Jack Sparrow's Entrance in Pirates of the Carribean

In Jack Sparrow's first appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, I noticed some interesting use of shots. First of, the majority of the shots used were medium to close up shots that showed a lot of the background without making a pointed effort to zoom in on the face of the subject. The series of shots from 0:04 to 0:24 give the illusion that Jack is standing on a great ship only to reveal that he is on a very small boat with one mast and an unfortunate leak. These shots were medium to close up and did not have any continuity issues.

Moving to when Jack is walking from one side of the boat to the other, they chose to use a wide shot to show the small size of Jack's vessel and give a more dwarfed showing of what one would have initially imagined to be a large ship. There was good continuity watching Jack's hand placement from 0:26-0:28, however, it could have used an extra frame or two on either the wide or the medium shot in order to have a little more smoothness on exactly where the hands were at that point in time. Also for when jack sits down a few seconds later, it goes from that same wide shot to a medium. His sitting position was ever so slightly off from one cut to the other.

From that point to about 0:54, the shots seem to be nearly seamless as editors usually want to go for as it follows the flow of the music. Continuing on, there is a long wide shot that shows the people looking towards the incoming Jack Sparrow. What I believed the film is trying to get across tot eh viewers at this point that even though he seems to be comedic, Jack Sparrow is about to play an important role throughout the movie. It gives a lighthearted feeling to what normally could be perceived as an epic entrance.

There is another continuity error right as Jack steps foot on the docks at Port Royal. It appears that he steps off of the mast of his boat with his right foot leading but when he actually steps onto the wood of the dock, he lands with his right foot. I couldn't figure it out which foot he initially led with, but it looks like that could be an editing error.

The rest of the scene is a mid shot and there are no more issues with it. The movie itself is a great watch with excellent editing techniques and a good attention to detail.

Spoof Trailer

The Rule of Six

In video editing, there are many important details that go into producing a good quality piece. These six parts are as follows: emotion, story, rhythm, eye trace 2D plane, and 3D space. All of these things appropriately portioned out can lead to a successful film.

Emotion should take up 51% of the production. The reason this is so important is because one of the main objectives of films is to have the audience feel the emotion you want them to feel at each certain point in time.  Each of the other elements mentioned may need to be sacrificed at times in favor of getting the right emotional response.

The story portion is the second most important and pretty self explanatory. You want your viewers to have a story that they are essentially reading along with throughout the film to give them something to follow and eventually talk about. This takes up about 23% of the film.

Film Rhythm covers the timing of the cuts. Whether to make an invisible cut that flows during the lines of one of the characters to a reaction shot or to make a purposefully jarring cut to illicit a response of surprise or upset.

The eye trace in film takes up less than 10% of the piece because it is more of an unspoken and unseen continuity. Eye trace follows closely with the 180 degree rule, keeping character gazes and shot angles flowing along the same plane, which leads us to the next portion of the rule of six.

The 2D plane is the cuts of the shots themselves. Whether it goes from a close up of one character to another or the beginning of the next scene starting at a wide shot. This plane takes up a mere 5% of the film, but when done well can boost the emotional portion of editing.

Finally, the concept of 3D space lords over 4% of the Rule of Six. Even though the audience is viewing on a 2D format for the majority of films, the background and depth of the objects in the background contribute to the production of a good film. Two dimensional space affects and can even make the 3D plane even better.

Spoof Trailer

https://youtu.be/4TsvILC7r2Q

The Importance of Sound Editing

         As important as visual edits are in any film, there is one thing that helps bring it all together – the soundtrack. Sometimes what helps make a scene memorable or really emotional is the music within the scene. Apart from the obviously important diegetic sound designed for both audience and characters to hear, non-diegetic sound, designed only for the audience plays a unique role in the scene.

Whether you are a fan or not, you will most likely recognize the theme for Star Wars. As a true testament of how important non-diegetic sound is in a film, there was a study conducted in which two set of people saw the film: one group saw it with the soundtrack, the other without it. The group that saw the film with soundtrack gave it great reviews, while those that saw it without the soundtrack did not give the film much praise. With out the sound the other types of sound become more apparent and do not give it the emotional push that a scene requires.

         If we look at the following video of the final scene in Star Wars, the non-diegetic sound really helps bring the conclusion together as our heroes celebrate their win.

If we watch the same scene without the non-diegetic sound, the scene almost becomes something entirely different.

The first thing you notice is the awkwardness of the character’s silence and smiles. The room tone is clearly heard making the sound almost uncomfortable. Chewbacca’s growl also sounds different and instead of strong and proud, it sounds almost as if he were in pain. The laughter between the characters resonates through the cut and gives it an insincere feel to it. The final portion where the troops clap also sounds empty, with no real emotion behind it.

By comparing the same scene with and without music, you can clearly see the importance of sound in editing, in this case the importance of non-diegetic sound. The right score has the ability to bring emotion and give life to a cut as evident in this particular scene from Star Wars. Although most films have a specific sound editor, it is important to remember that the right combination of video and audio edits is what can turn a mediocre cut into an outstanding cut.

Rule of Six in the Avengers

In his book In The Blink Of An Eye, Walter Murch explains the importance of the “rule of six,” which are criteria for a good cut. He breaks down the criteria into percentages: emotion covers 51% of the importance, story is 23%, rhythm takes 10%, eye-trace is 7%, two-dimensional plane of screen is 5%, and three-dimensional space of action is 4%. 

Marvel's The Avengers actually takes full advantages of the rule of six to create one of the most powerful scenes in the movie. The Avenger's tells the story of some of Marvel's greatest superheroes coming together for the first time to defeat a foe who would be too powerful for them to take on by themselves. As the story continues we are shown how these different heroes fail to collaborate with each other and fall victim to the villain's plan. At this point something big needs to happen to bring our heroes together, that is where fan favorite, Agent Coulson, comes into play. When he tries to take a stand against the villain, he is stabbed and dies. 

Murch would say that this death scene is a perfect example of the “rule of six,” because it follows the criteria perfectly. For starters it stays true to the emotion of the moment, as fans become excited to see their favorite character stand up to the villain only to see him stabbed a second later. His death allows for the story to advance as it gives the heroes a reason to put their egos aside and ban together to avenge their fallen ally. It occurs at a moment that is rhythmically right and keeps eye-trace at all times as the villain walks around the room. Finally it respects planarity and the three-dimensional continuity of space. But as Murch emphasizes, the most important thing here is the emotion behind the scene. This scene is not only felt by the audience, but also by the characters. Once Coulson is announced dead, our heroes are seen mourning their comrade. Soon afterwards we see them getting ready for the counter attack that helps advance the story. This advancement in story and emotion behind the death is what truly makes this scene a perfect example of the “rule of six.”

The Mindy Project Spoof Trailer

Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is a film about a man named Charles Foster Kane, who passes away upon the film's opening scene. From that point forward, the film focuses on his life, through a series of interviews and clips about Kane. The film uses an almost documentary style of filming, as interviews about kane transition into scenes that coincide with what they were talking about. A great scene in the film centers around Kane and his wife. Through the power of montage editing, we see the deterioration of Kane's marriage and the couple's love. When the scene begins, we see Kane as a loving husband, infatuated with his wife; however, as the scene goes on we see the couple on different nights, as the newspaper begins to take over Kane's life. We watch as the couple grows distant and as Kane becomes almost delusional. This use of montage allows the viewer to view the marriage over the course of months in just three minutes, as conversations transition into conversations on a different night. This gives the viewer the ability to see only the important aspects of each conversation that outline the marriage's downward spiral.

Kuleshov Effect in Shame

The Kuleshov effect is a method of editing in which two or more images are juxtaposed together and meaning is derived depending on the content of said images. For example, if we see a shot of a man crying and then cut to a shot of a casket, the viewer gets the idea that the man is mourning someone's death. However, if you take the shot of the man crying followed by a shot of someone taking money out of a safe, the viewer gets the idea that the man's money had been stolen. A movie that makes perfect use of the Kuleshov effect is Shame. In it, Michael Fassbender is a sex addict desperately searching for a connection with another human being. In one scene, Fassbender is sitting on a train, and across from him sits an attractive woman around his age. Their glances meet and the two continue to flirtatiously stare at eachother. Then, images of Fassbender crying in an empty apartment and of him sleeping with another woman are shown, followed immediately by him staring at the woman again. This use of the Kuleshov effect shows the viewer that Fassbender is only staring at this woman because of his addiction, and it will end the same way as every other woman he's slept with. When we see him crying alone in the apartment we see his desperation for a human connection, and when we see him sleeping with another woman followed by him staring at the woman on the train, we get the feeling that there is no real connection between him and the women he sleeps with, and it is just a never ending cycle of sex and regret. The scene has no dialogue, yet manages to tell this story all through the power of editing.

Transformers spoof trailer

Spoof Trailer of Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2014 film directed by James Gunn. The film stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord/ Peter Quill , Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. The film starts off with Peter Quill as a child in 1988 in Missouri when he is abducted by aliens after running out of a hospital and seeing the death of his mother. He is abducted by aliens and is raised to become one of the Ravagers who are a group of alien smugglers and thieves. This spoof trailer is how Peter, at the age of 8, is captured by a group of aliens known as The Guardians.

Finding Nemo Horror Spoof "Just Keep Swimming"

The Importance of the 180 Degree Rule

Geoffrey Quist
Alex Bordino
Introduction to Non Linear Editing
6 May 2015

The Importance of the 180 Degree Rule

When directing/editing film, there is a certain axis the director/editor must follow in order to sustain a constant on screen relationship between the characters in a dialogue scene. This concept is known as the 180 degree rule. Following this rule helps the audience visually and mentally connect to the actions the characters are doing in the scene. If a director/editor breaks this rule, the scene will feel disoriented to the audience, causing them to lose that connection with the characters on the screen. Altering the perspective of each character may cause a false interpretation for the viewer as well. The axis that the director/editor must follow is a straight line that crosses from one side of the scene to the other and through the characters as well. Once the director/editor has acquired this axis, they must follow it from start to finish in order to sustain a connection with the audience and the characters. Establishing the 180 degree rule emphasizes the connected relationship the audience must have with the characters of a dialogue scene and without it, the connection may be misinterpreted or nonexistent. 

Kuleshov Effect

     The Kuleshov effect is when you take a the shot of a character making one expression like smiling, then you cut to what it areas they are looking at like a dog. A person smiling at a dog is not unsual but if you put in a coffin with the same shot of the person smiling it changes how you view that character, now they are creepy or weird. Alfred Hitchcock was amazing at using this in his films. Rear Window usually is the film thought of most where Hitchcock uses Kuleshov effect. He has us the audience POV looking into peoples lives from a balcony. Hitchcock could manipulate the audience it whatever manner he wanted. Jimmy Stewart was interviewed saying he does not remember playing the role the way Hitchcock later depicted it on screen. That could mean either he does not remember correctly or Hitchcock manipulated the screens so well to give the viewer the film he saw it to be fit. Thats what is so great about being able to edit film.

Toy Story Spoof Trailer

Toy Story Wars Spoof Trailer

By Geoffrey Quist

Walter Murch

           


          Walter Murch was a very well known editor of picture and sound having academy awards as well as an oscar. In class we learned his rule Six which is what an ideal cut would include to him. Through watching things he had been sound editor on like The Conversation and The Godfather we got an idea of his sound design concept. Murch's rule of six for editing picture consisted of:


1. Emotion - How will this cut affect the audience emotionally at this particular moment in the film? 2. Story - Does the edit move the story forward in a meaningful way?
3. Rhythm - Is the cut at a point that makes rhythmic sense?
4. Eye Trace - How does the cut affect the location and movement of the audience's focus in that particular film?
5. Two Dimensional Place of Screen - Is the axis followed properly?
6. Three Dimensional Space - Is the cut true to established physical and spacial relationships?

  

I try to follow these while editing Leverage and now my spoof trailer . The spoof trailer is obviously more important to get the right emotion across because the genre of the story is being altered. For the spoof trailer the first four rules came in to play much more than the last two mostly because its not conversational. 

After watching interviews with Murch and having watched The Conversation in class, he talks about how he liked to make sounds that echo and how he wants you to really connect those sounds to where you are in the film. Thinking back to the scene in the bathroom when the main character is putting a listening device in the wall everything echoed. Which is indicative to being in a bathroom with the tile floors. Sound is incredibly important to a film it can convey a great deal about a scene.

Spoof Trailer of Final Fantasy VII "Remnant"

Above is the final cut for the Spoof Trailer of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The original film is a sci-fi action movie based off of the video game series of Final Fantasy. I made this trailer to portray it in more of a horror film.

Beetlejuice Spoof Trailer

                                                                    Brianna Bosco

                                                            Beetlejuice Spoof Trailer

Spoof Trailer Pirates of the Caribbean

Spoof Trailer Pirates of the Caribbean

Ryan Demers

Non-Linear Editing

Spring 2015

180-degree Rule & "The Shining"

The 180-degree rule in editing makes sure that the camera is only capturing the action from one side. The reason this is a rule is because if the camera is shooting two actors and moves more than 180 degrees, it will give the illusion that the actors' positions have been switched or reverse, confusing the viewers. It makes sure that the space between one character and another character or object is consistent throughout the scene. There is an imaginary line in the shot referred to as an axis that connects the characters, and the cameras must stay solely on one side of the axis. To envision the 180-degree rule, picture a circle with one character on either side looking at each other. Cameras should only be positioned in half of that circle, hence "180 degrees". 

This rule has been broken in films such as Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". In the scene where two characters are having a conversation in a bathroom, the 180-degree rule is broken as the camera angle switches from one side of the imaginary axis to the other, making it seem like the two characters have switched positions if the viewer isn't keeping a careful eye. However, the breaking of the rule in this case was a stylistic decision by Kubrick to disorient and confuse the viewers purposefully, because it goes well with the horror and suspense that the movie portrays. This type of stylistic decision would not work in most films, but Kubrick pulled it off in an infamous way. 

Blinking and Editing

Blinking is a necessary reflex to cleanse and moisten the eye. Most of the time we never take notice of our blinking action. Blinking is part of your body language and can tell a lot about what you are feeling and thinking. There is such a thing as blinking too much or too little. People who blink rapidly might be feeling distressed or uncomfortable. People can pick up on a person's blinking pattern subconsciously and may not be able to explain why something feels “off” about a person. Reading a persons body language is used in many lines of work. A state trooper’s life depends on being good at reading a person’s body language to determine if they are aggressive, under the influence or thinking about making a move.  In the film world ready an audience body language may not be a matter of life and death but it maybe able to tell you whether or not the audience is actually engaged in your film. The audience should be blinking in unison if they are captivated by the film and paying full attention. This means that your films cuts and overall flow are working. If the audience’s blinking is scattered this means they are not fully paying attention and their minds are wandering elsewhere. The film’s cuts may be too jarring for the audience to follow or the storyline and images being shown just aren’t interesting. Paying attention to the audiences blinking pattern is just another tool to use in order to get feed back on how well the film is doing its job on engaging the audience. Blinking is also thought to be the reason for why people are able to follow an edited movie and comprehend it even though film breaks reality by juxtaposing space and time.