or a nice person.

Music / Sound was also used in out short film to give off an atmosphere or genre type to the audience. Music in films are used in many ways some more effective than others. One type of sound or music we did use in this film as a 'score / music track'. This was mostly the only thing that was used but there was some recognition of diagetic sound which came from movement of the characters. The music changes through the short film to indicate what the character is feeling and can also indicate what genre the film is. At the beginging of the film we used a calm 'hawaiian' guitar score which indicated that the character is calm and happy. Then half way through the film the music stops as Jack slams his box down. At the same time a new 'spooky' track comes in which can indicates what the other character is feeling; evil. Towards the end of the film the music track changes to a 'scared' and 'fast pace' track, which is my reaction to the Jacks 'phyco' personality. This concludes of me running out of the room in fear. So this is a good example of how 'Sound' can affect how a film is presented to the audience.