Continuity Exercise Evaluation

Red- A film by Reece, Toby, Laura and Xene

For the second part of our Induction assignment, we needed to create a video that followed the theme of 'something being exchanged' with less than twenty shots. The shots had to cover a range of styles and contain no continuity errors. We decided to make our film the exchange of a letter leading to a confrontation between two people.

Continuity: This is the idea of creating an easy to follow product where shots flow together with no confusing issues created during editing or scene transitions, such as people moving to different locations or something being there when it shouldn't, a good film has little to no continuity errors. There weren't many errors in ours as we tried not to break the 180 degree rule, meaning that the characters always appeared to be in the same place, rather than changing sides of the corridor midway. This would have been the case if we'd tried to film shots from the left side of the corridor as well.
There were a couple of issues though, a main one being a jump in the last few frames. One character stabs the other, at 1:13, then appears to move backwards instantly at 1:14, which was a mistake from editing.

1:13

1:14

 Camera Work: We had to follow a set of instructions for which camera shots needed to be included, such as having to use a Match on action, as seen with the letter being picked up,  and one establishing shot, which was the opening. We did manage to include each of them and in my opinion they worked well, a personal favourite being the close ups and extreme closeups at the beginning.

Close up at 0:16

Close up at 0:18

Extreme close up at 0:25

Extreme close up at 0:27

The only issue was that a number of shots are blurred or 'shaky' which is due to a lack of equipment, we didn't have a dolly or crane so had to rely on a tripod. When we showed our film to the class, most people agreed that they liked the way it fades to red at the end. (A transition was one of the requirements).

The end transition

Mise En Scene- 'What is in the scene?' we were filming what appeared to be a meeting between two people that didn't seem particularly close, which eventually turned into a murder. We had a problem creating a realistic setting for out film, as we only had the college building and park to film in, but in the end found a decent location. It was filmed in a corridor up the back of the site, which was dark and isolated enough for it to be a believable place for a crime to happen. The costumes worked well with the plot, as the killer was dressed in black casual clothing whilst the victim is in a slightly more formal light jacket, which would link to their roles in it (She plays a much 'darker' role in the film). Some of the items in the background, such as display boards, seem ridiculous to have in this context but we had no way of hiding them.

Sound: Nearly all of our film is silent, as we wanted to build up more tension with what is happening. But we were told in the last few minutes that there needed to be some kind of effect used, so we quickly added the footsteps. There was no time to edit it so they sound very out of sync with the footage. It probably would have worked better if we'd have put music in the background, but there wasn't a chance to find some as we were still trying to edit the shots.


If we were to redo this project, I would spent more time on sound, both selecting and editing it. As this is in my opinion one of the low points of the footage. I would also try to create a better mise en scene, with lighting and a more realistic setting, as well as having the necessary equipment.

Connotations of Themed Images

Danger: For danger, we chose to take a picture of a spiked fence. This is due to spike usually being used as a way of keeping people out of places. The image is a close up so that the main focus is on the fence rather than the surrounding area. The slightly blurred nature of it re illustrates the dangers, such as how horror films use 'shaky' cam or blur the edges of screens.

Desire: For desire, we chose to photograph a slice of cake, something that most people would want to have. The camera is at a high angle and is intended to be a point of view shot, as if someone is staring at the cake.

Friendship: For friendship, we have a wide shot showing three people who are presumably close. We showed this through the body language, they are all sitting close together and smiling. The wide angle allows you to see the background which is happy and inviting due to the natural lighting of it.

Greed: For greed, we have a photograph of someone taking food from the cafeteria. The greed is shown through the way the subject is taking a large amount of food and is the only person queuing.  The long shot was used so that you can easily see the tables in the background and know where the picture was taken.

Loneliness: For this photograph, we just had the one subject by themselves. The fact that they are behind bars is to show that they feel isolated, as if they were trapped. The camera angle itself,  a long shot, shows that they aren't included in anything, even the scene itself. The lighting on this picture was slightly more shadowed to show the darkness of the mood.

Love: For this image, we had two subjects with their backs to the camera holding hands. The fact that they are not looking was to show that they aren't aware of anything else around them, it is simply the two of them.We took the photograph outside so that the lighting would be very natural, implying that this love was quite a normal relationship.

Poverty: For the image of poverty, we have the subject sitting on the floor with their  palms to the sky. We used a high angle shot to make it seem like she is looked down upon. The only item shown in the picture is a rubbish bin, which shows the subject's situation.

Purity: For Purity, we used water as the colour of the packaging and the product itself are typically used to symbolise something pure. The image was taken in a naturally lit area with grass surrounding it, to show that everything about the image is 'pure'; The lighting has not been tampered with and the background is not set up.

Strength: For strength, we had an image of someone lifting weights. The camera was tilted at a low angle, making the subject seem larger and more powerful. The face of the person is not in shot, so that the main focus is on the arm lifting the weight.

Weakness: For weakness we have an image of someone with water on them, used to symbolise tears. The image was a close up, to clearly show the fear on the person's face. The image shows only half the person's face, a way to show that their may be another side to why they're crying.

Wealth: For wealth, we took a photograph of a wallet with a large sum of money in it, an obvious way to show the wealth of somebody. The background is natural, which could show a type of irony as the material possessions (the money) are placed above the environment (the grass), a possible way of showing that the person has placed their wealth above everything else.