Evaluation Of Short Film Continuity Edit

This is an evaluation of my short film 'Affiliation' (continuity edit). Throughout the evaluation, i will be analysing the effect and purpose of the single camera techniques and editing techniques used in the film to drive the narrative and help the audience experience a certain emotion.

I will start by evaluating Scene 1, the first shot is a panning close up of a pocket watch.

The reason we wanted to show this as the establishing shot was because of the amount of information this single shot contains. It informs the viewer of the time of day, which aids the viewer's perception of time within the film and this builds the foundation for reality, and from the very beginning, the viewer will be relating all of the other aspects of the film to this very shot.
Throughout the film, the shots are constantly changed on the actions made from actors, when someone walks off shot we are shown where they go and if someone looks at something that holds importance to the narrative, the audience is also shown it.
Doing this makes the cuts feel more fluent and it does not disrupt the viewer's sense of space as I was not wanting to through the viewer off, I wanted them to feel tense and anxious.

The first exchange of dialogue between Benjamin and Pete, we are shown the first cuff link which is blue. The reason behind Benjamin having the colour blue to represent himself with is because of his personality. Benjamin wrote to have a very peacekeeping mindset and doesn't like to judge someone straight away, making him a very neutral character so blue fit him best.

Spencer's entrance is initiated with a loud bang, quite literally as we hear a slamming door before we see his feet walking into the bar space. The shot of Spencer's feet is full of incredible cinematic detail, first of all, the shot is a very low angle which makes Spencer seem as if he's looking down on the audience. This subtly creates the idea that Spencer is extremely powerful and looks down on everyone else, just through where the camera is placed the audience is made to feel small and weak.
The next shot of Spencer pans up from his waist to give us a medium shot of his face, this furthermore creates the idea that we are looking up to Spencer and are less powerful than him.
He then proceeds to speak to Pete where there is a shot-reverse-shot sequence between the two.

One thing I wanted to make sure the audience took in was that Pete was not apart of the affiliation and he is completely separate to the rest of the characters. Pete is the outcast and the weakest, and we needed the audience to think this about him so that the twist further on in the film was more powerful. I subtly told the audience this throughout the build-up through the use of very specific shot angles and types. Take the bar, for example, i wanted Pete to always be stationed behind the bar so there is this physical essence that shows the divide between the characters and him, all dominant characters are in front of the bar and Pete stands behind the bar for the majority of the film. Also, the majority of the shots of Pete are extremely claustrophobic as he has very tight shots but the other are shown in long wide shots, I did this to represent the confidence of the characters, as Pete feels most uncomfortable about the situation of the evening. He does feel safe in his own bar so this also sways the idea of dominance and represents Pete in a way where he seems to be the least dominant of the group. Going back to the idea of the division between the bar which adds to the perception of Pete the weakest character is that he is always isolated on the other side of the bar and this tells the audience that unlike the others he has got no one to help him or protect him.

I wanted to establish a strong relationship between the characters of Benjamin and Spencer, doing this makes the actions that are yet to be seen to make more sense and also make the climax of the film a bigger pay-off. They are seen side by side, and even do some things in synchronisation to one another such as taking drinks. When the two are in the same shot they appear strong but when there are not shown united by the same shot they appear weak. This is more impactful further into the film when the tension has risen and when the two are separated they both are seen with guns aiming right at them, doing this gives the idea that they work together and together they are strong but separate they are just as weak as the rest of them. Doing this also distorts the idea of who is the most dominant because both a constantly being seen in a way that makes them seem extremely dominant but then juxtaposed with a shot that makes them look incredibly weak.

The whole film, in my opinion, is a showcase of strength between each character. The bottle of Joes is there to create synergy between the flashback but also to help increase the impact of Anthony's entrance. There is a shot where we see Benjamin and Spencer drink the drink and they are disgusted by it but it is known as a high-class drink in the film. Them drinking this can showcase their strength to some level since they can stomach the drink which indicates that they are more strong than Pete as he is never seen drinking it at all.

Then when we see Anthony consume the remaining contents of the bottle in seconds then proceeding to smash it on the floor which ends up kicking off the tense dialogue between all the characters. But it is interesting because of Anthony doing this shows the physical or mental strength he has over the rest of the people in the pub making the tension even more strong and furthermore moving the viewer to the edge of their seat.

The pacing of the film is to help the drive certain emotions to the audience as well as creating a suitable pace for the specific moment of the film, the pacing stays very calm for the first act of the film but as it begins to get tenser the cuts become more frequent. In addition to these different angles are cut to which can be related to the impact of Anthony's presence in the pub as it completely shifts the idea of what Benjamin and Spencer thought the evening was going to be like. The audience is meant to be linked to the character of Benjamin and the shots of Benjamin are always level to his eye, this builds a connection between him and the audience whereas the others are seen in the and lows angles, constantly shifting so that the audience finds it hard to get 'to their level'.

I would also like to mention how the scene transitions to the flashback increase the importance of the Bottle of Joe's as the transition revolves around a shot of the drink. The audience will interpret the importance of this and see it as a traditional drink for the affiliated gangs and plays a role just as important as other props that link the characters such as the cuff links.

When Anthony appears he is stood positioned in between Benjamin and Spencer, this shows in a visual way how he is coming between their friendship. Tearing a connection between them and building on the idea that he is breaking them down so that they aren't together, and the audience will interpret this and feel more worried for the characters as there is more division between the forces.

When Anthony places the cufflinks down, we see an extreme close up of them, and they are the only thing in focus and this is to show what Benjamin is so concerned about and what exactly at that moment his main focus. The next shot we see Benjamin looks over to the board of cufflinks, using eye match cutting we hand over more information for the audience so they can piece together themselves what exactly is going on. Having the audience figure this out the same time as the main characters help build a connection between them as at this point, we know just as much as them so the rest of the film feels much more anxious and stressful. When Spencer asks what is going on he is the only one in focus at the beginning of the shot, this shows how he is isolated from the recent event and doesn't know what is happening and the focus pull to Benjamin can show how Spencer is caught up to the rest of them. the focus representing his knowledge of the situation going from shallow to deep. Anthony and Spencer are enemies so this could be seen as another slight insult to Spencer's blindness by doing certain things that need to be visually taken in, this shows the fight for dominance in the scene as Anthony is constantly attacking Spencer, which started from 'Long time no see' and rising up to the climax of the film.

When the guns are being pointed and the characters all find themselves in a standoff, Pete presents the power he has which makes for such a good twist, this character has been presented as weak but is then shown to have more power over Benjamin. It is revealed by a close up of Benjamin's gun panning to show Pete just over Benjamins left shoulder.

 One reason the camera shows Pete like this is to link with the classic image of having a devil on your shoulder, which is to represent dishonesty and mistrust which is exactly what Pete is showing. The visual representation of all the characters makes it hard for the audience to decide on who they want to root for as they are all bad people but some are the better of two evils, or four.

The close-ups of Spencer are all little visual hints to show the representation of Anthony and Spencer's ideas of power. Spencer believes that "the mind is a much more powerful weapon" and Anthony is challenging that idea of his by pointing a gun to his head, showing visually the contrast in ideologies of the characters. The shots of Spencer are closer than in the beginning because it is to represent that he is trapped and has nowhere to go, this affects the audience by making fear run through the audience for Spencer as he no longer appears as confident.

When Benjamin sees that Spencer has been the 'bad guy' the whole time and not Anthony we see the change in focus once more between the two, just like before it was to show the knowledge of the scene it is used to show the support that the two have from one another. When Spencer says 'what was necessary' he goes to be the only one in focus, showing that he is completely isolated from Benjamin and has lost his trust but most importantly, his help. This shows the loss of Spencer's power as he becomes one of the weakest characters.
For this shot, we had to have Pete (LUKE CURRY GLASPER) wear Anthony's coat and hold the gun as I worked the camera as I was the only one who could do the shift in focus and work the camera for that shot.
As Spencer begins his big speech near the end he is shown in a low angle, this is to convey that he is trying to force his dominance for one last time, making the audience feel small for one last time. We visually show this by Spencer standing up to become level with Anthony, this can be very literal in the sense that he is taking his 'last stand'

and to show that the interpretations of him and Anthony aren't so different now. They are shown as opposites at the beginning but near the end when all the secrets have been brought out, Spencer is just as dishonourable and Anthony has been made out to be. 
There are many ways the story is wrapped up in a poetic way. Anthony adds to the importance of the cuff links and by placing Spencer's on the bar after killing him. Then we get an extreme close up of the shot glass and the purple cufflinks.

I wanted to make sure that the colour of the cufflinks was seen so that it can be linked to the character who wears them, it is a royal purple to show that Spencer had this idea of him being the monarchal leader of the city. Also that he sees himself as more important than everyone else and that it links to the chess references that are said and shown throughout the film and that Anthony and Spencer were the kings of the board. When the film is drawing to a close we see that Benjamin gets his pocket watch back out, this is to show that it is the end, it seemed fitting that the start of the narrative was represented by the pocket watch it seemed fitting that it should end using the same.

The low key lighting that is prominent throughout is also a vital part of the cinematography in that it conveys the sense of darkness and mystery, trapping the viewer inside this claustrophobic and gritty environment. 
In conclusion, the film was made to constantly mess with the feeling of comfortability for the audience, shifting tone and feel throughout the film to make sure that the audience never feels at ease and constantly making the character's emotions relatable through the use of specifically chosen cinematic techniques. I was absolutely delighted with how it turned out in the end, almost a year to make this short film from start to finish and I am glad that I had such an amazing bunch of people to be my crew. 

Affiliation Trailer Evaluation

The following is an evaluation of the trailer I made for my short film 'Affiliation', the purpose of a trailer is to advertise a film and attract an audience towards it. I believe that I made the film seem attractive in the ways of which I edited it together. Also, I used the most cinematic shots of the film in the trailer so that I could showcase the level of artistic choices that were made and what the end result was of having this professional cinematic approach towards the film.

The trailer is an extremely short one, coming in at a total duration of only 51 seconds. The reason behind it being this short was because the film's plot is meant to be a mystery and I did not want to broadcast too much information from the trailer and give away the narrative. So i limited myself an how many shots I could use and I only used shots that did not contain any vital plot points. This decision to keep the storyline a mystery is very effective as it creates the desire to watch the film to see what happens, the only real plot point that is seen is at the end of the trailer but it is cut when Benjamin jumps out of his chair and aims his gun. This is to amplify the excitement of the film thus leading to a better advertisement as it draws people in.

I edited the trailer alongside the song 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' by Johnny Cash as I liked the tempo and style of the song as it matched the films perfectly. It starts off with a very basic beat but as it gets to the chorus of the song the musical elements are vamped up and the song feels more intense from what it was believed to be at the beginning. Which matches the plot points of the film itself, it starts off like a normal, boring evening in a pub but as the story progresses the tension rises and adrenaline is built.
There are some lyrics that are slight hints to certain points in the plot too. For example, the biggest hint is the cut to Benjamin turning to look at Spencer when the lyrics sang are 'what's done in the dark will be brought to the light' this was done to emphasise who the real villain of the film is. Which is something that was purposefully done in the film to constantly disturb the audience's perception of story roles and leaving them constantly asking, who is the protagonists and who is the antagonists?
I used a few jump cuts in the trailer to keep the tempo of the cuts matching the song beat, using this type of rhythmic editing keeps the viewer in tune with both visual and auditory elements and making the trailer more immersive and interesting.

The cufflinks are a vital part of the story, so throughout the trailer, we are shown them from different angles and they appear in almost every shot. This repetition of the cufflinks helps the viewer congregate an idea of what the story may be about and also adding to the excitement and anticipation to see the film.

The real question I ask myself at the end of each production does it fulfil it the purpose, I believe that i made this trailer to the best of my ability and it fully serves its purpose. It showcases the most beautiful shots from the film, it creates this uneasy tone whilst also creating excitement to see the film. In addition to all of this, if there was anything I would change it would be the title at the end, I wanted it to look vintage and simple but it does not match the style of the trailer but I would like to say that I believe the transitioning cut on beat to the title makes it seem much more impactful so I don't think it ruins the trailer but if Ic ould change anything it would be that.