Continuity Task Evaluation

Continuity Task Evaluation

1. Explain the story of your video 

In our short video encapsulating an accident, we wanted the narrative to be realistic and relatable during the six shots. Therefore we decided to have two people bumping into each other and causing an explosion of papers. Firstly, we started off with an establishing shot, consisting of the first character speeding down a flight of stairs hurrying to get to class. Meanwhile, the other two characters are casually strolling across the corridor, engrossed in their conversation. Then both characters approach the edge of a corner, resulting in the collapse of one of the characters, accompanied by a small outburst of flying papers.

2. How did you attempt to create 'narrative flow' (continuity)?

We tried to create continuity the whole way through the video. Our first attempt was trying to set the scene by showing that all of the characters were in the same building, however moving at different paces as the shots switched, this is a technique called cross-cutting.We ensured that both characters that bumped into each other were on opposite sides of the corner so it looked realistic when the accident occurred. Furthermore, we tried to ensure that after the characters bumped into each other; the first character would fall to the floor, whilst dropping her papers in the air. We created continuity by making the first character stay in her same position before shooting the last shot, where she was accompanied by a single piece of paper falling.

Moreover, we tried to create continuity when doing the pan of the feet in the third shot by making both characters speak, however due to the school environment, the classrooms were all very quiet, this was juxtaposed to the last shot when the classes had just finished, therefore, there was a noisier atmosphere. Therefore, some may interpret that the third shot seemed muted; however this is the reality of filming in a school.

3.Did you achieve full continuity? If not, why not?
As a result, we did not achieve full continuity, furthermore, when analysing the video in depth, we noticed that the pan of the feet walking in the third shot was out of sync compared to the previous shot. However, we were really impressed with the wide frame of the panorama as this adds to the different variety of shots which we captured, thus grasping the audience. It also adds to the suspense as the audience anticipate what is going to happen next.

In addition, we did not reach full continuity as one of the characters raised her arm as the other character collided into her. This exacerbates how the character was preparing for the accident covertly. Furthermore, in the last shot, as the first character rose from the ground, the single shot of the paper was very slow to fall on the ground. Some may argue that the paper had already fallen on the ground; therefore, the video is not continuous.

4. In hindsight, what would you do differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and tell your story more effectively?  
In hindsight, I would ensure that we are filming the video during the lesson, not in between lessons, in order to avoid a variation of noise. Furthermore, I would suggest that on the panorama of the feet, that we could have followed them a bit more; this would grip the audience even more. Moreover, Sam cut some of the panorama out, therefore, next time we should have increased the pace of our shot. Also, on the second shot, I would ensure that we had a tighter shot on the door as it was very wide. Finally, on the last shot, the formation was too similar to the previous shot due to a lack of variation as we neglected the 30-degree angle rule. Overall, it was a challenging and exciting task and I look forward to improving my mistakes throughout the course of the year.