Editing and Transitions

 Hello! Today in class we were asked to choose a film opening to identify 10 different cuts within the scene. 

Some of these cuts can be shots/reverse shots, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cuts, cross cutting, parallel editing, and cutaways. 

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This is the clip I chose for this assignment: https://youtu.be/Rc_i5TKdmhs?si=qnBF83VJHZih67no

(Start 0:10)

0:10-0:21 Eyeline match: This scene shows the young boys facial expression, indicating that he is looking at something in front of him. The scene waits a few seconds before revealing that he is watching a cup of water as it vibrates. From this vibration, the audience can assume it is caused by something that is approaching. 

0:46-1:00 Cut away: The boy puts on his night vision goggles to get a better look at where the vibrations are coming from. The scene cuts to the broken wired fence, in a point of view shot, allowing the audience to see the situation in his perspective through the goggles. This creates the tension of the close up revealing that the T. rex that is arriving. 

1:06-1:09 Action match: After an animals leg hits the car roof, covered in blood, the scene cuts to the older sisters reaction. This detail is meant to give the audience a little scare, and prepare them for the upcoming scene of the T. rex. 

1:14-1:48 Shot/reverse shot: Shows the audience what happening between the T. rex chewing outside and the kids in inside the jeep as the adult that was with them, runs off to the nearest building, leaving them by themselves. 

1:49-2:54 cross-cutting: The scene is constantly alternating between the kids and the adults, each in a different car. The purpose for the cross cutting is to show the audience what is happening in one place compared to another while still in the same setting. 

2:55-3:05 action match: There is an over the shoulder shot, allowing us to see what the adults are seeing from the car. We can see that the older sister is flashing the light from the car ahead, being the reason for the T. rex to approach them. 

3:08-3:16 Jump cut: Shows a quick cuts as the kids closes the door, causing the T. rex to realize where the children are. This scene could be used to give the audience a scare. 

3:18-3:34 graphic match: the T. rex's eye can be seen from the car window above, and then the scene shifts to the next cut which reveals its eye once more in a closer view as the older sister shines the light. 

3:53-5:39 parallel editing: Shows the kids under attack from the T. rex that attempts to break through the car glass and tear apart the car, chewing off the wheels and flipping the car upside down. While this is happening, the adults rush to help them, by successfully distracting the T. rex, luring him elsewhere.

5:43-5:49 jump cut: The man inside the bathroom screams and closes the door because he is aware that he is in danger, but less than a few seconds later, the T. rex breaks through and destroys the entire building in an aggressive and fierce way.

6:19-6:37 eyeline match: After being rescued, the older sister screams after looking up to what was approaching her. There is a few seconds before the scene reveals that the T. rex had came back. 

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Additional questions:

a) How do the technical aspects of the editing contribute to the construction of meaning? - These technical aspects of editing give scenes in films meaning by giving the audience something to think about while they are watching, and it also keeps them entertained and engaged as if we are a part of the characters journey in the storyline. A film would be boring if we didn't use these editing techniques such as jump cuts, which can be used to add thrill into a scene of a film. Eyeline match for example can be used to leave us eager to see what a character is focused on, and sometimes, the film never reveals this information. Parallel editing can have us wondering what is going on in the other group or characters point of view when they are in the same setting or doing something at the same time.

b) How is the audience encouraged to feel and respond to the characters, and how they understand what the storyline is about. -The audience can feel and respond to the characters by feeling connected to them. It's often that a story begins by introducing the main character, allowing us to feel like we are with them in their journey. This is why we feel sympathy and maybe even second hand embarrassment for the protagonist. 

 

Elements of Film Graphic Organizer

Hello! Today in class we were asked to create an elements of film graphic organizer, by writing our sound, mise en scene, editing, and camera shots vocabulary.

Here is my graphic organizer:

Movie Rating

 Hello! Today in class we had to choose a short film to rate based on this movie analysis rubric. We had to analyze and determine how well the story keeps the audiences' attention, how well the camera work and editing is, the details in dialogue, narration, and music, and how well the actors perform. For my short film I chose "REAPPEAR" by The British Short Film Awards.

 Here is the analysis rubric:

1. Tells a story which holds the audiences' attention: The story is consistently at a slow pace which may result in some of the audience to lose interest quickly. The genre is aimed to be romantic, however the story seems more nostalgic because of constant reminders of the past. The idea of recreating images from a loved one who has passed away holds a strong emotion of grief and sorrow. This hold the audiences attention by having us watch as the main character achieves this goal. Though the woman in the story helps the man capture the images he's been longing for, the chemistry isn't strong enough to be labeled under a romance genre. It would have been the same if any other person took his photos, therefore, the story holds the audiences' attention some of the time. (10)

2. Demonstrates camera work and editing which enhances the story: For the most part, the camera work is good, but it's not excellent. It's noticeable that the film uses many over the shoulder shots to get us to look at the character in front of them. Rather than camera angles and shots, the short film mostly focuses on the mood of the scene by using low saturation to show a gloomy, calm, and simple atmosphere. In other words, the film uses a dark color filter like grey instead of bright colors which may symbolize happiness in the story. (15)

3. Contains dialogue, narration and/or background music which enhances the story: The background sounds are okay to use in the short film because they make sense, however I believe in a film like this, actions speak louder than words. To elaborate on that, the story did not give a strong romantic vibe from the start due to lack of chemistry and feelings. Without the characters using dialogue, the reader would have still understood the context of the story. Though such films are rare, this could have been better off as a film made in silence, only using background music and effects. (5)

4. Has compelling and interesting actors: The actors are great at expressing their emotions, but it's not enough to make the audience feel empathy. The main character does well expressing his emotions, in which the audience can tell he is upset or constantly reminded of the past, but he should have expressed it more. An example: Crying. This would have enhanced the story by adding onto the dullness. (10)

Total: 40/80

Case Study- MISE EN SCENE

Hello! For this case study, we were asked to choose a scene from our favorite film or TV show and conduct an analysis of the mise-en-scene. To do this we are required to answer questions such as identifying the mood or atmosphere created, how the characters are represented, how the audience is supposed to respond to them, and how the mise-en-scene is used to provide narrative information. Additionally, we are asked to consider the location, costumes, or appearance of the characters, the decorations, lighting, and color.  

 Here is the scene I chose from one of my favorite show, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy: 

This scene in Love Game in Eastern Fantasy takes place outside in a vast, ethereal and dreamlike location with a field of flowers, giving a calm, soothing, and romantic atmosphere. The two characters seem to be lovers, especially as the man quietly admires the woman from behind, with her gaze into the distance, seeming to not notice. In the beginning a demon child transforms into a gust of leaves, swirling around them and filling the sky, adding to the romantic atmosphere.

Without context, the audience can assume that they are lovers or that it is a one sided love. The setting is an open area with magical vibes , surrounded by trees and water under a soft natural light. The characters attire, being the traditional hanfu, hints the scene takes place in a historical time period in China. Other details that lead to this conclusion is that the mans hair is tied and the woman's style symbolizes Chinese beauty.

Her pink hanfu can resemble her bubbly and charming personality, along with her bright smile. On the other hand, the mans arms are crossed with a stiff stance, in which the audience can assume they have diverse personalities. He stands tall and calm, which can mean more than what is seen. His emotions are hidden on the outside, but he feels love for her on the inside.

The mise en scene elements include the water flowing, the gentle wind, and the pink, blue, and purple flowers surrounding them which can symbolize love, adding on to the romantic atmosphere this scene displays.

Moodboard

 Hello! Today in class we were asked to create four visual mood boards, each having a different location. During this project it was important to keep in mind that I must include the sets, props, actors, costumes, lighting and color.

Here are the mood boards I did:

This is a mood board for the beach.

For this beach mood board, I included images of the beach of course, along with stickers and symbols that signify the beach. These symbols include the shells, sun and images. In one of my horizontal images, I added a picture of a friend group running side by side holding beach equipment. (The floaties) This friend group is supposed to give the mood board a bright and cheerful vibe. I used the colors grey, blue and light yellow to represent the beach. Lastly, I want the audience to be aware of the location and pay attention to the signs that give this location away. 

For my second mood board, I did a historical time period theme. 

This mood board is aimed for the audience to notice the details that tell you where this location takes place. By "Historical time period", anyone can assume it's from all sorts of places. So in this mood board, I made the location clear by adding the country and its flag. The color red specifically, with the five stars, tells the audience that this takes place in China. I included an image of a Chinese dragon and a lantern. To add to that, I added a photo of Esther Yu, a popular Chinese actress, wearing a hanfu, which is the clothing that women wore in China during the historical time period. 

For my third mood board, I did a snowboarding theme.

In my snowboarding mood board, all of the images I used have snow in them to tell the audience that this doesn't take place in a warm climate. This mood board doesn't have a specific location, however these resorts can be in many different places. I used an image of the snowboards and ski lifts so that when people look at this, they will know it's in a ski resort. For my colors, I used two shades of blue, a light grey, and white. These colors can symbolize a cold climate or give off winter vibes.

Lastly, here is my mood board for an amusement park.

Just like the beach mood board, this was easy to create because the photos of ride attractions give away to the audience that it takes place at an amusement park. This is because these rides are not found any where else usually. I included images of some treats you can get for playing games, and some of the most popular amusement park rides which are the roller coasters, bumper cars and the carousel. Most of the images have people in them, showing how much fun they are having to give this mood board a lively vibe. Another thing that gives this a lively and happy vibe are the bright colors red, yellow, blue, and green.

Sound Art Project

Today in class, me and my friend Suri worked on a sound art project where we had to create our own scene using a minimum of 10 sounds. Four of these being our own foley sounds, and the rest from the internet.

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Scene: Going fishing

1. Going fishing

- footsteps

- crickets chirping

- leaves 

- walking on deck 

- boat creaking

2. Fishing

- Water paddling

- Fish rod whip

- fishing rod reeling

- fish flopping in water

- Fish thrown in bucket

The audio

Video with the foley sounds

Case Study

 Hello, today in class we were asked to write a description of a 2 minute clip from a movie or tv show. I chose to do the movie "20th Century Girl" with time stamps of when the movie uses camera movements and angles.

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The movie begins with a steadicam to show the setting. In this case, the first 40 seconds is showing a video rental store in which the protagonists family owns. The camera is still while the characters in the film are moving, making this a steadicam. 

In the steadicam, there is a man sweeping outside while someone on a motorcycle approaches him, handing a package. When the man looks at the package, the scene becomes an over the shoulder shot; a shot taken just over a characters shoulder, revealing what the package is.

From 0:42-0:49, there is a close up shot; a clip that records the mans face up close. Then, it transitions into a pov from 0:49-0:53. This pov allows us to see what the man sees in his perspective. He is looking at the picture on the package, which is an image of a field of flowers. The movie then gives us an establishing shot of the real place from 0:53-1:00. 

The next shot from 1:04-1:10 is a steadicam, taking place in a recording studio where the characters are moving in the frame, but the camera does not move. This simply introduces us to the new setting. 

From 1:10-1:26, there is a slow zoom to introduce us to the protagonist, Bo-ra. She is seen in the recording room when she gets a call from her father asking about the package. The camera zooms into her and transitions into a close up from 1:26-2:00. 

This was reviewed by Suri Nguyen.