BLK Accident Sequence Evaluation

1. What did you think was the point to this activity?

I think the point of this activity was to learn about the rules of continuity, we did a six-shot sequence of an accident and by doing this you see how important continuity is for the shots to look right and make sense.  Also, it was helpful to break these rules as you see how ineffective the shots look without them.

2. In regard to your sequence, what worked well?

We used a range of shots which I think made the sequence realistic and successful. The first shot was the master shot, an LS of two girls facing each other and the audience get to see their surroundings so they get a sense of where they are and the space between them which builds up tension, then there is an over the shoulder shot which involves the audience and puts them in the scene and there is a CU of the girl’s angry facial expression forcing the audience to realise she is annoyed with the other girl. Also, action reaction is used in the last shot as we see her react to punching the pole, a high angle shot is used making the angry character look weak. We have 6 clear shots which makes the sequence flow and I think the cutaways between each shot breaks up the action and makes the sequence more effective. 

3. What would you aim to improve about your sequence?

I would improve quite a lot with this sequence as continuity rules were broken and the shot’s don’t really match together well. Firstly, we broke the 180 degree rule which is the most important continuity rule, the character’s should always have the same left/right relationship to each other but we filmed our shots on both sides of the ‘imaginary line’ which changes the viewer’s perspective, this can be quite disorientating confusing them. Also, I would make the establishing shot longer to give the audience more of a sense of the character’s surroundings and as one of the girl’s is walking towards the other in the next shot, she should be walking towards her in the master shot so the sequence flows better and isn’t jumpy. I think we should have used a shot-reverse-shot between the two girls before the punch, we only used an over the shoulder shot of one of the girl’s and I think a shot-reverse-shot would have been more effective because you would of seen both the girls expressions. Finally for the punch, the next 2 shots, we should of made sure there was match on action because it looks like she is punching twice. 

4. What did you learn from doing this activity?

From doing this activity I’ve learnt how difficult it is to achieve narrative flow and how important continuity rules are to make a sequence flow and be realistic. I’ve learnt how much attention is put in to timing and positioning etc. and that there is a lot more detail and work to create narrative flow than it looks.