Sequence Evaluation

The point of this activity was to put into practice our newly learnt knowledge of film sequence continuity by atempting to film a short sequence of six shots featuring an accident as its focal point.

What works well?

- Although slightly drawn out, the opening pan works well to establish the setting, surroundings and the main character.

- Our sequence also works well as the shots do give the sense of continuity to the sequence.

- There is a nice variety to our shots, e.g. long shots, very long shots , close ups, and a first person view point.

- We also used a variety of techniques, e.g. pan, steady shot, tilt, and hand-held.

Possible Improvements?

- The timings of capture were not perfect. The opening pan was too long and some of the other shots were just a bit short which made the sequence at times seem rushed.

- Not all of the cuts in our sequence were very well matched and as a result the flow is disrupted, e.g. the sequence jumps at the end where the character is ten metres away from the cone and suddenly he has fallen over it!

- At the beginning of our sequence we nearly break the 30 degree rule by having two shots that are very similar to each other, this was the weakest point of our sequence.

What have I learnt?

- From doing this activity I have realised how much thought has to go into making a sequence flow.

- I have also realised the importance of perfect match cutting to make the sequence continuous.

- After evaluating the sequence I have learnt new rules of continuity such as the 30 degree rule which I will now never nearly break again.

- I also now appreciate further the luxury of being able to edit film so quickly and easily on the computer!

Sequence Comparison: 'Legally Blonde' and 'Seven'

'Legally Blonde'
Shots...
- CU of hair, nails, shoes, necklace shows the characters attention to detail and how self-perfection is a key part of her personality.
- Establishing shot of her on the bike shows us the surroundings and what the campus looks like, introducing us to the scale and look of the area that the narrative will be based.
- Arial Shot of the stairs give us a glimpse of the size of the area where the girls stay, which we would immediately associate with the students having a lot of money
- The sequence also uses shots which do not show the whole of the main character straight away. The character is withheld until the end of the sequence.

Character + Narrative...
- The characters we see are all university students and are very stereotypically shown. The girls are all spending their time looking good, whilst the boys are playing like guys would and looking at the girls.
- Shots showing the homecoming banner indicate to the audience that the main character is very popualar. We are also shown this by the fact that everyone is signing her card.
- No-one on campus seems to be working, but rather, working at looking good. This suggests that physical perfection is a very high priority for these students.
- Some of the shots are in slow-motion which builds up anticipation to the main character the the big event that is about to happen.

Visuals + Music...
- The soundtrack used is an upbeat song with lyrics 'perfect day' whose connotations are self-explanatory. The song also names a number of brand names, adding to the feeling of wealth and exclusiveness.
- The visuals are very bright, with high-key lighting used throughout.
-Colours are very prominant, for example the pink is bright and always stands out connoting girls and thus the theme of colour links into the main character and the narrative.


'Seven'
Shots + Character...
- Establishing shot of Morgan Freeman in the house in his bed gives us the feeling of loneliness and isolation for his character.
- CU of his belongings shows how he has a very specific way of organising himself and he is very much set in his ways.
- The way his bed is made perfectly shows how tidy and disciplined he is.

Soundscape + Visuals...
- The soundscape particularly in the main characters house is very much background noise and silence giving the character a sense of isolation from the world.
- The ticking of the metronome to get to sleep also has connotations of precision and accuracy and conforms to the characters set way of life.
- The colours are very tonal and mostly dull, adding to the realism and suggesting a sense of darkness and mystery.
- The choice of clothing on the two main characters is very deliberate and shows how one is layed back and modern wearing a shirt and leather jacket whilst the other is very serious and old fashioned wearing a trenchcoat and hat.

Title Sequence...
- The title sequence itself is very abstract. The black white and red colour scheme suggest themes of murder, horror, and thriller elements.
- The images used in the background show us sections of a character who is working with forensic evidence. Also having pictures of the murder victims, we suspect this to be the killer by the nature of his actions.
- The music is very modern, electronic and fragmented, suggesting tension and a thrilling and haunting narrative.

Overall Comparrison:

While 'Legally Blonde' presents a world in a bright, expensive, and almost unrealistic fashion, 'Seven' does the opposite by showing us the opening of a dark, haunting, and realistic thriller. The upbeat soundtrack of 'Legally Blonde' brings life to the opening of a very busy sequence with lots of characters, colour, and action, whereas 'Seven' is a total contrast with an edgy soundtrack, dull tones, and a narrative focusing mainly on one character.

These styles, altough very different work perfectly to open the films as they are immediately indicative of the films genre. Both openings set you up for an enjoyable two hours and leave you wanting to carry on watching to explore the narrative that you are set up with at the start.

Film Still: Analysis

This shot is a CU of a held knife combined with a VLS of a person fallen on the floor. The presence of the knife immediately indicates something sinister, and the person on the floor is the victim struggling to get away. Horror is also represented not just by the action, but by the techniques used in the compostion of the shot. The contrast created by the extremes of lighting makes the knife and victim stand out and this is exaggerated further by the resulting silhouettes. The framing is tight, and the killers leg and the corridoor doorway create multiple frames within a frame, also creating division between the two characters and connoting a bad or non-existant relationship. The use of different levels in perspective also adds a depth of meaning to the shot. The standing killer looks in control and dominant whereas the victim looks small and helpless. The knife appearing larger than the victim signifies the scale of the threat and makes the danger seem much more prominant.

To acheive these desired effects we used the upper science corridoor in the school and started by turning the lights off. We decided that the killer should stand in the darkest area of the corridoor where there were no windows and that the victim should just be lit up by natural light (from the windows further down). This was directed in the planned shot sketch. To frame the still, the photographer knelt down close up to the killer using the tripod to steady the camera. The knife was framed in the centre as this is where the natural light fell and we liked the silhouette effect that resulted. The victim then went by the first window, as a means of lighting them, however we found that the shot worked better when the victim was just in front of the first window, thus creating a silhouette. We experimented with position and action of the victim a lot and attained a number of possible final shots. As directed in the plan of this shot, the only light source was the natural light; we did experiment, but in this shot the artificial lighting was not used.

I believe that the shot works very well due to the strong contrasts created. The light, shadow, and depth created in the shot combine to form a composition that I think could be very representative of the horror/thriller genre. The bold silhouettes are prominant and draw the audiences attention to the action raising questions about the possible narrative which will emerge.

If I were to make any changes to the shot I would perhaps experiment with the framing, placing the knife further right and the victim further left to give the shot a wider feel. This could be done in a more open environment. I would like to see how that would look compared to the shots we already have as I think it would feel less claustrophobic and as a result maybe create a different expected narative.