Film & TV Language: Editing video

Key skills

The following clips and links should help you with the key skills you need to demonstrate in your preliminary exercise.

Match on action

 Match on action (or cutting on action) is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot showing the same action of the subject in the first shot.

 This creates the impression of continuity - the action creates a 'visual bridge' which is easy for the audience to follow.

Look at this YouTube clip for match on action - the cuts you want to look at in particular are at 2 seconds, then again at 18 seconds:


Shot/reverse shot

Shot/reverse shot uses over-the-shoulder shots to show a conversation between two characters. Look at this example from the Hunger Games movie - specifically between 0.50 and 1.30.

With shot/reverse shot, you need to observe the 180 degree rule. 

180 degree rule

The 180-degree rule of shooting and editing keeps the camera on one side of the action. This keeps characters grounded compositionally on a particular side of the screen or frame, and keeps them looking at one another when only one character is seen onscreen at a time. 

 It is referred to as a rule because the camera, when shooting two actors, must not cross over the axis of action; if it does, it risks giving the impression that the actors' positions in the scene have been reversed. [source: Columbia Film Language Glossary]

In other words, draw an imaginary line between the two characters facing each other and then make sure the camera never crosses that line during the filming of that scene. This video is a brilliant explanation of the rule:


Script:
Location: classroom
Actors: Devesh, Gurpreet

Devesh thinks to himself "man, I don't want to stay behind, Gurpreet, my media teacher, has just left to go drop something off in DS05. Maybe I should leave"
*Devesh gets up to leave the classroom and opens the door*
*Gurpreet is going back downstairs to his classroom*
*Gurpreet goes through 2 doors*
Devesh sees gurpreet and thinks for a second then goes back into the classroom
*Gurpreet knocks on the door and Devesh opens door for him*
*Gurpreet sits down*
*Devesh sits down*
*Gurpreet begins to talk to Devesh about his failing grades*
The End

Script by LemonJam
Story by LemonJam
Edited by LemonJam

Shot list: 
low angle shot
medium shot
closeup shot
long shot
dolly shot

My video:


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