For my short film, I decided to stick to continuity
editing to ensure that the narrative flowed in a linear fashion, so as to not
confuse the audience, and keep consistency throughout the project. To achieve
this I used various techniques of continuity editing such as shot-reverse -shot
and eye-line match. I also used other editing techniques such as colour
correction and audio manipulation, to help convey my narrative and the emotions
of the characters to the audience.
To open my short film, I edited a montage sequence of the
main character getting ready in the morning (shots of them getting out of bed,
cleaning their teeth, putting on makeup etc). I decided to create a montage
sequence for the opening, to help set the scene of the piece and to convey the
mood. I used straight cuts to switch between the shots, and kept the cuts at a
steady pace to convey a slow, macabre atmosphere to emphasise the main
character's grief. Over the top of this montage sequence I placed audio clips,
and I added a 'Highpass' effect to them to make them sound like voicemail
messages. In between them I added a 'beep' sound effect from a voicemail
machine, to give the impression that these were voicemail messages for the
character. I have done this to give the audience a quick overview of the
character's situation, without having the character explain it in their own
dialogue. This is a more subtle way of introducing my main character, as the
voicemail messages (from concerned friends of the character) explain the
situation by checking up on them. At the end of the montage I edited in a
panning bird's eye view shot of an order of service leaflet for the character's
late brother, which I used to 'show not tell' the audience about her brother
passing away. I also edited the montage sequence to create questions for the
viewer, to make them interested about the rest of the story line, thus drawing
them in to keep watching.
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A screenshot of the montage sequence in my
Premiere Pro project file.
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| A screenshot of the opening montage sequence, and (circled) is the audio clips that I have added the 'Highpass' effect to |
As my second scene is a duologue, I have edited it so
that it comprises mainly of shot-reverse-shot between the two characters, when
they are saying their respective lines. This happens for the majority of the
second scene, occasionally switching to a long two-shot. However, since the
audio for the long two-shot is different to the mid close ups (due to the fact
that the microphone had to be further away, the two-shot is quieter), I haven't
used this shot as many times as I would've liked to in the edit.
I decided to use the shot-reverse-shot edits in my short
film, as it is an aspect of continuity editing, and would therefore help to
tell the storyline in a linear fashion. It also helps the audience see the
expressions on the character's faces better than could be seen in the long
two-shot, which in turn helps tell the narrative, as the character's emotions
carry this story.
There are a few shots that I have purposefully kept as
longer takes than the majority of shots, to convey an uncomfortable atmosphere
between the two characters.
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| Two examples of shot-reverse-shot from scene two, taken from my editing programme Premiere Pro |
I have not used any music in my short film, to help let the narrative take centre stage, and to not distract the viewer from the emotions of the characters. However, I have added non-diagetic sound (ticking clock and birdsong) to simulate realism within my piece. I have also added a 'Lowpass' effect to all of my audio clips, to help reduce white noise and to ensure continuity across all my audio clips. Whilst this effect does not completely eliminate white noise, I am pleased with the reduction - the volume of white noise is considerably lower than in the raw footage.
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| (Circled in blue) Ticking clock sound effect and (circled in red) the birdsong sound effect |
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| The 'Lowpass' effect I used on my audio clips |
As previously mentioned, the audio in the long two-shot
take is quieter than the mid close ups, and below is a screenshot of how I have
attempted to rectify this problem. As
shown below, I have taken sections of audio from the mid close up shots and
synced it with visuals of the long two-shot. I have done this to ensure that the audio is consistent across my
whole project, and that differences in volume of audio won't confuse the
audience.
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| Circled are where I have synced the audio from the close up shots to the visuals from the long two-shot |
I have also included some eye-line match shots in my
project, and to do this I have cut between a mid close up or long shot of the
character looking at something, and a close up shot of what they are looking
at. I have done this to show the audience key pieces of information about the
characters, such as to introduce them via a business card, or to
explore aspects of their personality. For example, showing a close up of the
'Grief' character's notebook, to depict them doodling a cat, conveys to the
audience that they have a playful personality, and that perhaps they are
nonchalant about their work responsibilities. It can also convey how a
character is feeling, for instance, showing a close up of a photograph that the
main character is looking at can show the audience that they are feeling
miserable and missing their loved one.
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| Examples of when I used eye-line match shots, with their place in the timeline circled. |
Due to technical issues during filming, with two of my
lights breaking during my second day of shooting, many of the shots in the
montage sequence have either a blue or orange colour temperature. This is
because I had to rely on either natural light or one artificial light. To
rectify this, I colour corrected these shots to make them all similar colours
and to keep continuity in my montage sequence. To do this I added the 'Fast
Colour Correct' effect in Premiere Pro, and used the colour wheel to change the
colour temperature of the shots.
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| Before (left) and after (right) colour correction on an extreme close up shot of the main character |
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| The colour correction 'Colour Wheel' I used to alter the colour temperature of my shots. |
Due
to this technical difficulty during filming, this also meant that I needed to
increase or decrease the brightness of some of my shots. I did this by applying
the 'Brightness and Contrast' effect on Premiere Pro, and adjusting the
brightness and contrast accordingly.
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| An example of before (left) and after (right) of increasing the brightness of a close up shot |
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| The 'Contrast and Brighten' effect I used in Premiere Pro to alter the brightness of shots |
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| An example of before (left) and after (right) of increasing the brightness of a shot that was too dark - a mid shot of the main character |
To add a sombre mood to my montage sequence, I increased
or decreased the brightness to make all the shots a similar colour. This is to
again set the tone for the rest of the piece as sad and to convey the feelings
of the main character. Again, I achieved this using the 'Brightness and
Contrast' tool in Premiere Pro.
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| Three screenshots of shots that I altered the brightness of, to keep consistency and to create a sombre mood |
To add tension to my project, I included a section of extreme
close up shots of my main character's hands tapping on a mug, and an extreme
close up of her face whilst she bites her lip. As well as this I increased the
volume of the ticking clock to increase suspense and to convey to the audience
that the main character is feeling anxious about talking to 'Grief'. I also
paired this with straight cuts back to 'Grief' writing in their notebook, to
again increase the tension.
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Screenshots of the three shots I alternated
between using straight cuts to create tension in scene two
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As a way to start my short film I faded the first shot in
from black, as a way to signify the beginning of the film, and to emphasise
that the narrative begins in the morning with the lights off. Also, I faded the
end of the second scene to black, and begun the third scene as fading from
black. I did this to signify the end of scene two and beginning of scene three,
as well as to emphasise the anger of the main character as she exits
off-screen, after the climax of scene two. Finally, I ended the short film with
a fade to black, fading on a close up shot of a photo of the main character and
her late brother. This was firstly done to show the end of the film, and
secondly to create an open ending for the audience, as the narrative has no
definitive end, therefore the fade to black instead of a straight cut to black,
emphasises the open ending.
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| Three examples of when I used 'fade to black' in my short film |
In class I got teacher and peer feedback on my rough cut on my short film. Both my peers and my teachers identified that I had used continuity editing, which is positive as it shows I have been successful in my use of editing style. However a peer mentioned that the sound could be lowered in some places, so I reduced the sound of the voicemail 'beeps' and the 'voicemail messages' audio in the opening montage sequence. As a consequence, the sound is much more balanced and consistent throughout my short film.
In conclusion, whilst I have kept to the conventions of continuity editing to help to tell the narrative in a linear fashion, I have also used a variety of different editing techniques to keep consistency and tell the story effectively. I believe that I have been successful in doing this, and have managed to tell the narrative well with my editing choices.
