Continuity Task 1 (BLK)

1. The group that made this video had to follow the brief of showing an accident using only six camera shots. The storyline follows a girl (Character A) who enters a lift, where another girl is already patiently waiting (Character B). The lift doors shut behind Character A, a digital display of the lift going down is shown, and then reopen again with the audience seeing Character A walking out after pressing the alarm button, whilst Character B lies still on the floor of the lift. We presume that Character A has inflicted some kind of pain on Character B, possibly even killed her, although it remains uncertain.

2. The group attempted to create narrative flow through starting off the short opening sequence with an establishing shot, which conveyed the setting, as well as introducing Character A.They also used transitions between the shots and incorporated a digital display to suggest the lift was going down.

3. The group did not achieve full continuity as the transition between the shots wasn't always perfect, however, if they were able to edit their video then they would be able to brush up on this. Shot 1, as mentioned earlier, was a good establishing shot, but leading on to shot 2, there was a break in continuity and they didn't achieve a match on action, as at the end of shot 1, Character A walked into the lift yet at the beginning of shot 2 she appeared outside of it - almost as if going back in time! They did, however, manage to introduce Character B in this shot which helped to progress the story forwards. In shot 3, their aim to show the lift going down wasn't clear as the shot jumped straight into a close up of a digital display, without giving the audience any awareness of context. It raised questions such as; is the digital display at eye level, who is looking at it, and where is the lift going to? Again, the audience were unable to follow along with shot 4, as it showed the alarm button in the lift being pressed, yet the alarm didn't go off and there was no lead up as to why the alarm button was being pressed. Although, the shot of the finger pressing the button was at a good, interesting camera angle. Shot 5 was successful in matching the action of shot 4, therefore using good continuity, and the body on the floor helped to create a storyline and regain the audience's attention. Shot 6 shows another break in continuity as the action didn't match the end of shot 5, much like the transition  between shot 1 and shot 2. But there was good use of the camera panning from left to right and followed Character A walking out the lift.

4. In hindsight, in order to improve the narrative flow of the video and tell the story more effectively, the group could have focused more on trying to match up the actions between each shot. Also, instead of jumping to the digital display, they could have had a medium close up shot of Character A looking up at the digital display, then shown the lift going down (digital display), then another shot of Character A (now pressing the alarm button) and finally kept shot 6 as it is. This would help to eliminate some of the questions the audience may have had, and helped them to follow along with the storyline more easily.

My Film Still Analysis (BLK)

In this close-up shot of a girls face, it is clear that the genre we wanted to depict was horror. You can see her hair falling over her face masking key features such as her eyes, which was intended to create ambiguity and mystery, often common features of horror films. Also, the red lighting helps to symbolise fear and panic, as the colour red reflects these emotions as well as having connotations of anger which is another underlying theme found in the horror genre. However, the girl in the picture looks calm and almost demonic which juxtaposes the idea of panic and follows more with the subject of anger. To achieve this we used portable lighting and placed a red plastic sheet in front of the lights to create a red glow. Furthermore, we found a small stairway leading down into a hole to communicate to the audience a background story – perhaps that the girl is trying to escape from somewhere or someone (the bars surrounding her show that she is trapped) in order to reach safety, or the more likely story that the girl herself is the 'someone' that others need escape from. Referring to the earlier point of ambiguity, the shot was taken in such a way that the storyline is open for interpretation. Ultimately, the shot was successful in portraying the emotions found in horrors and the idea that a girl is in the image helps to follow along with stereotypes and also emphasises a heightened sense of vulnerability, yet for others in the story or for the girl herself, is uncertain. In hindsight, we might as a group, have experimented with different shots, in particular, a birds-eye view to show the depth and darkness of the hole and therefore playing more on the notion of vulnerability and maybe even loneliness.