What needs to go in my Continuity task Evaluation?

This is a list of topics that I will need to cover when I write my continuity task evaluation

Continuity Task Final Cut

This is the final version of our continuity task film. Since the first draft, there are a number of different changes that we have made to the film. Firstly, we added in a whole new scene at the beginning. The reason we decided to add this part in was so that it made our story make a bit more sense. It allowed the audience to have some prior knowledge as to what the character was doing. We also included some sound effects on the doors, making the piece sound more realistic. We decided to keep the music the same as we felt it really made the piece have an ominous and mysterious tone to it.

Hotel Babylon Essay

How is Ethnicity Presented in the Hotel Babylon Extract?


The first to be introduced are to two black men. One of which is a hotel employee, the other being a guest at the hotel. There is an immediate difference in the presentation  between the two men through their dress — one man is seen in a full suit and the other in Bermuda shorts and braided hair. The black male seen in the suit is clearly proud of his position and of his job. This creates an atypical representation of the black male. A long shot establishes this, as we see him proudly walking and brushing off his suit almost with a sense of smugness. His posh, clean image is then juxtaposed by the introduction of a second black male. However, this person represents the typical stereotype of what Jamaican people are said to be like. Through the diegetic sound (dialogue) we hear that he has a traditional accent and speaks in colloquial language which also connotes his lower status, compared to the first males formal dialect. He also speaks of ‘partying’ ‘smoking the ganja’ which is something Jamaican people are typically known to do. In the scene, there are a number of over the shoulder shots which further contrasts the two men as it emphasises the difference of clothing. This also allows for both of the mens facial expressions to be viewed - showing their reactions to one another. However, the editing connotes that there is no social difference between the two men. They are both given equal screen time and are shot at an eye line match which further emphasises the director is not implying that one is better than the other.
The next characters to be introduced two Eastern European maids. As they are introduced the music turns into a fast paced ‘techno’ beat which connotes that the mades are sleazy and they are about to commit a sordid act. This ties in to the idea that the Eastern European’s are stereotyped to be in menial jobs and end up committing acts of prostitution to earn extra money. However, in this extract one of the maids goes against the typical stereotype. She becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. As this happens, the editing begins to increase in pace, with multiple close up shots being shown of the maid, where it is clear by her facial expressions that she does not want to commit to the act. The older maid, fits the stereotype. She is shown from a long shot looking very confident in her self through the way she is stood and her eagerness to begin stripping for the business man.
      The next character in the extract is an elderly Chinese business man. He is continually shot at a much lower angle than anybody else we see in the extract - connoting that he may be lower down than everyone else; something which may relate to his morals. To also emphasise this, he is not given any dialogue which also connotes that he is not as important as the other characters in the extract. He is being stereotyped due to the fact that he is paying for sex. As the scene moves on, loud, brash music is put on, which begins to build the anticipation, questioning if the business man is going to go ahead with his actions. The music runs parallel with the scene as it increases the intensity of the scene and the riskiness of the whole situation. The camera cuts back to an extreme close up of his face on a number of occasions which highly intensifies the situation and the position that the business man is in - almost degrading him even more.  
In the clip, a small cut of an oriental worker is shown. She has a very posh and formal tone to her voice, which is expected. Also in her scene, she is seen sneaking around the hotel, something which is the Asians are stereotyped of being. Her good morals and expectations are visibly clear.  A number of shot-reverse-shots are used to show her disgust and confusion towards the maid. The parallel music also emphasises her sneakiness as the high tone and fast pace creates a sense of ambiguity about her actions.
The next couple introduced are two British managers. Immediately they are shown to be of a high status, an establishing long shot draws the eye to the fact that they are both dressed in a full suit and are centralised within the frame, which highlights their importance to the scene. Their accents, much like the Oriental worker, are very posh and they speak to one another in formal English, again, connoting that they are of high status. Both of the British workers fit the typical stereotype of a British worker. However, the music is contrapuntal to the scene. The deep, low music radiates the feeling that all is not well, which contrasts the bold and confident image that the two workers display.
The last characters that are in the extract are two chefs. One British and one Eastern European. There is an immediate physical size difference between the two chefs which an establishing long shot visualises. Unlike most of the other characters in this extract, the British chef is given more screen time than the Eastern European chef, connoting that the director is saying that one is better than the other in this situation. During the scene, there is a build up to a potential fight. Yet, the continuing idea that the British chef holds a certain status above the Eastern European chef is further emphasised by the a close up of the Eastern European chef picking up a knife in order to defend himself - whereas the British chef merely stands there and does not promote any forms of physical violence. Emphasising the British stereotype.


    By Reece Garside.

Continuity Task First Draft

This is the first draft of our continuity task. Now that we have got a rough draft together, as a group we can discuss the areas that we feel need improving. We will look at the way it has been edited together and if there are any other transitions we can use to make it smoother. We will also ensure that the whole piece makes sense, and that this is all displayed through the way that we have filmed the piece.

Sophie Lowden

In our lesson, we had a guest speaker in called Sophie Lowden. Sophie is a professional story boarder, and came in to pass on her knowledge and a few tips and ideas for our group when it comes to producing our final storyboard for our coursework piece.
After talking with Sophie, it is clear that a story boarder and a director must work in sync in order to make a successful sequence. They would sit down together and discuss the different type of shots that they could possibly use, then the story boarder would draw it up and the director could make a decision on which shot looks best. She stated that in a 3 minute clip, there would be over 100 different camera angles that would have to be drawn; each serving their own purpose.

Sophie also spoke to us about animatics. She showed us some of her own work and then we looked in more detail at the Gravity Falls introduction scene. We looked at the animatic compared to the final creation. From looking at this storyboard, it became clear to me just how important and relevant the storyboard is. The way that the final piece mirrored that of the animatic was incredibly close. However, as this was an animation, it would have been easier to stick to the storyboard as you are creating the scenes with a pen and wont face such issues that you might when filming on location.
Another vital element of this storyboard was the frame counter in the top right hand corner. It was counting each individual frame, and in animation there is 24 frames in one second. In the title sequence of Gravity Falls, there were 1440 frames, which made one minute of film.

Sophie also told us about how arrows work to show movement in storyboards - If you want the camera to move, you place the arrow outside of the box. If you want the character to move, you place the arrow inside the box.

Lastly, I learnt a few vital tips for storyboarding:

- Must understand what you are doing before you start – have a clear idea of what you want to do – descriptive bullet points

- Don't have to draw in order. As the idea comes to you, get it down. You can always rearrange it

- Think about the rule of thirds.

Continuity Task Storyboard

For our continuity task, our group came up with the idea of a cleaner conducting a robbery inside the school. We thought that on his approach to the room we would be able to show off our camera skills and shoot the robber from different angles. 

The only problem about a robbery is that it would be done with no other people around, meaning no dialogue would take place. So to make sure that we could include dialogue, we decided to place a teacher in one of the rooms and as she leaves she says goodnight to the 'innocent' cleaner. 

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Continuity Task Filming Locations

For our continuity task, we decided to have a quick look around the school for an appropriate filming location. The criteria for our location was that it had to wide enough for our long shot and feature multiple doors in one corridor. 

This is the location that we have decided to use - it is wide enough for us to fit a whole person in and features multiple doors which is perfect for what we need. 

This location will not be used due to the fact that the rooms are not in the correct order and the room is very large and open which will make it hard for us not to break the 180 degree rule. 

This location had all of the right elements to it apart from the fact that it was very narrow, meaning that we would not be able to film from the side, limiting the amount of shots we would be able to use. 

Continuity Task Outline

In our coursework groups, we have been set small task of creating a short sequence that can show off our camera skills and abilities. The mini project will need to show a variety of different camera, editing, mise-en-scene and sound skills.

The rules for this task were:
• You must not break the 180 Degree Rule
• You must include a shot-reverse-shot
• You must include a variety of appropriate camera angles
• You must edit so that continuity is apparent and the meaning is clear
• You must include more than one location
• You must include some interaction between characters
• You must include some non-diegetic sound

This means that our group will have to come up with a short story that will enable us to include all of these rules into our work.