Perliminary Task

What is continuity editing?

- Continuity editing is the arangment of a squence of shots that suggest a progession of events.

In the task we did on Tuesday (29th) we followed three rules that tie into continuity editing. These rules were:
1. The 180 degree rule
2. Match on match action
3. Shot/reverse shot

Using these three rules we planned, filmed and edited a short sequence where a character is seen walking along a corridor (establishing shot) followed by a close up of the character opening a door. it is important that in this task that you see the character before they open the door so that the audience has already already been introduced to the character and are not confussed by the second shot of someones hand opening a door.

The next shot in the sequence is a long shot from the other side of the door, this is to allow the audience to see the character enter through the door.

The second and third shots are where rule number two, match on action, comes in. it is important that the door opening from the outside and the door and the door opening on the inside match up so the video has a constant flow.

The next shot is a close up of the second character reacting to the enterance of the first character, this shot is followd by a long shot if both characters together (in the same room).

The next few shots that take place use rules one and threee. Shot/reverse shot is used to show one character (often off-screen) looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Most commonly used to show a conversation between two characters. This connects in with the 180 degree rule.

This rule states that two characters in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. The shots then continue using the shot/reverse shot and 180 degree rule to show the first and second characters in conversation.

I worked on this tak with Liam, Zven and Charna. We allocated roles for the task which were
Character one - Liam
Character two - Zven
Camera operator - Charna
Director - Myself.

Charna and I then edited the footage together whilst Zven and Liam edited their own verison using the same footage. Here is our final video from this task

I think my group did well in the task and stuck to the rules well, particularly the match on action shot where in editing we managed to keep the video flowing throughout. One thing we did have a problem with when editing was speech. The dialogue was a bit too early with some shots however it was a problem easily solved.