Film Language

Film Language

In our last lesson we learnt about film language and how important it is, we learnt how editing and sound are both crustal parts of film language and that they help structure the narrative, how they link scenes and events together and how it helps show a logical order to the film and how it helps show time span throughout the film.

Editing

There are many types of editing some edits are used to transition between shots and some can be used to show something important.

Matched Action: Matched action is where action from one shot is carried over to another for example in an action scene where some one punches some one else and the scene cuts mid punch to a different angle but you still see the punch as fluent as if it was one shot.

After action: after action is where the scene is cut directly after an action shot for example some one shoots someone else and after the shot has fired the scene changes to the view of the area rather then keep the same shot. this is used to show the dramatic impact of the scene .

Before action: Before action is similar to the after action but the cut is made before the action. an before action cut also has the same impacts of a after action shot.

Entrance/ Exit: Entrance/ Exit cut are a kind of motivational shot as the cut is made when the a main character leaves the shot so they cut to another shot of him/her. this is used to show movement within a  scene with out moving the camera

 

  

Editing techniques

Editing techniques 

When you film and edit a clip or sequence there are a few techniques that can be added in to add effect or that must be followed for the clip to make sense.

Eye line match

Eye line match is usually used when two characters are talking and gives the effect that they are looking at each other even though they are not in the same shot. This also comes in useful when there are multiple people in the clip but not all in the same shot, it comes in useful as while they are taking it is clear to whom they are talking to. An eye line match can also be used when a character is looking at an object and then the scene cuts to that object for example a man is looking to his left then it cuts to the television that he is watching. 

Pace

The pace of the cut is when the time between cut is short which makes it  faster which builds the tension of the scene or long which makes it slower which make it less tense and more calm . Pace can also be refered to as the rhythm or tempo of the shot.

Cross cutting

Cross cutting is a technique where it establishes that there are two things happing at the same time in two different places. to do this the camera cuts from one scene to another which gives the effect of them happing at the same time but this is not all ways the case. Cross cutting can also be used to make the audience question the shots for example the first scene is looking at a rich man counting his money and then it cuts to a some poor homeless people lining up for food in a shelter this creates a sharp controversy between the scenes and makes the audience question each scene.

Graphic match

A graphic match is where two similar objects, compositions ect match in two different scenes which metaphorically link the two shots. this can also be used to create a cutaway between two shots as it focuses on one object and then changes scene but is focused on the same object on a similar object. 

180 degree rule

This is an editing technique where if there are two people talking to each other but are opposite each other then the camera must not pass past around 180 degrees.(shown in picture below). If the camera 

does pass around 180 degrees then is makes it look like they are stood next to each other.  

Main task

The main task

Our main task is to make an opening secuence to a fiction film and it must introduce titles (Film name, actors, directors etc) and a relivent sound track(suit the purpose of the opening sequence) and must last aproxamatly 2 minutes.

The first part of our main task is to plan the production (Pre-production) for which we will have to do some research (by going out and finding opening sequences the either intrest us or will help us plan our sequence), plan the production (getting hold of any extra equipment we need that the school does not have, organising locations to make sure that we can use them when the time comes to film,) and do some audence research ( By which we will have to see what type of audence watches what type of film e.g. a young audence is not going to watch a horror film).

The second part of our main task is to Film the sequence (Production) for which we will have to go out and film the sequence which could take week or even months whihc is where the pre- production will come in as if we have planed correctly we will get the best we can out of our group (Filming, acting etc). But there is one thing we must keep in mind that is "Good enough is NOT Good enough".

The third part of our main task is the after production (Post-Production) where we will edit our clips and filiming from our second part and add all of the after effects like sound and a soundtrack, types of cuts like fade aways etc. This is also where we will add our titles to our sequence.

Throughout this process we must keep an up to date blog or diary on what is happing.