Task Eight - Transitions and Effects

Task Eight: Transitions and Effects 

Transitions and Effects are used a lot, whether its a film or trailer.

I have done something similar, i made a short video explaining how transitions and effects are used and how its effective.

one.transitions, eg cut, dissolve, fade, wipe

• -Dissolve - is when one shot is fading off the screen and another shot is fading in at the same time.
• -Fade - is when one shot turns black or white to show that its the end of a scene or a start of a new one.
• -Wipes - one image is pushed off the screen by another. 

Graphic Match - A shot that eventually changes into another shot, for example Psycho.

following the action - The camera follows the movement of the event in an action scene. 

multiple points of view - This is where the actors are showing each side of a particular point of view.

shot variation - shot variation is when a camera shot starts off with one particular distance shot and ends up in a different one, for example The Matrix it start of with a long shot whilst the camera is circulating the scene and then it ends up with a mid-shot.

manipulation of diegetic time and space - is when a film uses effects to show that the scene is from the past, for example if you was to change the colour of the scene to black and white it would already show the viewer that the actors are either dreaming, flashback or traveled back in time. 

The video is about three students in detention because they haven't done their homework, but the detention is so boring so they find out a way to entertain themselves. So they think back of funny memories they've all witnessed with each other.

The video starts off with Babajide (teacher) coming in and telling the students 

(Me, Theodore, Usman) why they are in detention and wants to do a couple of equations which is not shown in the video. But then no one participates so the teacher has had enough and take a break. Thats when the students take advantage of that and try to entertain themselves, so whilst the teacher is out the students start talking about funny moments in the past. I tried cutting shot to shot whilst the students was talking so the there wouldn't be pauses in between, after they finished talking i started to fade into another scene showing that its a memory, also i used white and black to show that its the past and this helps make it easier for the viewers to understand. The second scene of the students tracking back was when i try to imitate the teacher but get caught and then get a 5 hour detention. I used fade in and black and white screen again for this scene to show that its the past and this helps manipulation of diegetic time and space. Finally the final scene of a memory was when the teacher was dancing to 'who let the dogs out' i think this was the highlight scene of the video because it was very funny and entertaining for the viewers. So for this scene i started of with a fade in and black and white screen, also added a extra effect (Glow,Dazzle) to make it stand out more and more effective.

Finally almost throughout the video we used many different ranges of camera shots such as long shots, medium shots, close ups, etc...

but mostly we would zoom out and in for example we would start of with a long shot of the teacher and then zoom in and end up with a medium shot or close up. Also whilst the students start talking we used quick short close ups to show who's talking and to show their facial expressions, this is more understandable for the viewers and its more effective because they have to be aware of whats going on. 

Task Seven - Creating Pace Edit

Task Seven: Creating Pace Edit

For Task Seven me Ronaldo, Babajide, Usman and Theodore made a quick video mainly based on Creating Pace Editing.

• Engaging the viewer- To try and keep the viewer interested. 
• Speed of Editing - Some scene may last seconds whilst they are changing to different camera shots, for example in fighting scenes the shots would change all the time to show the viewer every detail of whats happening from every angle.
• Cross Cutting - Cross-cutting is usually two scenes that are related. So cross-cutting would be used in a flashback that relates to the current scene.
• Cutaways - A cutaway is used to expose the details to the viewers without distracting from the action. 
• Creating pace - Creating pace is usually to create feelings, for example if would want to make the audience feel mixed emotions. 
• Development of drama - Cross-cutting is usually a effective way to create drama, this is to try and make the viewer anxious and off their seat. 

Creating pace in a video is very effective towards the viewers watching, it engages the audience very well, mainly because when you watching fast paced videos there are many different shots so you are aware of everything, however if it was one long shot it would be boring and loose interest in the viewer and then is wouldn't be a creating pace edit video.
The speed of editing would normally be quite quick whether your doing a fighting scene or something else, as you can see in my video it wasn't to fast whilst cross-cutting between scenes but it gives you an idea of whats going to happen, if i didn't put different scenes in between each other the short storyline wouldn't make sense or be clear to the viewer and it wouldn't be one long shot. usually when you would cross-cut between two scenes they would have to relate with each other as shown in my video. so this is why creating pace editing is effect and engages the viewer.

The storyline of the video is quite dramatic, as each scene cuts to another the tension builds up, it keeps the audience curious and thinking of whats going to happen. Then off course the kid at the end gets kidnapped and this help develop drama.

Task Six - Non-Continuity

                                                     Task Six - Non-Continuity 

Non-Continuity Editing is used by many directors, they prefer to use this techniques to have many different effects towards the audience. For example to make them feel confused and interested by breaking the rules to make it look like a mistake so then it keeps the audience thinking.

jump cut:

As you can see, if you spotted the first shot she has got nothing in her hands, then suddenly she's got a mirror in her hands this is called jump cut. The director has deliberately cut the part when she takes the mirror out of her pocket, to make it look like it just appeared in her hands.

Breaking the 180 degree rule:

In the film The Shinning, there is a scene where another non-continuity technique has been used, such as breaking the 180 degree rule. This effective technique is mostly used to confuse the audience and make the actor look like he/she is confused. Its simple to know when the 180 degree rule has been broken, when two people are talking and later on that conversation they've appeared to have swap positions, this is when you know that the directors have purposely broke the 180 degree rule. 

Another example of the 180 degree being broken is from the movie Hunger games. Notice how in the first shot she walks in the room and she's in the right side of the room, then in the second shot she's on the left side of the room. The director has chosen to do this mainly because to make the actor feel confused and a bit worried because she's not used to all the new things that has been given to her. This is effective as an audience as well because if you was to look at this you would wonder why she has appeared to have changed positions, so it gets us a bit confused too.

Task Five - Continuity Editing

Task Five - Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing is used a lot throughout movies, TV shows and even adverts. This style of editing was first developed by many American directors and early Europeans. These editing skills were used a lot in many of G.W Griffith films, such as The Birth Of Nation and Intolerance.
The main techniques you need to know about is in the following:

180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is basic rule that includes two characters
(or other elements) in the same scene that always should have the same right/left relationship to each other.
 if the camera over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

When using the 180 degree rule you must always film on one side of the imaginary line because if you cross the line the characters will appear as they have swapped positions.
film makers will only cross the line to show that the character(s) are confused this also effective towards the audience as well as the character(s).

Match On Action
This technique links two shots together.
So if a character was to start performing an action in one shot, the camera will then cut and start filming in a different angle to complete the second shot. This technique avoids pauses between scenes and helps it look like one natural shot, even thou the actor performed it twice.










Shot Reverse Shot
This technique links two shots together.
usually this technique would be used when two actors are communicating, the first shot shows one character and the second shot shows the second character. This allows the audience to understand that the characters and interacting.









Eye-Line Match
This technique links two shots together.
we as an audience are able to see what the character is looking at.
when a character is looking at something off screen, then we cut to a shot of the thing that the character is looking at this allows us to experience an event in the film just as the character is experiencing it.









All of these techniques are important in Continuity Editing.
Continuity Editing it self is important, it helps retain sense of realistic chronology, also lets you feel that time is moving forward.
It doesn't mean your not able to use any flashbacks or
flash forwards, as long as the narrative will still be seen in a progressive and realistic way.                                                                                                                                                           

Continuity Editing video                                                                                                                                                                                          

This video above is what me and my group did for our continuity editing. We managed to use all the techniques without to much errors. we tried not to break the 180 Degree Rule as the characters was talking so then it makes it look professional. Also we did a Eye-line Match when I had a quick drink from my bottle and at the same time we used a point of view shot to show that I was looking directly at the bottle. Furthermore we used the Match On Action as Babajide walked through the door which made it look like one natural shot. Finally as our last technique we use the Shot, Reverse
Shot when me, Ronaldo, Babajide and Usman was all communicating and we done two shots of our face's to show that we was interacting.



   

Task Four - Hollywood and Russian Montage

Task Four: Montage

Me and my media group: Ronaldo Paloka, Babajide Shokeye, Usman Mahammed and Theodore Kintundi have created our first ever Hollywood and Russian Montage. This is shown below, the first montage is the Hollywood montage and the second one is the Russian montage, there are 3 different form of montages these are the French Cinema, Soviet Cinema and the Hollywood Cinema....

French Cinema, they believe that to make a good montage is just putting a couple of clips together by editing.

Soviet Cinema was discovered in the 1920s, "montage" was a method of placing shots side by side to create new meaning that did not exist in either shot alone.

Lev Kuleshov is a Russian man that was the first to theorise about the relatively young medium of the cinema in the 1920s. He believes that editing a film is like building a house, brick by brick, shot by shot. He also did an experiment that proved his point about editing.
His experiment was taking a shot of a famous russian mans head and placing another image beside showing what the man is thinking, and from this technique the audience understood what Lev Kuleshov was trying to show you, the experiment is known as a montage.

Sergi Eisenstien was a student of Lev Kuleshov and learnt from him, he also mad montage but he had a different idea of making montages. He adds contrast in he's shots, he tries to provoke a group of people,  by shocking them whilst he shows a sad death of a cow in the montage Strike.

Rocky Montage.....

This is the hollywood montage that gave us the idea to make ours. This montage also shows us a similar short story of a professional called Rocky going through intense training so then his ready for the next fight.

Hollywood Montage..... 

 

As our first montage(Hollywood Montage) we decided to add a big boxer to prepare for a big match, we were able to show a months worth of training in a short amount of time. This montage has a little story behind it, A famous boxer has been beaten in a fight and lost his championship title and he wants his revenge, so he goes through intense training and hopes to win back his title.

Through out this montage the famous boxer 'Joseh Clinton' is having an interview and in the background there's a training scene playing while his speaking so then there's a bit of a narrative to show the view how he feels about the fight and what his been up to win this fight. Also through out the whole montage there's music playing in the background "still D.R.E" to not make the montage too boring and inspire the viewers.

Strike Montage - Sergei Eisenstein.....



Russian Montage.....


As our second montage (Russian montage) we started of with Theodore just sitting down thinking about terrible things that happened in the past and we was able to show this by keep cutting to different scenes.
When he was thinking about something it would cut to a different scene as his getting his personal belongings stolen from him and at this point his powerless. then it would cut back to him to show that he is still day dreaming, it would cut back to a different scene of him thinking about money because he needs to replace the things that got taken away from him.
Also through out the whole montage there would be a different instrumental playing for a different scene, so then it would set the mood for the viewers and it would make it more entertaining.

Task Three - Analogue to Digital Editing

Task Three: Analogue to Digital Editing

Analogue Editing are made up image printed on to acetate negatives. These images are then 'spliced' together to form a reel of the film. these are then fed through a projector at a rapid speed of 24 frames a second which makes the pictures seem like they're moving.





The First Moviola
before the widespread use of non-linear editing system the inital editing all films was done with a positive copy of the film negative called a film work print (cutting copy in UK) by physically cutting and pasting together pieces of film, using a splicer.



Video Editing
video editing is the process of editing segments of motion video production footage, special effects and sound recordings in the post-production process.
before digital technologies became available  magnetic tapes were used to store information these are known as video.



Digital Editing

to analogue form. Digital editing is the use of computers to order. Digital cinema uses bits and bytes (string of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and reply images, instead of chemicals on film.
The whole process is electronic so there is no printing or 'splicing' involved.

Non-Linear Editing
In digital video editing, non-linear editing is a method that allows you to access any fame in a digital video clip regardless of sequence in the clip.
The freedom to access any fame, and use a cut-and-paste method, similar to the ease of cutting and pasting text in a word processor, and allows you o easily includes fades, transitions, and other effects that cannot be achieved with linear editing.

Task Two - In-camera editing

Task Two: In-camera Editing




The meaning of camera-editing is recording and stopping with your camera, so then you can capture everything on footage and see the characters facial expressions. Many of these methods was used back in 1893 started by a famous man called D.W Griffith.

This was exactly what we used for the video above. When someone was talking we would record them, then stop recording and film the other person that was talking so then we capture everyones facial expression and we know who's talking.

The video is about a couple of friends having a conversation about football, but unfortunately one of the teams lost badly and the person that supported the team got angry and jealous. Then his friend couldn't stop talking about the unfortunate loss, so he got so angry and couldn't take it anymore and decided to hit his friend and walked away.

To make this video we just kept recording and pausing our conversation so the viewers can see who's  talking and what the situation is about. Some parts of the video was a bit difficult like the right timing, you had to get the perfect timing on the slap so then it looks more realistic. Also we could have done better on the angle of the camera when we filmed that scene so then it really looks like I actually slapped Babajide. Lastly we left a couple of spaces through out the film for example at one point babajide was standing then seconds later he was sitting down and that was quite difficult to prefect.

The thing that worked well about this video is that everybody done well to maintain on their characters and we didn't have to retry everyone scene more then twice. Also it was a short video but it wasn't random, there was a bit of a story to it which makes it more clear and understandable towards the viewers.

Things that we could improve in the video is the timing on the slap because it didn't seem realistic. Also the pauses between the scenes, the timing could have been improved.