Scene Analysis

I have chose a scene from the TV show Supernatural to analyse, it is a scene in which Sammy is having a battle against bloody mary and trying to kill her.


Introduction

The history of editing, now a days all editing is done electronically using certain software's and digital camera's. The first use of film editing is detected in Robert W. Paul's film made in 1898 and was also one of the first films which had featured more than one shot. Before this all the filmmaker would just film the shot in one huge chunk on a set of film and simply stop filming when the scene had ended, they would then put another role of film into the camera and carry on. After everything was shot they would have people who would slice the film frames and glue/stick them together to play the scene as a whole.
Film editing didn't become vastly popular until the mid 1900's D. W. Griffith was a well known director who popularized film editing, he would track continuous action through a house by cutting different shots together, and he also used cuts of closer shots on actors to capture subtler emotions in their faces.

Now a days there is a constant competition/ argument between digital filming and well known directors often criticize digital cinematography because it is ruining traditional film and the quality of movies but on the other hand some directors support digital film making because of the higher frame rate that it brings.

The history of transitions, back in the days where film was used regularly achieving a dissolve was as easy as shooting a scene and consisted of one shot, then rewinding the last few seconds of he negative, and then continuing with your next scene. this in-camera process allowed a bridge to be built between images that eased audiences from one scene to another without jarring them.

Cuts were being used straight away in cinema as the editor could easily cut the celluloid strip with a blade or scissors and splice it together.

Fade ins and fade outs are the second most common type of transition, they happen when the picture is gradually replaced by a black screen or any other solid color.

Wipes are what happens when one shot pushes the other off frame, there are hundreds of them used in Star Wars to help one scene switch to the other.

Dissolves also known as overlapping, it happens when one shot gradually replaces by the next. It disappears as the following appears.

Iris is an old fashioned transition which is hardly used now a days, it is when a circulars masking closes the picture to a black screen.

In camera editing is where instead of editing the shots in a film into a sequence after shooting, the cinematographer instead will shoot the sequence in a strict order, this means that when it comes to editing and ordering the sequence it is already done. 

 It is used in the argument against film and digital,because when films were only filmed on film reduction in the cost of the production. When the cost of film was a significant fraction of the budget, film-makers used this technique to maximize film usage

At 0:00-0:01 there is an eyeline match up, you see Dean staring at something with a shocked and confused expression on his face, the camera then shows you what he was looking at, this technique is used to help the viewer to tell what the character is looking at and gives us a feel to what is going on/ what they are thinking of.

In this shot-reverse shot straight away Dean has a shocked expression so as a viewer we automatically think what he has spotted/ what he is looking at is something strange or shocking. We then see a wide shot of a room with lots of props in it so as a viewer we know that this is not normal

Here you can see a break of the 180 degree rule; the camera starts off behind Sammy’s right shoulder and then when it cut to the next shot the camera is over his left shoulder, which means Dean has jumped to the other side of the frame. The second shot is wider so it shows more of the location. This establishes the scene and location more and so does not disorientate the viewer.                                                                    

Here is another eyeliner matchup, there is a lot in this sequence in this one you see Dean is crouched and walking down a corridor with a curious look on his face. It then cuts to what he is looking at and it is more of the setting, it also shows the viewer yet again more of the setting and brings across the idea that the scenario is a very big setting

Here is a match on action shot which then leads to zooming in, here we have a shoulder filmed from behind Sammy’s shoulder and then it cuts to his face and zooms in to emphasis his expression which is shocked but intrigued into what he is looking towards. Then it cuts to a similar shot as the first one but in the background you can see a figure, this technique is similar to a shot reverse shot as it quickly switches back. It makes the audience feel as if the figure has appeared there very quickly.

Here we have a match on action following the previous scene, we once again see the mysterious figure behind Sammy in the mirror which could make this shot a cut a way because you see someone other than the main subject but this time it is on left hand sign. There is also a focus in this shot, it focuses solely on the figure and blurs Sammy's body helping the audience to focus on the important factor.

Here we then notice that Sammy has obviously noticed the figure and he is now in the action stance where he is about to attack it.

We then see in this shot his smashing the mirror with the crow bar, i believe this is a successful match on action as you see the point of the action and then you see it being achieved by movement. These shots are effective because it will show the point of action in steps instead of showing a whole action sequence in one shot which isn't choppy and quick, it gives the audience more of an idea of whats happening.

There is alot of shot reverse shots in the sequence this is because it is an intense scene in which things are quick and snappy and to execute the scene right, shot reverse shots help the viewer alot. Here we see Sammy once again looking into the mirror with a look of confusion upon his face holding the crowbar in a stance position.

Then it quickly reverses the camera so it is looking at Sammy's face straight on it also highlights the look upon his face, helping the viewer to differ his expression.

Then the camera quickly snaps back to the same position of shot before, this whole shot lasts around 4 seconds so is very snappy and quick. It is shot- sam looking into the mirror with crowbar. shot- camera focuses onto sam's face and he is crouched lower. shot- back to over the shoulder showing sam looking into the mirror.

I think it is clearly noticeable that Sammy is the protagonist in this sequence, he gets alot of camera time and when the camera is on him it will solely on his face to emphasize his importance and roll in the sequence.

 Here is a close up/cut in there are alot of cut ins in the sequence they do it to emphasize key facial expressions. It emphasize's Sammy's importance because his face is filling up the whole shot, but he is not staring down the camera lense but instead staring into the mirror almost looking like he is controlling/dominating it making the audience get a feel of his character.


 

Here we have a close up shot two shot of the main characters both holding a mirror towards the evil person, it is slightly blurred on their faces and the camera is mainly focused on the mirror and whoever is in it, this helps the audience know what they should focus their attention on.

We then get a cut in close up on Dean's face showing the concentration in his face and it looks like he is determined to destroy/kill the evil they are after, shots like this are used to highlight the facial expressions on the characters face to help determine his current mood.

Here we have an Ariel shot of a conversation going on between Dean and two other policeman, shots like these are effective because it helps establish the shot and show the setting in more detail to help the audience.





Shot Variation is the technique used in filming to create a sequence of images using movement; these types of shots include an wide shot as this type of shot is commonly used at the start of a sequence to set the tone of the scene as well as enabling the audience to grasp the concept of the scene. The most common shots used in this entire sequence is shot-reverse-shots

Cross-cutting, also known as parallel editing is the technique in which two or more scenes are altered so they happen simultaneously, they are usually used to help construct the narrative and emphasize dramatic parts, also make it more interesting for the viewer. There is one cross cutting scene during my sequence in which Dean is leaving the building that him and Sam were previously in, and walking outside to approach two other people whilst the scene in which Sam is opposite the mirror is played simultaneously after.

Here we have the start of the cross cutting where we can clearly see Dean has left the location that he was currently at where he was with Sam so now wherever he goes now will start the cross cutting.








We then have Dean in a close up and you can see his surroundings, the scene is now set and it is a different location so whatever happens to him now (he is mid conversation with some cops) will be cross-cutting.








About 30 seconds after the previous shot we are then shown a shot of Sam who is still inside the different building, whilst we then have shots of him facing a mirror it cross cuts to Dean outside dealing with the cops a perfect example of cross cutting. Showing us two different narratives where Dean is dealing with something on his own and so is Sam, but at the end they both join together.




Restricted narrative is a term where they will withhold information from you to decide when it is the right time to tell the audience certain things, it does not mean that you find out information the same time as the protagonists on the screen. Withholding information is different from providing information because sometimes the audience is given the information the same time as the protagonist, it can also go wrong if it is not done correctly. During this scene the shots that are used withhold certain information for example when the camera is focused on Sam's face when he can obviously see something behind him, as the viewer we are not shown this information until further on in the scene, the reason for this it to create suspense and suspicion in the dialogue.

Editing rhythm is a term that is used to describe the rhythmic pattern of shots and/or sequences, also usually dictated by music. It is used to keep the pace of the film matching what is going on in the film, slow cut edits has a calming feel to the edit, whereas if the cuts are fast it gives us a lively and aggressive feel to the edit. The rhythm in this sequence is all slow paced, accompanied with the slow, high pitch screeching music and slow shots it is obvious that it has been set up to be slow and dramatic to set the scene, the rhythm starts to pick up towards the end hence the quick snappy shots and noises accompanied.

Conclusion
The construction of the sequence has a very good narrative structure, it starts off with a state of equilibrium where everything seems to be an average atmosphere, we then have a disruption when the figure appears but by the end everything seems to be resolved by Dean and Sam resolving the situation. when it comes to editing in the sequence i think there were a lot of variation of shot typed, but mainly shot reverse shots which i feel are good with a sequence like this which is a dramatic and intense sequence involving a obvious enemy against the protagonist. There was a lot of information provided for us in the 5 minute duration of the sequence, it is made obvious that there are three people fighting evil/a bad person and it is obvious that both two main boys are fighting against the evil, the way the audience will see this is the way everything is filmed and how each character is portrayed, also the setting and low lighting and haunted looking prop's helps the audience to identify the genre the scene is.

With the soundtrack there is a quite humming of high pitch screechy sound which faded in and out and got higher and lower during certain dramatic moments to emphasize them, the sound that we did hear is non-dietetic meaning it is placed into the scene after it has been shot and finalized. The only dietetic sounds that we hear are their voices and footsteps/door openings and the mirror smashing.