Lindsey Komson

Featured image by Mikael Blomkvist

Reading & Writing

In The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, Chapters 3 and 4 cover the intricacies of filming and editing a sequence together. Chapter 3, “Basic Sequence,” explains how and why a basic sequence is filmed. When watching a movie or a show, it’s obvious that the editor doesn’t only remain on one camera angle throughout the whole thing. That would be quite boring, and nobody would pay attention to the story being told. By shooting several camera angles and incorporating them all in the final project, this keeps viewers’ attention throughout the show/movie. As a cameraperson, it’s necessary to understand the different aspects of a sequence before filming to make sure you capture all the right angles. Wide/establishing shots, medium shots, close-ups, and cutaways are the 4 types of camera shots the book uses to describe a sequence.

A sequence is defined by continuity, letting the viewer see a full completed action regardless of how many camera shots are included. An easy example the book provides is of a man taking off his hat. If the editor was to switch angles in the middle of the man’s action, the second shot would need to begin in the middle of the action as well. This way, the viewer sees one smooth action displayed by a variety of shots to keep their attention. There are several ways to film continuity, such as using over-the-shoulder shots, clean enters/exits, and cutaways, and using these shots creates what’s professionally known as a basic sequence.

Chapter 4, “Screen Direction,” explains how the direction of the subjects being filmed can determine a viewer’s experience. If all subjects face the same direction throughout the project, viewers will feel content and follow everything easily. If subjects seem to switch directions throughout the project, it will cause a feeling of confusion, making your viewers spend more time trying to figure out what happened rather than paying attention to the storyline.

The act of “crossing the line” is what creates this break in continuity. According to author Tom Schroeppel, the line is an imaginary one that determines the direction people and things face when viewed through the camera. “When you cross the line, you reverse the screen direction of everything you see through the camera, even though nothing has mmoved from the camera.” Remaining on one side of the line is essential for storytelling. For example, if you film two people talking and then switch to the other side of the line, it looks like they’ve switched places! One quote at the end of the chapter really stood out to me, and it relates to the material covered in both chapters – “Nothing exists for your viewers except what you show them.” If the viewers are easily following along, you’ve done your job as an editor.

Research to Inform

In the first scene from this clip of Friends, Ross admits to Rachel that singing “Baby Got Back” is the only thing that will make their baby daughter laugh. The scene begins with wide shots of both Ross and Rachel entering the apartment and walking towards the couch where they meet. As the conversation goes on, there are close-ups of each character speaking as well as over-the-shoulder shots of the other one listening. While one is speaking, they use cutaway shots to share the other character’s very outward reactions to what they’re saying. I also noted that the camera shots follow the characters as they go from standing up to sitting down and vice versa, so there’s very smooth continuity throughout this scene.

This scene from High School Musical 3: Senior Year showcases continuity while telling a heartwarming story in the process. Troy runs off stage at graduation to find Chad, who he knew was on the basketball court. Once he runs through the hallway and onto the court, there’s a nice mix of wide shots, close-ups, and POV shots to show the two best friends’ last moment on the court together. It seems that Troy and Chad are placed on the exact same spots on the court in each shot, which makes for a well-put together scene altogether.

In this iconic scene from New Girl, Schmidt tells his wife, Cece, that she’s pregnant. It begins with a wide shot of Cece entering their house, and then shows close-ups of her and Schmidt as their conversation evolves. The scene mostly uses close-ups, but they’re a mix of conversation shots and cutaways to show each character’s emotional reactions.

This scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi shows a continuity error. In the beginning of the scene, Lando’s bag is seen resting on his right shoulder and across his body (seen clearly at 0:07). Later in the scene, Lando’s bag is seen resting on his left shoulder and across his body (seen clearly at 1:34). While it’s not an important part of the scene, it’s clear that something of this nature can distract the viewer from the storyline.

Create

To practice continuity in a sequence, I created this How-To video of 2 different ways to tie a shoe. My mom was the actor in the video so I could focus on capturing the right camera angles. After filming, I imported the footage into Premiere and began editing. Since I filmed everything with only one camera, it was very time consuming to sort through and find the best angles of each step, but it was good practice. Then, I added transitions and text to arrive at the final project. You can view my How-To video here: