Continuity Task 1

1. Explain the story of your video
- Raph and Simon are at school. Simon realises that he'll be late to school and walks off to tell Raph that the bell has gone. Raph panics and packs up his things in a hurry but trips over the pavement on his way to his lesson.

2. How did you attempt to create 'narrative flow' (continuity)?
- We tried to use a master shot in the second shot - we used a pan to establish where Raph and Simon were in comparison to each other and with the setting.
- In shot 2-3, Simon carries on walking from the same place; he doesn't magically jolt forward.
- We used different angles of Raph in shot 3 and 4 so that the audience can see how he is standing and where he is going to walk when he turns around.

3. Did you achieve full continuity? If not, why not?
- The match-on action doesn't fit together from shot 5-6; Raph falls twice.
- Raph turns his head twice in shot 3-4.


4. In hindsight, what would you do differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and tell your story more effectively?
- Simon should've run after he said he was going to be late to make it more realistic.
- He should've established that he would be late for class when he said it to Raph, that way we wouldn't have to include the scene where Simon spoke to himself.
- In addition, we should've not used cross-cuts right from the very beginning because it throws off the audience.
- I'd make sure the background isn't cluttered in the shot; remove the rubbish bags in the back.
- Shot 1 could've been wider, to establish more of the setting.

Reflection On Practicle TV Drama Still

1. Provide a brief summary of how you planned your photography practical.
Before the shoot, I drew a rough picture of what my shot would contain; the actors and any props. I also thought about what type of shot my still would be and which would be most effective i.e CU or MCU.

2. Analyse your chosen shot and identify in what ways it could be described as signifying your chosen TV drama genre/subgenre.
My chosen subgenre was thriller and i chose to signify this by the dark lighting and mysterious, hooded figure with a gassmask. The hidden face and girl in a headlock connote a threatening image and creates unease for the audience. The Mid shot of my character shows the emotion , but also shows enough of the figure in the background.

3. How did you intend the audience to interpret your still? What narrative moment were you attempting to create? What meanings were you attempting to communicate?  (BARTHES NARRATIVE CODES?
I wanted the audience to feel tense as they try to anticipate what was going to happen next. The lack of information of the story creates enigma for the audience as they don't know what's going to happen next.

4. Identify what is successful about your shot.
I captured sophia's helplessness by having her in a headlock, and I'm happy about the angle of the shot as the audience is unable to see sophia's face - which was my intention.

5. What would you do differently if you were to repeat this activity?
I would plan the location of my shot and how the lighting will be. If i need it to be a very lit shot, i would do it outside.

TV Drama Still Analysis

For my TV drama, I have chosen a still from the series 'Arrow'. The still denotes the green arrow in a dark green suit being strangled my Malcolm Merlin who is wearing a black suit on a rooftop. Arrow is on his knees and both characters are facing away from the camera. There are dark high-rises in the background with small lights shining through the windows, which creates a setting that resembles a high class financial district in America. the location of a city in America may suggest an action  genre since cities like New York are usual setting for action films and TV shows. In addition, Arrow is wearing a typical hero outfit, with leather and armor, which reinforces the genre. The central position of Arrow and Malcolm portrays them as the protagonist and antagonist,fighting. This in addition to the lack of address to the camera, suggests that they are in the middle of a fight and are in the climax of the episode.