180 Degree Rule
I followed the 180 Degree rule thought the piece. I stayed on one side of the metaphorical line across the set when I filmed. I don’t think I could have improved my use of this technique. The effect of following the 180 Degree Rule is that the spacial relationship of objects and characters on stage appear to be the same, nothing has moved. The audience can then perceive the film as more realistic and can become further invested into the plot as they are not distracted by moving shots that do not seem to quite fit together.
Shot Reverse Shot
I used various shot reverse shots throughout the conversation. Although the shot is sort of a reverse of the other I think that I could of made it better by getting more in front of both characters, so that the camera is looking at them head on not from an angle. The problem was that there was a big table between them and I couldn’t get the tripod to go short enough to get the character in the shot. Next time I will use my ‘mini’ tripod which can sit on surfaces and is still short, as well as my larger one. Because I filmed the two shots from an angle the shot reverse shot doesn’t look as professional. Also the two characters are not centred in the same way. For the boy his neck is in the centre, but the girls face is the center of the second shot. Because they don’t match up as well the video begins to lose some of its fluidity and it again looks less professional.
You can see from my animatic that I had planned to have the shots at less of an angle. At any rate the shots still exemplify the shot reverse shot technique, I just think that they could be improved.
Eyeline Match
I used one secure eyeline match and I am very happy with it. I think that the view of the phone does match the character’s eyeline and therefore I feel I adequately fulfilled the parameters of this technique. I actually held the camera in front of the character’s face so that the shots would match. My only problem with this shot does not relate to the technique itself; it is simply that the quality of the video hinders the audiences ability to read the text message, therefore the enigma code I was trying to portray is lost. One thing I thought of after editing the phone shot is that I could have made the font size on my phone larger so it was easier to read, it would have looked slightly less real, however hopefully the audience would actually be able to read the text. The effect of this eyeline match is so that the audience can read the text message the character just received. It also forces the audience to become more connected to the character, by showing his exact viewpoint, so they can begin to develop a better understanding of him.
Action Match
My video included various action matches and I tried to make them fit smoothly into the video. For the most part I think I did this successfully, my favorite action match was when the camera follows Elliott walking into the kitchen and then sitting on his seat (0.50 – 0.56):
I think this shot flows the most smoothly and I don’t think the audience would notice that the shot had changed. I think the success of this action match was mostly due to its subtlety. The shot only changes angle slightly, and then a ‘wipe’ transition is almost created as Elliott walks in front of the shot. If this technique is used effectively the audience should not notice that the shot has changed, it should not distract them from the storyline at all. I think this shot fulfills that description.