1. Film Studies Week 2
Editing Relationships
There are four different areas to consider when editing, they
are as follows:
Graphical – This concerns the transitionsbetween scenes
and their appearance
Rhythmic – As it sounds, rhythmic is the focus on editing
shots together to create a sense of rhythm
Temporal – The use of editing to displaythe passage of time,
either past or future.
Spatial – Utilising space to establish shots and or sustain
continuity
Cinematography
Cinematographyrefers to the visual aspect of a films
language i.e. what a shot is and what its purpose is to the
audience,story etc.
Types of Shot
Bird’s Eye View – Filmed
from the top down
2. High Angle – Filmed as
though we are looking
down on the subject.
Low Angle – Opposite of
high angle meaning we
are looking up at the
subject
Dutch Tilt – Twisted and
distorted scene
Rack Focus – More of a
techniqueas appose to a
shot, when a scene pulls
focus to a different focal
point
3. Extreme Long Shot – A
shot that sees our
subject filmed for a
rather long way away
(mainly used for
establishment)
Long Shot – Seeing all
of our focal point in the
shot
Mid Shot – Seeing our
subject at a medium
distance, half of the
person
4. Close Up – Shot close
up to a subject, face
taking up majority of
frame
Extreme Close Up – A
shot focusing on certain
body parts taking up
the full frame
Point of View (POV) –
Shot through the eyes of
a subject
Camera Movements
Pan – the camera
moves across the
scene in order to
establish it.
5. Tilt – When the camera is
tilted on its axis in order
to capture a subject from
the top to bottom or vice
versa.
Tracking – Followinga subject for a
shot either via a steadicam or dolly
Crane – A shot in which the
camera is mounted on a crane
and raised into the air
6. Rear Window and Mise –en-Scene
The followingare notes made on the opening long take of
Rear Window:
-Everything in the shot is intentional and hassome sort of
meaning
-Hitchcock was a master at Mise-en-Scene
-Pans are used for establishingthe films setting
-We see photographyrelated items, the most prominent
being the negative that confirms that our protagonist is a
photographer without the use of dialogue.
Transitions
Cut – The simplest of transitions, literallyfrom one scene to
the next.
Wipes – The followingscene will swipe across the screen
thus removing the previousscene. Most prominentlyused in
Star Wars.
Dissolves – Shot A is superimposed over the start of Shot B
Atonement
The followingis notes made on the long take used in
Atonement:
-A clear contrast is made between the civiliansand military
by the clothing (the military are a lot more formal while
7. civiliansare not) and by means of power (military is seen
somewhat bullyingcivilians)
-Scenes are incrediblybusy meaning there is a vast amount
of symbolism to be observed,
-The entire shot is one take from the solders perspective
making it very immersive, we see no establishment of the
locationuntil the very final scene making us buildit up in our
heads.
-We frequently move in and out of dialogue.
Context
Understanding context of a film means understandingits
meaning by reading into its productionaspects such as year,
target audienceetc.
There is also the context of watching a film to look into which
is as it sounds, why someone would watch a film, for this you
need to look at their age, locationetc. However some aspects
may not be that important depending on the film.
Spaced Episode 5
We then watched episode 5 of Spaced in its entirety, the
following are my notes from the screening:
Spaced is directed by Edgar Wright who is known for his use
of visual comedy which means he creates humour using
framing, shots etc.
8. -The flat is lit in yellow and blue in order to create an aura of
mystery
-Fred begins to become rather philosophicalandwe see him
sport a white background which gives open and somewhat
holy imagery while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s characters
are in a much more natural human-likelight despite their
nonsensicalrambling.
-During the scenes in which we see two separate plansbeing
mapped out we see two very different representationsfor
each plan:The first planis incrediblysimple therefore it is
only portrayed through fast paced comic-like stills while the
second planis filmed all with live action.
-A temporal relationshipis present when a plan in selected,
the coin is flippedin the air and then multiplecoins hit a bar
leaving us to assume that the second plan has been selected.
-We see different characters in different lighting for
symbolism: Blue for sadness and emptiness and open yellows
to suggest happiness.
-We see an encounter between Simon Pegg and a boy in a
toilet to which the 180 degree line is used as they have a
conversation, during which dramatic music is used when the
boy speaks in order to make him seem intimidatingdespite
him being the complete opposite.
-False intimidation isa recurring technique
9. -Close ups of villainsaccompaniedby over the top and
comical noises to create humourdue to the seeming
somewhat intimidating.
-We see the “heroes” and villainshave a “shootout” by
making gun signs with their handsand “shooting” each other
which also happenedat the beginningof the episode bringing
it full cycle
-We see an uneventful credit roll however it does have
meaning as we see in the previous scene that the marijuana
has been cooked into the stew.
