Mrs B homework - continuity editing

Continuity editing is vital in making a film plausible and professional. I have analysed three clips from films for good continuity editing techniques.

Bridget Jones - Sharon Maguire (2001)

This clip is interesting because it gives the impression that it is one long shot because it is in the same setting, however the director cleverly uses different transitions, such as dissolves, to show time passing. Bridget is singing along to the opening song of the movie, and because you can see her mouthing the words in time to the music, it makes it very believable and plausible. In one part it cuts from a shot of her drumming in the air and throwing her arms in the air, but while she is doing that, the clip cuts from an MS to an MLS, but as she is in the same position in the frame and continuing to do the same movement, it makes sense. This is a good use of a match cut. This clip has good continuity even though there isn't much movement. It starts as a wide LS where you can see Bridget lying on the sofa watching TV (establishing shot). It then cuts to an MCU (eyeline match) of the TV showing the opening titles to "Frasier", which is what Bridget was looking at. It then cuts back to Bridget but this time it's an MCU. The dissolve also changes the shot distance, from the MCU back to the wide LS, where the camera seems as though it is on a table. This is naturalistic because as Bridget gets up and walks out of the room, her head is out of the frame and the camera doesn't follow her. The camera reverts back to this position quite a lot because it is a good establishing shot, but also uses MCU's a lot to show her facial expressions as she is drunkenly singing along to the song. This alternation between shot types is very smooth and easily understood because when it is a wide LS the camera is always in the same position, and when it is an MCU, she is always in the same position in the frame with the same background. This scene has good continuity and is quite a long montage.

Love Actually - Richard Curtis (2003)

This sequence starts with an MCU of the priest, and then cuts to a CU of the groom, looking up (at the priest) and then looking to the bride. The next shot is a CU of the bride. (This is sort of a shot-reverse-shot except there are two shots in the middle). In both of these shots, the camera is panning slowly from left to right. The next shot reverts to the MCU of the priest, to show where they were both looking. Then the camera shows what the priest is seeing, an MCU two shot of the couple kissing. Next, instead of cutting to a shot of the groom talking to his best man, the camera pans slightly to the left to see them talking, and then pans slightly to the right as the bride comes to talk to the groom. This makes it look like someone is watching them (the priest). Simultaneously, the friends and family in the audience are clapping and smiling, so the next shot is of two friends clapping and looking ahead (to the couple), which is cross-cutting. The following shot is a bird's eye shot of the couple walking down the isle. What is clever is that as the shots change after that, the couple are gradually making their way down the isle, showing good continuity, and the camera is backwards tracking down the isle. The best man is shown, looking at them walking down the isle, and then the camera tilts from behind the couple to reveal a large gospel choir in the balcony. This is all cross-cutting as it's happening simultaneously. The friends and family are shown all turning their heads to look at what has just appeared, and then an MLS of several gospel singers is shown, pointing slightly down. The next shot is of the couple, showing that the gospel singers were pointing at them (matched eyeline shot). Then it cuts to the other half of the choir shown from a slightly different angle, showing they are on the right. Another clever shot in this scene is the OTS two shot. The shot proceeding that one is of the bride and groom where the bride is on the right, and then the next shot is over the shoulder of the best man and viewing the bride and groom from the other side. The rest of the shots and their editing pretty much follow what I have already said. The solo singer is shown from a slight low angle, showing the couple's point of view, and then there is a high angle shot of the couple, showing his point of view. A good continuity technique here is the characters' reactions to the things happening around them in different shots, for example, when people in the audience get up and start playing musical instruments, the next shot is of the best man holding a video camera and laughing, making the audience believe that he was watching those people.

Dukes Of Hazzard - Jay Chandrasekhar (2005)

This clip is a chase scene where the police are chasing an orange sports car. The different shots are clever because they switch from shots of the driver and his passengers, to his point of view, and then a point of view shot of the police showing more police chasing him. In one shot where the car is spinning in a circle in an LS, the next shot is an MCU of the car spinning into shot, showing that the car was still in the same spin, showing use of cross-cutting. The camera then shows the driver turning his head to reverse, with the following shot showing the car reversing. The camera work is often shakey to show the unstability of the car. Often, shots of the car spinning will then be followed by shots of the passengers swaying and falling as a result of the turning. The camera will show the driver making a turn of some sort with the steering wheel, and then will show the car doing that turn (matched cut). This makes sense and makes us believe it was all shot in one go. When the driver and the other front passenger are talking to each other, the shot includes all the passengers in the background. When the driver is talking, he is positioned in the bottom right corner of the frame, but when the other passenger is talking it is from the other side, much like the conversational editing technique in other situations (shot-reverse-shot). In the car you can see the background moving quickly, showing that the car is moving wrecklessly, which links up with the shots of the car carreering down narrow roads and dodging other cars. The car will sometimes drive out of shot, and then another shot will be shown of it in a different location, to show at the car has moved. However, sometimes the camera will follow the car with a tracking shot, keeping it in the same position in the frame (a sequence shot). This is to show the background whirring past and give the audience and idea of the speed at which the car is travelling. Some other shots are taken from the point of view of another car, such as one at 1:53 on the film clip, where the camera is travelling in the opposite direction to the orange car, but moves to look at the car. The camera is shakey to show that it is the point of view of the driver of the other car. A clever shot here is the bird's eye of the car going around a roundabout, OTS of a statue. The next shot then shows a low angle of the statue, with what looks like folded arms in a disapproving manner. Often the shots look quite bumpy to show the road is uneven, and there are lots of cuts with lots of short shots (cross-cutting), to make this scene very fast-paced and add to the excitement of the chase. When the orange car and two police cars jump over some concrete ridges, the next shot is of the passenger in the front seat looking behind him worridly, as if he has just watched the police cars right behind him. This makes the audience believe those two events happened one after the other, whereas in truth, they were probably filmed at completely different times, and the actors probably weren't actually in the car when it was doing the stunts. The clever continuity of this sequence, however, means that the audience never think that once, and only believe that this chase happened in a matter of minutes. There is a shot where the orange car goes up a ramp and flies into the air from the car's point of view. The camera cuts then cuts to a shot of the car already in the air from the side, and then cuts to one of the car in the air from slightly below it. The next shot shows the progression of the car through the air and shows it from behind, very high up in the air. The audience see the car land in the following shot and the car drops from the sky a short distance because in the previous shot that's where the car was in the air. This scene is racey and plausible; a good example of good continuity editing.

MRS B homework - the effects and reasons for using different shot types in films

This is a clip from the film "Notting Hill" directed by Roger Michell in 1999. It shows use of a two shot, and the effectiveness of using a tracking shot.

The two shot shows Hugh Grant and his friend talking at a table, it is an MS/MLS to show the surrounding (a dingy flat) and their facial expressions. Hugh Grant has his hands to his face, showing despair, which the audience can assume is caused partly by his friend, judging by the frien's expression. The director used a two shot here to show the two characters conversing, and chose the distance MS/MLS to show the location while maintaining the ability to see facial expressions and reactions.

Here, the directors have used a tracking shot to show Hugh Grant's journey through the market and what he encounters, but from an onlooker's point of view as opposed to his. Throughout this one continual sequence, the distances gradually change, from MLS, to MCU, to MS, to VLS. The continual changing allows the viewer to focus on different things at different points, such as the foreground of market stalls and people, to his face, to various other characters, such as his flatmate's scatty girlfriend, and a lady with a baby. This use of tracking is very effective and provides a good transition between scenes in the movie.


This is a clip from "The Notebook" directed by Nick Cassavetes in 2004. This scene uses a range of shot types. It starts with a VLS to show the lake full of swans that the boat is on. This shot is effective because it focuses on the beauty of the swans with the boat in their midst, giving the audience an idea of the characters' view from the boat. The next shot is a crane shot, showing the formation of the swans in the lake and the pretty patterns they make in the lake around the boat. This shot is great as it is a very unusual sight, so to see it from such a high angle gives a lot of impact.

There are several LS's where the characters are in the boat, showing them as well as their surroundings. When in conversation, the characters are shown in an MCU to show their facial expressions and a bit of the background. They are positioned to the side of the frame in an interviewee-like manner and they are looking slightly to the side, because they are talking to each other. This decision was made because it clearly shows they are in conversation.

Later on in the clip the director uses a CU within a two shot when the characters are kissing, to show their passionate expressions. When Allie walks down the jetty after getting off the boat, the director uses a steadicam/handheld shot as if the camera were on the boat. This gives it a very naturalistic and believable feel. When Noah is still on the boat, the camera shows him with a high angle from where Allie is (looking down), and she is shown with a slight low angle from where Noah is, to show how he would see her.

There are OTS shots on the jetty and earlier on the boat when they are in conversation, which is a conventional use of the shot and seems familiar. Towards the end of the clip, there is a slight arch shot when Noah and Allie are stumbling into the house to show them at lots of angles.


These are two of my favourite films and I think they use different shot types very effectively.

MRS B's homework

1. My shot is of me emerging from a dark doorway, which connotes a scary person/murderer who has been hiding. I am a white teenage girl with red hair and blue eyes, aged 16. My hands are prizing apart the door, and the ends of my fingers are white from gripping it, signifying that I am strong and on a mission of a scary nature. Half of my face is in shadow to represent mystery and fear of the unknown. This represents horror because it plays out the fear of being watched. It is also similar to “The Boogieman” in that a strange creature is emerging from a cupboard or small, dark room, to attack the victim.
2. To achieve this effect, we found a dark prop cupboard with a door with locks on it so that we could give the impression that someone had broken the locks. We used one small light with no filters to give the most light, to create a contrast with the shadows on the rest of my face and the black background. We wanted to frame the shot, so took an MCU including the doorframe, to establish the scene.
3. I think this shot is very successful because the character directly addresses the audience, involving them, and making them feel as though she is watching them. The part of my face not in shadow is well-lit and in focus, making a great impact. The expression coupled with the hand gestures makes for a very sinister mood, and the mise-en-scene makes it easy to understand what story we were trying to achieve.
4. In hindsight I would have had long, red, talon-like nails, dark red lipstick, and possibly lots of eye-liner to make the character even scarier.­­­­