180 Degrees Rule

The 180 degree rule is very important when filming. All coverage should be shot from one side of an imaginary line that connects two people that are speaking to each other so that when editing the sequence together the characters are on the right side. For example if you are filming a conversation with over shoulder shots the camera the camera must stay to one side of the line if this does not happen then it will look like the characters are looking in the same direction.

If the 180 degrees rule is followed then this is what it should look like below, the camera is on both of the characters right shoulders to make sure the characters are looking the right way.

 

This is an image, below, of the 180 degrees rule being broken, it looks like both of the characters have swapped places and talking from the same side. This happens when the camera is on both of the characters left shoulder. The rule can be broken sometimes such as in the shining to create an uneasy feeling for the audience.

Character profiles

Today i learnt how to create a character profile and adapt them so that i am able to create a story around them. Also how to make the audience know what kind of person they are easily. Using these can also help me to create an image in which the characters live in.

Continuity Editing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spWmL81VxwM

This is a short video that I edited making sure that there was no continuity errors.

Doing this taught me that I when doing a shoot i should always get multiple camera shots to make sure that there is variety and to keep it interesting. I also learnt that when shooting i should keep an eye on what the actor is doing and tell them to do the same so that when i am editing two shot fit together perfectly.

Shooting for continuity is when you have to take multiple shots of the same sequence but some object in shots may move or change. In order to stop any continuity errors, when something looks different when you change shot, you must move everything back into the same position that it was to start off with. Also the actors must do exactly the same movements in every shot otherwise when editing the sequence together they will be jumping all over the place.
If you do not shoot for continuity then when editing object may move by themselves and when changing between shots it will look very jumpy. Also it will be very confusing for the audience seeing something move across the screen. If it is a serious sequence any continuity errors may make the audience laugh which will destroy any tension that has been built, which may as a whole ruin a film for some viewers.

These are some examples of continuity errors
To stop these continuity errors they should have watched the last shot that they filmed to make sure that all of the set was the same and they should have watched the actors and explained to them what they did in the shot before so that they knew exactly what they were doing to insure no continuity errors.

The next screen shots are of one of my projects, I did not notice this continuity error. Luckily it is not a very obvious one so not a lot of the audience noticed. 

As you can see the phone case has magically jumped off of the phone, this may be because the actor was playing with his phone while i was taking some other shots, but I was not checking out for any continuity errors because I was trying to get the shot done as quickly as possible. This makes my work look a bit un professional. I could have stopped this by having someone on set who looks out for continuity errors.

Although i have edited the actors movements and cutting between shots very well because when i change shots i do not switch on a still shot because if I did it would look very jumpy. An editor should always cut on an action such as someone turning around. If you get the actor to do exactly the same movement in a different shot then it will look very fluent and smooth. Also I have obeyed the 180 degrees rule, I have stayed to the left of the actors to make sure that they are in the same position in each shot. If i were to break the rule it would look like the actors had switched places or the whole room had changed in shape.