Evaluation of Continuity Sequence

For this project we had to plan, shoot and edit a short film. We could not use any more than twenty shots. The film had to be about the delivery of some sort of package and after some discussion we chose to make the film about a guy waiting in the graveyard for a suspicious package which in the end turned out to be a doll. We tried to make the film serious but we knew that it should have a goofy end. We had to have a certain amount of different shots, I think we met this criteria as well as we could of as we needed to have some different shots so we could make it have a goofy ending. I personally think that the entire process went well as everyone got on with the film with no problems. I also think that it worked well as it was just a fun film to make and there wasn't a dull moment during the process.

During filming we had to use many different techniques such as mise-en-scene, lighting, high and low angles and many more.

 I think that we executed mise-en-scene, which is whats in the scene such as props costumes and more, fairly well as we didn't have anything in the shot that didn't need in each shot. I liked the moment when the bag hit the floor as it was isolated and that was the only thing you can see. I think that this shot worked well is because you just see the bag drop so you know that he really wanted what was in the bag because he drops it like it was nothing.

I personally think that we didn't have the best lighting as we decided to film it outside and we wanted to be a dark and miserable looking day but it turned that both days we had to film were really bright and sunny days. About half way through the film you can actually see the change in brightness because we had to film on two different days so it didn't turn out the best way it could have.

We used one low angle, which is where you film the person from the floor or very low down looking up at them, which cam out very well as we lied the camera on the floor so you could see blades of grass out of focus in front of the camera. This is a very effective shot because without him actually doing anything except walking it shows that he has some sort of power. another reason i like this shot is because it is also slightly canted which means there is more than meets the eye and that there is something eerie about to happen.

Tried to use many different shot distances from extreme close-up to a wide shot. There was one particular moment in the movie where we tried to do a wide shot which didn't work as well as we hoped because we found out, while editing, that we had the wrong aspect ratio and we didn't realize until it was too late but we tried to fix it as much as we could. We also used an extreme close-up on Toby's eyes which shows the happiness in his eyes when he opens the bag.

We were only allowed to use one camera movement, which is the movement of the camera when filming. in our film so we decided to use a pan/ POV(point of view) which was at the point he was looking around for the other guy. I think that this shot worked really well as we actually had to do this 6 or 7 times so we got it right as this is one of the shots we wanted to get exactly right. This shot was a quick pan which was very hard to get right because we kept turning the camera too far. This is a really effective shot as it emphasizes that he is getting annoyed waiting for him as he turns his head really quick waiting for a guy to show up.

While editing we used both fade and dissolves as transitions which worked quite well as we were trying to show that the time has passed. This worked well as we used one just before he started getting fed up of waiting so the fact he had to wait even longer just shows that it is getting to be frustrated.

We needed to keep the flow of the film smooth by having good continuity which consists of the 180 degree rule, matches on action etc.

When we were filming the shot where they meet we did not break the 180 degree rule, which is when you have to keep to a certain side of the two people. This rule can be broken quite easily. We just filmed from the same side the entire time so we didn't confuse the audience.

We had an establishing, so you know exactly where the characters are, I think we should of used a pan shot for this so that it showed more of the surroundings but for what we had I think it worked well.

We had good match on action, for example when someone turns around in two shots but it looks like it was filmed on two cameras and it is really smooth. we used this well when he had Toby had to turn around and look at Josh walking away which we did in two shots but it was smooth and it worked really well.

When filming we tried to get an eye-line match, when someone looks out of frame and the next shot reveals what they are looking at. in one of the shots. We managed to get one but its not very noticeable as the hat was covering his face when it happened. This wasn't an effective shot in out short film because you already saw that he passed the bag and there was no big reveal after the eye-line match.

We used a shot reverse shot, which is when you cut from one character to another, when Toby and Josh met and passed the bag over. We used this shot so you could see the expressions on the characters faces when the bag is getting passed over. I think that it worked well as it does show you the characters expressions.

I have learnt quite a lot from this exercise like how to shoot in certain ways and I learnt the use of different camera angles/movement such as canted angles also pans and tilts. My favorite part of the process was the filming as it was more practical then everything else and I prefer being in the production rather than the post production stage. The best part of filming was trying out all of the different shots you can do and seeing how well they worked. I also learnt a lot about editing and the effort that goes into it. It seems easy but it is actually quite difficult as you need to get everything really precise and if you mess up one thing it can take the audience out of the film instantly. But i definitely enjoyed filming the most.