Saturday 19 March 2016
Friday 18 March 2016
Saturday 5 March 2016
Unit 16: Purposes of Editing and Video.
Storytelling:
The element of Storytelling is a fundamental element in film making and editing, it is the overriding part of the whole production which makes it the thing which needs the most attention. Editing is said to be another way of storytelling a film, as you can change the narrative and play with the sequence as you wish however I would deem this element the most important simply because it enables us to be able to fully understand the subject, in terms of the film and production from beginning to end, the audience is able to familiarise themselves for the characters.
The example which can be given in terms of Storytelling can be shown through the children's film 'Horrid Henry the Movie' which was previously a children's television series is based on a young boy called Henry, otherwise known as 'horrid henry' who gets into mischief and ends up having to save his school from being closed down so the film follows this journey. There are many times in the film where there is a use of direct address and Henry is talking to the audience, however I am going to be explaining using one example why it is an effective editing technique and the audience's benefit especially in terms of Storytelling.
It is vital to note that the fact that the movie does not follow the sequence of the usual Horrid Henry whereby different stories and told within each episode, it alternatively takes the journey of Henry to save his school and follows one simple sequence making it much less confusing in terms the audience's understand and much more engaging as the audience is able to fully understand Henry's story rather than thrown off by a mixture of stories therefore aiding its purpose of video.
Firstly, when a character talks directly to the camera, this is rarely seen in films, perhaps more often in documentaries but not as much in films. This is because the whole purpose of a film is that it is not supposed to be interactive in that sense, and the characters are supposed to act in the story, not verbally tell it to us. Therefore, when using it, it has to be done pretty well for it to be effective, this example is good for direct address because of the films target audience and the characters and especially where considering the Target audience which are most Children, the use of direct address and interactivity further benefits the film as a whole as it builds a connection between both the subject and the audience as they are much more prone to feeling included. Aforementioned, This is a perfect example of storytelling because it changes the normal way(conventions) of a film putting across a story to its audience, where in this case we have the normal way with characters acting and not looking into the camera mixed with the direct address which occurs often throughout this way the audience are kept engaged.
Engaging the Viewer:
Engaging the Viewer is a way of making your film stand out and gain viewers, it is important to engage your audience as much as possible to make sure that you don't lose their interest or attention especially where they are in contact with the film. One way you could engage your viewer is by the visuals which are shown within the Film which can be shown through various aspects for example, Montages or the Manipulation of Space and Time. The example given in the Karate kid shows that it takes him to learn how to train to learn Karate however through the use of manipulation of time, it is speed up to basically 15 minutes when in essence we know that it probably took days or weeks, this way more scenes are added to show snippets day by day of the training rather than making the footage drag. This is also 'montage'.
An example of development of drama, from the film, 'Star Wars' where at first the cuts are slow as the atmosphere is calm and the characters as relaxing. The cuts then speed up
faster and faster as the climax is built especially where there is a battle between good and evil is shown through the Light Sabers where the Good Character role fights with a Light Saber and the Evil fights with a Red Light Saber. Many techniques are used in this scene, such as a point of view shot where it is corresponding with what the other character on the way in which the battle between both is shown which helps build up the atmosphere and more importantly, allows the audience to feel as though they're in the room too and experiencing everything as the camera is acting as their eyes.
Creating Motivation:
This technique is similar to shot variation in the sense that many shots are put into a sequence and together make up the scene. An example which was best given to me is a scene from the film, 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' which is infamous for the way it combines shots and angles in which in order to help us understand each character.
The element of Storytelling is a fundamental element in film making and editing, it is the overriding part of the whole production which makes it the thing which needs the most attention. Editing is said to be another way of storytelling a film, as you can change the narrative and play with the sequence as you wish however I would deem this element the most important simply because it enables us to be able to fully understand the subject, in terms of the film and production from beginning to end, the audience is able to familiarise themselves for the characters.
The example which can be given in terms of Storytelling can be shown through the children's film 'Horrid Henry the Movie' which was previously a children's television series is based on a young boy called Henry, otherwise known as 'horrid henry' who gets into mischief and ends up having to save his school from being closed down so the film follows this journey. There are many times in the film where there is a use of direct address and Henry is talking to the audience, however I am going to be explaining using one example why it is an effective editing technique and the audience's benefit especially in terms of Storytelling.
It is vital to note that the fact that the movie does not follow the sequence of the usual Horrid Henry whereby different stories and told within each episode, it alternatively takes the journey of Henry to save his school and follows one simple sequence making it much less confusing in terms the audience's understand and much more engaging as the audience is able to fully understand Henry's story rather than thrown off by a mixture of stories therefore aiding its purpose of video.
Firstly, when a character talks directly to the camera, this is rarely seen in films, perhaps more often in documentaries but not as much in films. This is because the whole purpose of a film is that it is not supposed to be interactive in that sense, and the characters are supposed to act in the story, not verbally tell it to us. Therefore, when using it, it has to be done pretty well for it to be effective, this example is good for direct address because of the films target audience and the characters and especially where considering the Target audience which are most Children, the use of direct address and interactivity further benefits the film as a whole as it builds a connection between both the subject and the audience as they are much more prone to feeling included. Aforementioned, This is a perfect example of storytelling because it changes the normal way(conventions) of a film putting across a story to its audience, where in this case we have the normal way with characters acting and not looking into the camera mixed with the direct address which occurs often throughout this way the audience are kept engaged.
Engaging the Viewer:
Engaging the Viewer is a way of making your film stand out and gain viewers, it is important to engage your audience as much as possible to make sure that you don't lose their interest or attention especially where they are in contact with the film. One way you could engage your viewer is by the visuals which are shown within the Film which can be shown through various aspects for example, Montages or the Manipulation of Space and Time. The example given in the Karate kid shows that it takes him to learn how to train to learn Karate however through the use of manipulation of time, it is speed up to basically 15 minutes when in essence we know that it probably took days or weeks, this way more scenes are added to show snippets day by day of the training rather than making the footage drag. This is also 'montage'.
Similarly, In the film The Matrix, The scene shows the Helipad Fight scene is a prime example of the manipulation of diegetic space and time in the scene. The effect of this is once again it enables the audience to understand the depth of the fight. I believe its more effective for a bullet to hit a victim in a slow motion as this shows the impact of the bullet hitting the person and also enables us to understand the extent of the injury where as the physicality of this scene such as the physical fights were more speed up in order to keep up with and creates an adrenaline rush which just keeps us as the audience wanting more and more actions as we are visually connected.
Development Of Drama:
The concept of Development of drama in a film with editing is significant when showing for instance bad and good (conflict). Levi-Strauss, came up with the theory of 'Binary opposites' which means that every film needs a good and bad character in order for the audience to stay engaged. This means that the purpose of editing to develop drama is done to engage an audience through for instance having two opposite characters often showing the battle between Good and Bad/Good and Evil.
faster and faster as the climax is built especially where there is a battle between good and evil is shown through the Light Sabers where the Good Character role fights with a Light Saber and the Evil fights with a Red Light Saber. Many techniques are used in this scene, such as a point of view shot where it is corresponding with what the other character on the way in which the battle between both is shown which helps build up the atmosphere and more importantly, allows the audience to feel as though they're in the room too and experiencing everything as the camera is acting as their eyes.
Relationship to Genre:
A genre is a category which the film is placed in according to the narrative/characters or generally what the film makes us feel/ think etc. For instance a horror genre in a film would make us feel frightened and is made to cause fear. The purpose of relating the genre to the film, can me done easily with editing. By this I mean, for example, if the film was an action film then we would expect the editing to be at pace , because there is a lot happening in an action sequence that holding still on one shot will take that sense of urge, this is why quick editing cuts in action movies get us as an audience excited but this also works in accordance with the way our brain works as these days our brain processes information much faster.
Editing, as it has developed has changed the way in which it tells the story of the film, the clip below shows how a horror film is editing to relate to the genre.
Editing, as it has developed has changed the way in which it tells the story of the film, the clip below shows how a horror film is editing to relate to the genre.
The Film 'Marley and Me' follows quite a slow pace of editing as well as the use of the music which is chosen simply due to its Genre which requires it to be slow due to the fact that it's quite a Heart felt film in a Emotional Category which therefore means that the relationship of the characters, what we are made to feel and what we are made to think all revolves about so.
Creating Motivation:
Creating motivation can be done very effectively and successfully using many editing styles. Not only this but also lighting and sound is a key to create any specific emotion from your audience, this is good when trying to motivate them into doing something.
The best example which best displays this seen in the film 'The Pursuit of Happiness'' where Will Smith is talking to his son (character not real life). The scene convey's the conversation between Will Smith and His Son(Jaden Smith) where he is down to give A motivational Pep talk to his son in the Scene of the movie which is shown here;
There are many ways in which the Creation of Motivation can occur and here it most specifically is shown through the variation of Angles which is shown for instance, whilst he(Jaden Smith) talks with his father and the camera is seen at the same level as the Will Smith. Through these high and low angle shots an eye-line match is created to show two things; the first being authority, this means that the camera is at a high angle to show the vulnerability of the child and how he has many years to come for which he needs the support and motivation from his father.
The low angle makes the father character look superior to the child where it an This editing technique is useful when trying to represent the character, in this instance the father character is represented as an aspiration person for the child because of this we feel motivated as well and we also see through the use of the Angles we are able to see that the character, son often looks up to Will Smith the same way which we are shown to.
Combination of Shots:
This technique is similar to shot variation in the sense that many shots are put into a sequence and together make up the scene. An example which was best given to me is a scene from the film, 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' which is infamous for the way it combines shots and angles in which in order to help us understand each character.
Creating Pace:
Creating pace through editing can sometimes be a challenge, but for some of the world's most successful films, this challenge seems to be overcome quite easily. The film 'Fast And Furious' shows this editing purpose being used effectively.
Unit 16: Editing Timeline
The full version of the Timeline: http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/584089/The-History-of-Editing/
Friday 4 March 2016
Unit 16: Editing Concept Evaluations
Editing Techniques:
In-camera editing:
In camera editing is a technique which is used and consists of editing the shots in a film in a sequence after shooting, Each scene runs in order and the length of each scene must be as you intend it to be at the end of filming so that, by the time all of your scenes have been shot, you’re left with a completely finished video running from start to finish.
This form of editing simply involves shooting the scenes of your film in the exact sequence they are going to appear in the finished video without any kind of room for error or editing using software’s.
In camera editing is still used today however it isn’t at its peak due to the access to various editing platforms which enable us to have more variety in what we edit but still, on a positive note, this is still a cheap, easy and time-saving option which many people including Media students like myself may opt for.
An example of a film which uses or has used in camera editing is Lumiere Films for example, the film which is based on a train leaving leaving the station or student films such as the Super 8 Student film which is linked below also.
Shot variation:
Shot variation is when a stream or a variety of images are edited uninterruptedly and used in order to show a continuous motion.
This form of editing is used today all across the board in the sense that it has become very common to vary your shots and switch from for example a wide shot to a close up, this is just the way in which films have developed and changed as has become most commonly used in upbeat films such as action movies or films which contain the use of emotion of feelings as shot variations enables the audience to understand various points of views other than just one.
An example of shot variation is Inception and The Matrix 1999 which is also useful because it shows a variety of shots for example, close ups to wide shots and tilting shots.
The video shown above taken from inception shows how the variation of shots denote different things to us in the sense that through the way that the shots change varying from Close ups to Wide shots for instance enables us to firstly understand the facts of the film for example the surroundings enable us to paint a picture of which situation the character is in but most importantly, the switch from shots for instance wide shot to close up to extreme close up may enable us to begin to connect to the character in this case on a personal level as we are able to feel connected with them through the emotions for instance fear, upset, disappointment or anger which they show and we are presented with. An example of this is in the clip shown able, at about 0:03, we are exposed to a close up of a face which seems to have been beaten up as shown through the bruising/scars and the watery eyes which denote pain, at 0:10, it then switches to another shot which shows the man whom the character was talking to but we did not see. The changing of shots slowly enabled the audience to unravel a piece of a story and look at the film/storyline from different aspects.
Multiple points of view:
Multiple points of view may seem quite self-explanatory but it is just essentially where something is happening in a scene and involves two or multiple characters so all points of view are seen so for instance, a scene may show one characters point of view and then cut to another one and so on so forth.
In the case of this scene shown, Multiple points of view is shown in order to represent the distinction between what is good or what is bad or just simply the two opposing views of two different people for instance, when One character would say something, there would be a quick cut to the other character in order to demonstrate what the other one said or replied and this simple switch already simple shows two points of view or even through the fact that in this clip, there are constantly cuts between the characters which therefore show how both of them think, feel and react to certain situations. The effect of this is that it has the ability allow us to view life from 2 points of view there understanding each character equally.
Following the action:
Following the action is essentially where the camera follows through the action of both the antagonist and protagonist on their quest or and essentially shows their footsteps.
The purpose of this is to allow the audience to see the different perspectives which is usually on good and the other one being bad or visa versa. Match on action and Parallel editing also enables them to help us as the audience understand the characters as individuals so we can learn more about her whilst also being able to reasoning things and gain deeper meaning.
The example of Following the action are James Bond, Aston Martin and The Good, Bad and Ugly.
The example given for the James Bond, Aston Martin clip shown above where Bond is shown in various cuts whether it is the car which he is driving in, his facial expressions, the locations, extreme close ups of Bond's eyes or whatever it may be. The use of these quick cuts between all of these aspects enables the audience to be able to be enticed by their visuals in the sense that they are drawn to the visual pictures as they would like to know what will be happening next as well as being fed with consistently finding out more about Bond through the showing of his emotions in the shots and the way they are quickly cut.
Manipulation of diegetic space and time
Manipulation of diegetic space and time is where the editing slows down or speeds up time and cuts through events therefore presenting them in a manipulated way for instance in a film, a Character may go back in time in order to relive or show an event which occurred in the past which therefore slows down the time. This is effective because it allows the audience to be able to understand this event especially when it is slowed down, the audience are able to be more analytical and understand the facts of the particular scene but apart from this, manipulation of diegetic space and time may also benefit both producers/directors as well as the audience as this is quite a different way of editing.
Manipulation of diegetic space and time is shown in many movies in these days considering we live in a very technological examples include The Matrix 1999 and The Karate Kid Training Scene which are shown below.
The example given in the Karate kid shows that it takes him to learn how to train to learn Karate however through the use of manipulation of time, it is speed up to basically 15 minutes when in essence we know that it probably took days or weeks, this way more scenes are added to show snippets day by day of the training rather than making the footage drag. This is also 'montage'.
Similarly, In the film The Matrix, The scene shows the Helipad Fight scene is a prime example of the manipulation of diegetic space and time in the scene. The effect of this is once again it enables the audience to understand the depth of the fight. I believe its more effective for a bullet to hit a victim in a slow motion as this shows the impact of the bullet hitting the person and also enables us to understand the extent of the injury where as the physicality of this scene such as the physical fights were more speed up in order to keep up with and creates an adrenaline rush which just keeps us as the audience wanting more and more actions as we are visually connected.
Film, Video, Analogue and Digital.
All four of these concepts have really aided each other and enabled one another to evolve as time also went by until the digital stage which it has reached today so we can truly conclude that these have truly grown from growth to growth.
Below I have inserted a timeline in order to illustrated how Film, Video, Analogue and Digital have played in part in film and editing today which I thought would better explain this process.
Thursday 3 March 2016
Unit 16: Editing Techniques
180 Degree Rule:
The 180 degree rule consists of an invisible line where the camera remains on the side of which ensures that the audience do not become disorientated or disconnected when the cut occurs and must not be crossed unless the filming is still on.
Parallel Editing/Crosscutting:
Parallel editing or crosscutting is essentially jumping continuously between two or more scenes that happen in different locations.
A director may opt to use use parallel editing in a film for instance the example given of the Godfather in order to throw the audience off in conjunction to the contrapuntal music, they are mislead to think that all is peaceful and jolly however are thrown and contradicted with the scenes of various people being shot in quite a gruesome way but in addition, the use of parallel editing in scenes is effective because it enables the widening of the understanding of the audience as to what is happening around them in terms of what they are presented which creates a sense of social interaction as they are able to discuss the scenes with friends or others.
Cutaways/Reaction shots:
A cutaway or reaction shot is a shot where there are constant cuts which result in continuous actions which is achieved by inserting a view of something else ie cutting to someone's reaction in the middle of an explosion. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The purpose of these cutaways allow the audience to gain a further understanding of how actors(characters) within a scene may react towards a previous actions or dialogue and I believe that this is an essential editing technique due to the act that it aids excitement and more tension being created.
Jumpcuts:
A jump-cut is defined as 'An abrupt break in the continuity of a scene created by editing out part of a shot or scene.' http://www.dictionary.com/browse/jump-cut. It was originally pioneered by the 'French New Wave' directors which is very common amongst them and the best example given of this form of editing technique is in the Jean-Luc Goddard movie 'Breathless' which is linked below. This form of editing often involves Jerky, Staggered footage which may prevent the action from flowing due to its abrupt nature however is very effective as helps to speed up and manipulate the use of space and time.
Shot-Reverse-Shot:
A Shot-Reverse-Shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character who are usually in a conversation with each-other or for example in a shootout, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. These shots are often very fluid between the characters therefore flow very easily.
Eye-Line Match:
'An eye-line match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing.' As defined in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyeline_match. This is vital in showing conversations or actions between individuals. A good example of this is shown below in the film 'Star Wars'.
Match on Action/Continuity Editing:
Match on action or continuity editing is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot in the sense that this form of editing is the most fluid of them all and almost always picks up from where it leaves off in terms of always keep the audience informed as to what as going on as well as making the film much more real,
Montage:
This editing technique is where a large amount of time is condensed, and this is done through the cuts and sometimes by using a series of events which have developed / led up to the final outcome. The example given in the Karate kid shows that it takes him to learn how to train to learn Karate however through the use of manipulation of time, it is speed up to basically 15 minutes when in essence we know that it probably took days or weeks, this way more scenes are added to show snippets day by day of the training rather than making the footage drag. This is also 'montage'.
The 180 degree rule consists of an invisible line where the camera remains on the side of which ensures that the audience do not become disorientated or disconnected when the cut occurs and must not be crossed unless the filming is still on.
Parallel Editing/Crosscutting:
Parallel editing or crosscutting is essentially jumping continuously between two or more scenes that happen in different locations.
A director may opt to use use parallel editing in a film for instance the example given of the Godfather in order to throw the audience off in conjunction to the contrapuntal music, they are mislead to think that all is peaceful and jolly however are thrown and contradicted with the scenes of various people being shot in quite a gruesome way but in addition, the use of parallel editing in scenes is effective because it enables the widening of the understanding of the audience as to what is happening around them in terms of what they are presented which creates a sense of social interaction as they are able to discuss the scenes with friends or others.
Cutaways/Reaction shots:
A cutaway or reaction shot is a shot where there are constant cuts which result in continuous actions which is achieved by inserting a view of something else ie cutting to someone's reaction in the middle of an explosion. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The purpose of these cutaways allow the audience to gain a further understanding of how actors(characters) within a scene may react towards a previous actions or dialogue and I believe that this is an essential editing technique due to the act that it aids excitement and more tension being created.
Jumpcuts:
A jump-cut is defined as 'An abrupt break in the continuity of a scene created by editing out part of a shot or scene.' http://www.dictionary.com/browse/jump-cut. It was originally pioneered by the 'French New Wave' directors which is very common amongst them and the best example given of this form of editing technique is in the Jean-Luc Goddard movie 'Breathless' which is linked below. This form of editing often involves Jerky, Staggered footage which may prevent the action from flowing due to its abrupt nature however is very effective as helps to speed up and manipulate the use of space and time.
Shot-Reverse-Shot:
A Shot-Reverse-Shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character who are usually in a conversation with each-other or for example in a shootout, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. These shots are often very fluid between the characters therefore flow very easily.
Eye-Line Match:
'An eye-line match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing.' As defined in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyeline_match. This is vital in showing conversations or actions between individuals. A good example of this is shown below in the film 'Star Wars'.
Match on Action/Continuity Editing:
Match on action or continuity editing is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot in the sense that this form of editing is the most fluid of them all and almost always picks up from where it leaves off in terms of always keep the audience informed as to what as going on as well as making the film much more real,
Montage:
This editing technique is where a large amount of time is condensed, and this is done through the cuts and sometimes by using a series of events which have developed / led up to the final outcome. The example given in the Karate kid shows that it takes him to learn how to train to learn Karate however through the use of manipulation of time, it is speed up to basically 15 minutes when in essence we know that it probably took days or weeks, this way more scenes are added to show snippets day by day of the training rather than making the footage drag. This is also 'montage'.
Similarly, In the film The Matrix, The scene shows the Helipad Fight scene is a prime example of the manipulation of diegetic space and time in the scene. The effect of this is once again it enables the audience to understand the depth of the fight. I believe its more effective for a bullet to hit a victim in a slow motion as this shows the impact of the bullet hitting the person and also enables us to understand the extent of the injury where as the physicality of this scene such as the physical fights were more speed up in order to keep up with and creates an adrenaline rush which just keeps us as the audience wanting more and more actions as we are visually connected.
Transitions : Fade in/ Out
Fades are a type of transition in editing, fading in is where the screen gradually goes black and fades out again into the next scene. It is done for many reasons; for instance to show a development of something you may want to use a fade in and out, a past of time is also a reason for using this technique, or perhaps events that have happened in a film means you need to show the characters moving on by fading in and out to the next subject or next scene.
Dissolves:
Dissolves are a type of transition used in editing. A dissolves will occur between two scenes and is a soft 'dissolve' of the scene to the next, as an editing technique it is used quite commonly because of its purpose which is either to show a lapse of time or to introduce the next scene. The example below displays what a dissolve looks like. As the character walks away the dissolve happens when he leaves the room, and it dissolves into the next scene where we see a newspaper held by a man. The audience are benefiting from this technique because they aren't given an abrupt cut which is perhaps more of an aggressive way introducing the next shot. The director may choose to add this as an editing technique in order to allow for their audience to feel relaxed when watching the film, so that they're are led peacefully throughout each shot.
Unit 16: Stages Of Editing
1. Creating an Event/Adding Scenes.
This can be done through Clicking File>Import>Media>Selecting the scenes(videos) you would would like to important>Click Select/Import.
2.Creating a Event/Project
3.Adding Transitions and Sounds
This can be done through Clicking File>Import>Media>Selecting the scenes(videos) you would would like to important>Click Select/Import.
3.Adding Transitions and Sounds
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