Edit Workshop Evaluation

This is my finished sequence for the Continuity Editing Exercise. In this we had to include different camera and editing techniques, such as; 180 degree rule, rule of thirds, match on action, shot reverse shot and we also included cross cut editing.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule was used through out the sequence, but it was especially important during conversation. 180 degree rule is when you imagine that there is an invisible line in the middle of the two people you're filming the shot of. It's important never to cross this line, as if you do, it will look like the people have jumped from left to right or right to left, while having a conversation. We used the 180 degree rule when Sam and Bailey are having a conversation, shown in the screen grabs below. We did this as it makes it easy for the audience to understand that they're sitting down and having a conversation. 

Over the shoulder shot which shows Bailey on the right
and Sam on the left.

Screen grab that shows Bailey on the right.

Screen grab that shows Sam in the centre, as shown in
the first screen grab.

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds was also used through out the sequence. The rule of thirds is when you divide your shot into three horizontal areas. When filming a landscape, two thirds of the ground should show and one third of the sky, but when filming the sky, two thirds of the sky should show and one third of the ground. Rule of thirds is also used when filming people. When there is a shot of a person, their eyes should always be on the top line, no matter what type of shot it is. We used the rule of thirds when filming the characters especially. The rule of thirds is used to take shots that the audience find interesting. 

Screen grab showing how his eyes are on the top third.

Match on Action

Match on Action is when you take two different shots but have one action in both of them that is parallel. For our match on action, we had Sam turning a paper in a mid shot and then carried the action on in the other shot. We started by filming the first shot, we filmed him turning the paper fully so that we could just cut where I needed to, when editing. We then filmed from the side doing the same, with the intention that we would cut it from where he left off in the last shot. We did this type of filming as its an interesting shot, it's not just from one perspective. 

The first shot of him turning the paper

Another shot of him turning the paper from a different angle.

Shot Reverse Shot 

Shot reverse shot is when you film a shot of one subject, shot something else, then go back to the first subject. For my shot reverse, we did a shot of Sam's eyes, then a shot of Bailey walking in, then back to Sams' eyes where he rolls them. We chose this as the shot reverse shot as it connotes clearly what he thinks of her and her style. In the first shot, his eyes normal and in the second shot of him, he's rolling his eyes. It makes easier for the audience to understand their relationship. 

Shot one - Sams' eyes.

Shot two - Bailey walks in.

Shot three - back to Sam and he rolls his eyes. 

Cross Cut Editing 

Cross cut editing is when you switch back and forth between two events. In my sequence, the cross cut shots happen all at the start. First it starts off with a shot of Baileys shoes, then cuts to Sam typing, then back to Bailey, who's now putting on lipstick, then a short shot of Sam twiddling his pen, Bailey walking and finally it stops at Sam typing again. With cross cut editing, it helps build up what kind of characters the two are. It builds up a sort of excitement for the audience to see what they will be like instead of jumping into it. 

All the cross cut shots in order.

During production, I faced some technical challenges. They were mostly due to the type of shots we wanted to film. For example, when we filmed Bailey falling onto the floor, it was very hard to film that shot as when we used the tripod to make sure the shot was steady, when she hit the floor, the tripod would shake and when I filmed it hand held, I didn't have a very steady hand, it was a little bit shaky. But I resolved this in editing by just cutting where she actually hits the floor out. This shot was also hard, as it is quite hard to making someone falling onto the floor purposely, look realistic. If I were to film again, I would make sure that we only did a few takes of her falling, as then it wouldn't look so rehearsed and fake. In pre-production, the image I had of the outside of the building was different to what it actually was. I wanted more of an office building, but due to time restrictions, I had to settle by filming one of the school buildings. Ideally, if I were to film again, I would go into the city and film an actual office building, to make it more believable. One of the worst problems I faced during production, was when we had to use the dolly for a shot. We wanted to film Bailey walking but also tilt up from her feet to her face. This was a challenge as I had to walk backwards with the dolly while tilting at the same time, the first couple of times I tried it, the shot came out very shaky. In the end, the shot wasn't perfect, but we went with it anyway. If i filmed this again, I would use a track instead of a dolly as that would make the shot more stable.

The shot I filmed with the dolly - as you can see, it's a bit shaky.

During post-production, I had a few difficulties. The first was how to edit the match on action perfectly. As I had never done this technique before it was hard to figure out how to get it exactly right. The problem I faced was that because Bailey was talking over the two shots,  I had to have the right length of the shot that followed the one of her talking, which was the second match on action shot. Because of this, I couldn't carry on the shot of him turning the paper, exactly where it left off on the last shot, as the dialogue would then be out of sync. If I were to edit this again, I would either make the dialogue longer or make the match on action shorter. Figuring out when to make the music softer or louder was also a problem. I wanted to have the music louder when you saw Bailey on the screen as the music was quirky, like her character, but it was difficult to do this all the time as she had dialogue. It was also difficult at the start, when we had the cross cut shots of Sam and Bailey, as because the shots of them two followed each other, I couldn't keep having the music loud then soft. If I were to edit this again, I would find a different type of music that goes well with both characters.  

I think my piece was overall successful. I think the biggest strength was in the creativity. We did exactly what the brief told us to do, but we put a funny and interesting twist on it. Although the idea was based around Ugly Betty, we did make up the storyline and all the different shots. The characters were also very stereotypical, we had Sam as a very camp male, who was very sassy and didn't like many people and Bailey who was a naive small town girl. I think these two characters coming together in one piece was very funny. 

Naveed connoting Sam as a camp male.

Another successful element of my work, in my opinion, was the cross cut editing. I really liked this as it built up the story of the two characters. I think it was interesting for the audience as they weren't just watching one event going on, there was two on-going ones. It makes them think of the relationship between the characters before they even meet. 

Planning wise, me and my partner were very efficient. Before actually making the storyboard, we first wrote down an ordered list of the shots we wanted, split them in half and then did the storyboard, we both did our share of the planning. I think planning everything first had a big impact on how we filmed. When filming we made sure that we  followed every shot, ticking each one when we had finished filming it. 

The digital technology we used were cameras and iMovie. I would say that there was a certain strength in using these as I had used them many times before during the GCSE course. So I was fairly familiar with the equipment and software, so I didn't encounter many problems with using them. As I had used the software, post-production was fairly easy, I had a few problems but they were mainly down to the actual footage, not due to my knowledge of the programme. I think one strength of my editing was when the dialogue didn't exactly make sense, I added reactions from other shots. Also when I edited the cross cut shots, the two later shots of Sam, where from different takes of another shot as we hadn't filmed these as separate shots. 

In terms of weaknesses, I think one of the main ones was the acting. As they were not professional actors, it obviously was not going to be perfect, but I do think they could have been better. One of the weaknesses in the acting was that, the voices would often change and this may have been due to the fact that some shots were filmed a bit later and they didn't remember exactly what they sounded like. 

One of the shots we filmed later where her voice changed.

Another weakness was the music, I think we could have found a better background track that applied to both of the characters, as 'Geek in the Pink' by Jazon Mraz, only really applied to Bailey. Also with the audio, it was hard to control the volume at times as I wanted the volume to be louder in the shots of Bailey. I did this, but it did sound a bit odd when I watched the whole thing, but unfortunately, I didn't know how to avoid this. 

During post-production, I think a weakness was trying to figure out how to edit the match on action perfectly. As I had never done this type of shot before, it was hard to match it exactly, especially because I also had audio in the same shot. The shots didn't flow as perfectly as I would have liked them to. Below is the match on action, as you can see, when he turns the paper, in the next shot it's already past the binders in the middle, but in the previous shot, he barely reaches them. 

The match on action.

The improvements I would make to this piece is the actual dialogue the characters say. In some parts, the conversation didn't make much sense. For example, when Bailey says 'I never get many opportunities like this, thank you for having me', straight after this, she says 'what do you think of my outfit?'. I would like to improve this by filming a shot of Sam in between the two. I didn't do that this time as I was constricted due to the time limit of the actual sequence, in future I will make sure I stick the number of seconds each shot should be or have less shots. I would also improve the costume of Sam, I do think it connotes that he's a fashion editor, but I think it could be stronger, I would have him wear lots of scarves and a hat, if I filmed again. The last thing I would improve is the shots were the voices change, I would make sure that I do all my shots on the same day and make sure I don't need to re-film anything, so the characters stay consistent. 

The look I would've given Sam if we filmed again.