Editing Terminology 

Secondary Research

Production Tips and Film Making Advice

British Board of Film Classification

BBFC Ratings - Kizoa Online Movie Maker

Editing

Editing describes the connection between the shots/scenes and the transition between them. Typically the editing is continuous to create a consistent narrative to add to the suspension of disbelief so the plot can be followed however some editors may change up the editing style to suit the movie. Different things used in editing are the shot choices, continuity, transitions, duration of shot, pace/rhythm and special effects.

The clip from 'The Princess Bride' starts off with a very slow pace however as the two characters converse and one of them gets too excited with spilling his own knowledge the pace of the clip picks up. As the clip involves a conversation two shots, close ups and shot-reverse-shot are used. The shot duration is dependent on how much dialogue the character has and the transitions for the shots are all quick edits to keep with the style of a conversation and the pace of the movie. No special effects are used.  

Order of the shots shows character perspective and screen time which indicates to the audience which character is important in the scene or overall plot. The shots may also be of objects which highlights the importance of the certain object and their link to the movie.

The order of shots in this clip from the movie 'Carrie' is important as it is showing Carrie and what she is doing followed by the effect it has on the people at the Prom. This is important as it shows narrative details of Carrie's power and certain objects she chose to kill people like the hose pipe and the shot follows the pipe as it stops students from leaving the hall. The screen then splits into two, to make sure that Carrie has screen time as the focus is on her. 

Continuity is used to link scenes together to create a continuing smooth narrative and generate realism. Techniques used are 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, eye line match and match on action. The shot types/angles, costumes/props, parallel editing and the lighting must be continuous to create the effect

Continuity is used to link the narrative and conversation in this clip. Shot reverse shot is used to portray the conversation with the sole focus being on the person who is speaking as the background is then blurred out. The shot types are mainly close ups on the face of the characters when they speak. The costumes fit into the military narrative whilst the props link to the court setting. The lighting used in the clip is continuous with natural lighting and lighting from the set.  

Non-continuity editing breaks the continuous flow in favour for a more constructed feeling to create opposing effects.

From the movie 'Memento' the clip shows 2 different types of scene. One black and white scene with no sound and a very relaxed character whilst the other shot is with colour, a voice over, action in terms of a chase and bullets and a very frantic character. 

Transitions are the process of going from one shot to the other. Some examples include straight edit, fade in, fade out, flash, cross dissolve/fade and wipe.

 Straight Edit

Cross Dissolve

Shot duration usually reflects on the certain scene, if it’s a long shot duration the pace might be slower and the narrative may be intimacy whilst a short shot duration is more for action and chase sequences. Slow paced shots are calmer to draw the audience’s attention to some detail, medium paced shots are normal to create a comfortable effect whilst fast paced shots are thrilling to create a tense and exciting effect.

Special effects can create better effects for the scene like black and white, contrast, colour, animation, CGI, fast forward, slow motion, ghost trail and blur.

Time is also important to editing as it can be manipulated to fit the narrative. Different types of Time are story time, discourse time, summary, ellipsis, scene, stretch, flashback and flash-forward.   

Narrative Draft

How the plot of the film we’ve planned fits into different narrative theories. 

Film Title

Film Title Planning

As a group we each offered a couple of ideas for the film title. Afterwards we went through them and underlined the ones we felt were the best and most suited to the premise of the film. After we picked up 5 of the best titles we each asked other people in our target audience which one they preferred and tallied all the marks together. The title that got the most marks was ‘The WRITE of PASSAGE’ which links to the plot of young adult female going through a transition in her life and the aspect that she writes everything she does in a diary which is why it’s ‘WRITE’ not ‘RITE’.

Film Production Companies Research

I researched different possible production companies I could use for the film.

20^th Century Fox – The highest-grossing films for the company include Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars and X-Men which shows that it focuses more on action or drama films which doesn’t suit the genre of our film.

Universal Studios – The highest-grossing films for the company include Jurassic World, E.T., Minions and Fast and Furious which shows that the company have a mix of action/adventure films and family movies which doesn’t suit the Mystery Thriller genre for our movie.

Paramount Pictures – The highest-grossing films for the company include Transformers, Forrest Gump, Iron Man, Shrek and Indiana Jones this shows the company’s focus is on Drama, Action, Superhero and Family films not the genre suited for our film.

Warner Bros. – The highest-grossing films for the company include The Dark Knight, Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Inception. Although the company does have films with the genre of Mystery Thriller the company specialises in blockbuster films that are mainly part of a series or trilogy.

Lionsgate Films – The highest-grossing films for the company include The Hunger Games. Twilight and Divergent to show it focuses a lot on teenagers and the young adult book to movie adaptations. Most of the films are dystopian or action and romance. This didn’t fit the film.

The Weinstein Company – The highest-grossing films for the company include Django Unchained, The King’s Speech, Silver Linings Playbook and Inglourious Basterds to show its main genres are Drama and Action.  Which doesn’t fit in with the genre of Mystery Thriller

The best option from the ones listed was Warner Bros however it specialised in bigger movies so instead we chose to go for New Line Cinema a related branch to Warner Bros. New Line Cinema has distributed movies such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Conjuring and Final Destination which is a mix of mainly thriller but also mystery.

Opening Credits Storyboard Draft

Storyboard Draft

The storyboard plan we created for the opening credits. It’s a rough first draft following our initial ideas; 

Mystery Thriller Movies

To gain an insight into the genre I will be basing my movie on, I will analyse some typical conventions and plotlines that come up in movies of the same or similar genre to discuss what is stereotypical and how to make the opening sequence and movie more unique and creative.

Psycho (1960) is a film which has conventions/plots that deal with a crazy serial killer, innocent victims, parent issues, an affair, stolen money and the setting surrounding a remote motel. The killer’s identity is slowly built up through various actions where he is hidden until some characters finally catch up with him to have him arrested. There is eerie music and it’s emphasised especially in murder scenes or iconic scenes to the movie. Although the movie is in black and white the victim is dressed in light colours whilst the villain is dressed in dark colours. The mother’s identity is never shown to create a feeling of unease as she gets away. The ending of the movie ends with a disruption of the equilibrium so the movie is open to possible endings.

Rear Window (1954) is a film which has plots following a typical night being disrupted by various activities from neighbours leading to a photographer believing one of them is a murderer. Different conventions show various suspects all of different personalities, a determined hero, and different subplots involving actions that make people look like suspects. A red herring is used to mask the killer’s identity till right to the end in which a struggle occurs as the villain tries to keep his identity under wraps and disappear. The setting is a typical apartment to link in with the plot and shows various rooms to create the atmosphere that the suspect could be anybody.

Dial M for Murder (1954) follows the plot of a man finding out his wife is having an affair and plans her murder. The movie starts off with 2 very unique points that make the movie stand out; the first is that the audience finds out that the wife is having an affair and the second is that the husband isn’t as nice as he looks. The movie shows the husband blackmailing an old friend to murder his wife. The conventions follow an affair, an attempted murder and an actual messy murder with a pair of scissors, a cover up and a blame up. Some scenes involving the husband and his friend are shot either at night or in the shadows to clearly portray them as villains whilst the wife and her boyfriend are seen in the light and in bright colours. The villain of the movie is known clearly from the beginning and so the audience is always aware of who the villain is. The ending is with the arrest of the husband and resolves the disruption of the equilibrium. The murder scene is in the dark to create tension and suspense. 

Memento (2000) has the typical conventions of an unsolved crime with the criminal gone free whilst one of the victim’s family goes hunting for them. Other conventions follow dodgy characters, beating up/killing suspects however the premise of the movie is quite unique so it does have different features like a contrast of black/white and coloured scenes. The mystery is built through the narrative structure but the character’s personality of always being suspicious of someone also helps build up tension. The scenes which have action are heavily emphasised with Foley etc the breathing or footsteps. The movie ends with a surprise but it doesn’t break the equilibrium.

Clue (1985) is a film which follows 6 different characters who get invited to dinner at a stranger’s house who has been blackmailing them all. As the movie progresses different staff members and strangers from outside are getting killed off one by one. The conventions which are followed are a murder to start the movie, strangers who are linked without them knowing, growing suspicion of each other, different objects used to murder victims and different things going wrong within the dinner party. When the murders occur the lighting either goes off or the characters are separated to create tension and suspicion. The mystery aspect is built near the end well with the characters rushing around the house going through possible scenarios, their frantic actions add to the atmosphere. The ending solves the mystery with a surprise twist and the murderers are all revealed. 

Media Trip

Media Trip

On the 19^th November I went to the BFI Southbank for a student task day on making film openings. The day included speakers’ Tom Woodcock, a teacher of film and media and Corin Hardy a filmmaker. Throughout the day I was given various tasks to do to help with the AS Media Studies coursework. 

Image is mine

Task A was the 'Macro Conventions Task' and involved watching 3 different opening sequences;  Napoleon Dynamite, Casino Royale and The Wedding Singer.

Images from the Internet

We were given a table listing 5 aspects of a sequence; genre, narrative, characters, themes and atmosphere. With the 5 aspects, we had to give a percentage out of 100 on the amount of time they each had in the sequence to show how important each aspect is and the amount of time each is needed in the opening titles and credits.  Here are the opening sequences;

The task showed that the opening sequence should introduce the main theme, create the atmosphere for the movie, establish the genre and set up the main character’s personality. 

Task B was to create a pitch for the opening sequence idea we had planned; the boxes were labelled; film title, genre and influences, idea in one sentence, visual themes, motives or references and sound design. The purpose of the task was to get feedback from a teacher and actual film-makers perspective and to get student feedback. It also highlighted if production of the opening sequence was possible or not.

Task C was to watch 2 opening sequences and see where the credits were being placed and who was being credited. The movies were Donnie Brasco and Gattaca;

The purpose of the task was to establish who was credited which was – The production company, lead actors, supporting cast, credits for those who casted, produced the music, designed costumes and set, producer, director and the film title. 

 

The film maker also went through his process for creating his movie etc what equipment he used, what lighting he used, the camera angles and his opening scenes’ importance. 

The information from the Media day is found in the link below -
http://titledesignproject.blogspot.co.uk/

Moonboard

Moonboard

A Moonboard of movie stills that had some influence over the decisions made for our opening sequence 

Survey

Survey

As a group we conducted a survey to find out what genre and elements teenagers, who are our target audience enjoyed, to help with our opening sequence and movie ideas. Here are the results;

Production Meeting #1

Production Meeting

 The first production meeting we had consisted of us going through initial ideas for our opening sequence. 

A video of one of the props being made  

Some of the ideas we came up with; 

Memento

The opening sequence I will be doing fits into the Mystery Thriller genre so as a group we decided to each watch a movie from the same genre and analyse main themes, ideas and cinematography that appear in the movie which are either typical of the genre or that we could use in our opening sequence.

The movie focused on a lot of objects or facial expressions/emotions which linked to the narrative or characters so close ups were used many times.  

When following the main character around following shots were used to show the action as one big continuous sequence.

There was a lot of dialogue in the movie not just a few words spoken before the murders like a villain typically does but very long and detailed conversations and even small talk.

The movie has scenes in which the main character is seen waking up or thinking about something so voice over monologue’s are used to show the character’s opinion and thoughts.

When something is being hugely emphasised multiple angled shots are shown.

To add humour to the movie many pop culture jokes are made to link in with the outside world. The humour when told from the main character is always awkward to show their serious nature/tone it creates a weird atmosphere to emphasis this isn’t the normal behaviour of the character.

The main character is meant to be the “good guy” but isn’t completely good and their actions aren’t innocent.

The main character seems to be conducting his own investigation over a plot-line from his backstory and a typical convention is that the police enforcement don’t seem to backing him up meaning he has to do it on his own. 

The main character is dressed smartly in a suit especially compared to his job of killing people and finding out information

When conversations are occurring an over the shoulder shot or two shot is used to show the meeting of the characters and to make the audience feel as if they’re part of the meeting.

When no action is happening or to build up to the action scenes the pace of the movie is very slow to add to the suspense and tension atmosphere.

The movie has an aggressive nature so the characters are quite angry and so most of the conversations are just the characters arguing.

The movie has a unique narrative structure concept in which the movie is split into two different types of scene. Black and white scenes start from the past and is when the movie’s story starts whilst the coloured scenes start from the end and move backwards. Eventually the two different scenes meet at the end. The concept of having 2 plot structures that are distinctly different shows that the movie in general is unique.

As it’s a mystery thriller there is a lot of blood and gore in it. The protagonist throughout some parts of the movie is covered in blood splatters and is also looking rough etc with an unshaken beard.

When the protagonist is running or doing something frantically there is an emphasis on his breathing or surrounding noises to show his fear.

Pictures are from the Internet 

Opening Sequence Analysis

Memento

The opening sequence starts off with the film production company’s logo which is ‘Newmarket’ films. The distribution company has been involved in movies such as Cruel Intentions, Donnie Darko and The Usual Suspects which follow the same genre of Neo-Noir, Mystery and Psychological Thriller and Crime which link in with Memento which has elements of all the genres listed before.

The next scene is the credits scene which shows the production company again and also the international distribution company which is ‘Summit Entertainment’. Then another production credit is shown to show who produced the movie, Suzanne Todd has produced Predator 2, Die Hard 2 and Lethal Weapon 2 which have some similar aspects to Memento.

The credits are against a plain black background with a light blue colour to contrast against and stand out. The main actor ‘Guy Pearce’ hadn’t done much work in the genre of thriller or mystery prior to Memento so it shows that the movie’s purpose is focused on the narrative and not which big star is portrayed in it. The main credits only show 3 names to show who the main characters are in the movie.

The title of the movie is then showed, all in caps and matching the previous credits as it’s all blue.  The background of the scene which is black cross fades into the footage from the movie of a man holding up a Polaroid picture of bloody tiles and a dead body. The scene in the picture seems to contrast the scene happening around him. Whilst this occurs the title of the movie stays on over the background.  Credits for the other characters, casting and music appear as the protagonist continues to stare at the image.

The actor then shakes the Polaroid picture and stares at it again to get a clearer image of what its showing. The colours of the picture continue to change as he repeatedly shakes the image. The once clear and red image has now turned to something similar to a blank slate which represents the narrative and the aspect that the main character has anterograde amnesia who can’t remember the recent past so the clear image going blank is a metaphor for that.

The shot then changes in a reverse shot from him taking the picture out of his pocket to placing it back into a camera. This shows that the previous events were all in a reversed order and link into the narrative structure.  The protagonist is then shown for the first time and his face is covered in blood streaks and sweat to show he’s been in some sort of fight.

The shot then continues to go in a reverse order with the main character putting the gun away (getting his gun out), a close up of his face is shown subtly taking a breath in to show his shock of something and that it’s over now. He’s wearing a suit which stands out of place against the scenario. An extreme close up is then shown of blood but it’s falling in the reverse way and back up the wall. An extreme shot is then shown of a bullet on the ground; the simplicity of the shot adds emphasis to the object. A similar shot of an extreme close up is shown of a pair of glasses hinted to link to the victim, the glasses are all bloody and surrounded by blood streaked tiles.

 The shot of the victim face down is shown covered in blood next to the glasses. His head is centre stage in the shot to show that the blood is his and from a high angle to show he’s on the ground and that this may be from the perspective of the protagonist. A shot of the gun flying upwards to the main character’s hands is shown to illustrate clearly that the events occurring are in a reversed order.

The camera then follows the actor downwards and zooms in to show his slightly angry facial expressions and his crouched body language over the victim.  The previous shots of the glasses and bullet are shown again but in reverse order to show they both are important to the events that occurred. A shot of the victim reversing from the ground to sitting up is shown, the blood also reverses back into nothing and the bullet goes into the protagonist’s gun.

The editing so far has been slow paced but the moment the gun is put into its compartment which as it’s in reverse order is the bullet being fired. The editing pace quickens drastically and we catch a glimpse of the victim’s face as he’s being shot.  

The music during the credits is instrumental and very dramatic; as the Polaroid image is shaken and taken there is its emphasis on the noise – all the protagonist’s actions have been highly emphasised to compare it to the background music. The shot then ends with the victim shouting something. 

Opening Sequence Analysis

Edwards Scissorhands 

Cinematography

A video showing different camera angles and movements

All video/image sources are labelled and the rest are my images

A glossary of key terms that are from the video

Textual Analysis

Here are 3 movie posters from different genres that I've analysed for their visual codes and connotations and linked it to genre, narrative, characterisation and ideologies

   

Here is an example of textual analysis of a movie poster I did in class;

Characterisation

Characterisation in Drive

Characterisation is when information about characters is presented though their dialogue, actions and thoughts for narrative purposes furthermore mise en scene is used to present character style (costume and props), personality and actions (camera angles and shots) and additional information (sound and lighting). 

The opening scene and the rest of the movie ‘Drive’ uses both Macro and Micro elements to present the main character is who portrayed by the actor Ryan Gosling. 

The first shot of the character the audience only catches a glimpse of how he looks like but only from the back. The scene shows him looking out of the window and the camerawork is designed to show that the protagonist has a strong knowledge of the streets and is somehow linked with them. Furthermore the lighting is dark with the only source of light coming from a motel supplied lamp. This builds the mystery element for the character and infers that the  character is isolated and alone always living on the move which contradicts the setting of Los Angeles which is busy and full of life. 

As the opening scene progresses the protagonist's face still hasn't been proper;y shown which additionally builds mystery to who the character is and creates a feeling of compulsiveness to watch on and discover who the intriguing character is. The genre of the movie is now more openly hinted at with the mystery and action element. 

The first clear shot of the character the audience has is a low angle mid shot which shows that the character is superior or has a sense of power/strength about him to give him control or a status of some kind. However similar to the previous shot the lighting of the shot is still very dark with only the city lights to show the character's face this further adds to the mystery of the character. 




Throughout Drive the protagonist wears a retro bomber jacket which has a scorpion on the back. Not only does this link to the end of the movie when the character gives his monologue in a voice over. It also reflects on his personality - the metaphor of the scorpion shows that character can be calm and soft at times but when you cross him he's dangerous. Also as the main character is quite calm throughout the first half of the movie his actions near the end of the movie are quite surprising which adds a element of shock for the audience. 






The protagonist personality and actions are very similar to those of cowboy films from the 60s. In typical cowboy films the hero comes to town and helps the damsel in distress or the towns people. Similarly the character in Drive moves into a new apartment and ends up saving his neighbours. He also chews on a toothpick similarly to the cow boys did in western movies. 


So from the macro and micro elements in the scene the audience learns that the protagonist is;

• Getaway Driver and Stunt Driver
• A quiet loner which shows his mystery aspect
• He's very calm under pressure and likes to be in control 
• Plans every action he does to the last detail 
• At the start he's submissive and seen as vulnerable but similar to a scorpion but once he's back stabbed he turns dangerous and violent.