Continuity task 1 (BLK)

Our group tried to create an accident in 6 shots which had narrative flow without editing. The story of the video is that Character A is walking down a corridor holding a pile of textbooks, whilst Character B is walking around the corner on her phone and is oblivious to what is going on. At the corner they collide with each other and whilst Character A trips and drops the books, Character B walks away unaware of what just happened.

We attempted to create narrative flow, or continuity, using various techniques. For example, the cross-cutting and wide framing in Shots 1 and 2 immediately established character and setting, whilst building audience anticipation of the eventual accident. Additionally, Shot 4 drew the audience in by jumping from the master shot to a mid-shot of the actual collision.

We didn't achieve full continuity for a few reasons. For instance, in the first two shots the characters are both walking straight towards the camera, and so looks stilted and breaks the 180° rule.  Also, as we had to cut the shots on camera, without editing, the shots appeared to show Character A falling twice instead of a smooth transition between both shots. Another mistake was that the positioning of the actors wasn't perfect, so different shots showed the characters in different places in shot.

In hindsight, in order to improve the video's continuity I would adjust the camera position so that the characters would walk to the corners of the shot and appear more likely to collide, as opposed to walking in the same direction. I would also pay closer attention to the where the actors should be standing for each shot and mark out where this should be to prevent issues with positioning. Furthermore, I would cut the end of shot 4, as it is far too long, and gives the effect that there are two falls which confuses the audience.

Below is the edited version of our story with improved narrative flow…

My film still analysis BLK

The shot shows a girl's arm reaching out of darkness grasping at a wall, framed as a close-up of the hand and forearm. The iconography could be described as signifying the horror genre, as it follows conventions such as a dark colour scheme, shadows and a stereotypically vulnerable figure positioned as the victim.

In order to clearly connote our genre, we used high-key lighting for stark contrast between the hand reaching into the light, and the dark shadow to the right of the shot. By framing the shot tightly, this allows the use of gesture to be seen clearly, and the action of gripping a wall connotes fear and struggle.

The dominant reading is intended to be that this is from a horror film and that the shot depicts a victim trying to escape from the darkness behind them. However the shot leaves other interpretations open as it does not reveal a face, adding to a fear of the unknown.

Our shot is successful, as the horror genre is signified through the mise-en-scene, gesture and lighting, whilst the contrast between the highlighted victim to the dark oblivion to the edge of shot leaves the viewer guessing what happens next.

In hindsight, I would alter the shot's lighting to focus on a smaller part of the hand, as this would create a darker image and make the horror genre clearer to the target audience than the original image. Additionally, this could create the effect of a frame-within-a-frame, connoting a claustrophobic feel and again the wider genre. Facial expression would have clarified the genre further, while some small details such as scratch marks and perhaps a scarier background would have also improved the shot.