Evaluation of my Continuity Sequence

Evaluation of my Continuity Sequence: Psycho Killer

(I will be saying "they" more than "we", since I wasn't there for the actual filming; being completely honest here)

Mise-en-scene:
 

According to my group, since I wasn't there when filming took place, when filming our continuity sequence, they didn't incorporate one of the planned shots. In the final piece they felt it didn't add anything to the story and it didn't work with the sequence very well.

The actresses who were Livvy, Fay and Vicky, wore different costumes. I was supposed to be behind the camera, but since I wasn't there, they had to work that as well. Either way, Livvy and Vicky wore normal, casual clothes, different according to what they wanted to wear clearly, whereas Fay's costume was a that of a Japanese school uniform, as you would expect from anime and such. She wore this so she could be in character, which was a psycho killer.

In our sequence, they used special effects make-up to illustrate the fact that the two actresses who were wearing normal, casual clothes were murdered, being able to create stab wounds out of wax, fake blood and body paint. They also used every day make-up with Fay's costume to bring out her eyes, making them look bigger and more sinister/threatening. In editing, we decided to add in a piece of music and the sound effect of someone screaming, so that it wouldn't be boring to watch and to captivate the audience a bit more. The track was called 'Come Play with Me' and found it on the site 'Incompetech', which is a free, non-copyright site that lets you use soundtracks without fear of copyright and the scream sound effect we got off of 'Freesound', which is a site where you can get free sound effects and we used this site, since the scream they recorded wasn't quite right and didn't really work.

Lighting:
 

The lighting changed during the scenes, depending which background it was in. In the little room where most of the action was happening, they filmed with a slightly darker lighting and in editing when I was there, we darkened the surroundings a bit more to give a more tense and scary atmosphere in those scenes. The shots in the hallway were brighter, though apparently, according to my group, the corridor shots were too bright, since they forgot to adjust the IOS level on the camera. Therefore, it was a mistake. So, if we were able to film this again, we would check the IOS level so that each scene is shot with the correct type of lighting.


High and low camera angles:

In our sequence, they used a low angle for when Vicky picked up the knife Fay dropped and at the end when she fell to floor after being "stabbed" in the stomach or around that area. However, they didn't used any high angle shots since they didn't feel they had any place in our sequence. If we could film our sequence again, we would use a broader variety of angles.


Different shot distances:

For our sequence, they used a variety of different shot distances to add to the suspense/tension and story of the sequence. They used several wide shots to accentuate the action of the sequence and to visualize to the audience the suspense/tension of the situation of what was happening in the scenes. They used close-ups and mid shots to incorporate more tension and to capture the audience's interest of the action in the sequence. They also used these shots to create a creepy or unnerving feeling in the sequence.


Any camera movement:

They really only used one camera movement in our sequence. At the end of the sequence, which was the scene where Vicky got stabbed by Fay with the knife, they used a handheld tracking shot which followed Vicky's movements as she fell to the ground, after she was stabbed and killed.


Fades or dissolves:

When we edited our sequence (which I was there for the most part), we chose to use the dissolve effect when Vicky was on the phone speaking next to the dead body of Livvy, starting from where she had just pulled it out and ending just before she put it away, so as to shorten the scene, but also to show some time passing. There was also a wipe effect we used to show a meanwhile part in our sequence, where it showed that Vicky was walking down the corridor as Livvy was stabbed, which is where we edited in a scream soon afterwards. We also used a fade out to black at the end of our sequence, fading to black after Vicky fell to the floor and Fay walked away. This was supposed to fade to the end credits, however we didn't have enough time to add them in, so we just had it fading to black with the music. But, we also used a fade in when Fay came up behind Vicky as she returned to Livvy's dead body after finding the knife so that the two scenes didn't jump from one to the other, so it made it smoother for the audience to watch.


The Continuity System:

• 180 degree rule - In our sequence, they broke the 180 degree rule. However, they chose to do this as they felt that that the sequence wouldn't be as good and felt it necessary to make the sequence better. So they decided to follow the 360 degree rule instead to come out with a good sequence to get a better perspective of the film. However, if we were able to film it again and we had to film with the 180 degree rule, we would concentrate on a good sequence that doesn't break the rule.
• Establishing shots - They used several establishing shots in our sequence as they wanted to build up suspense/tension for the end of the sequence when Vicky dies.
• Match cuts on action - Our sequence didn't contain and match cuts on action as they couldn't find a place for one in our short film sequence. However, if we were to film our sequence again, we would spend more time and think of ways to add them in.
• Eyeline match cuts -

• POV shots -

• Shot-reverse shot -