P1. Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing 

Continuity Editing is the process in which cutting is used to maintain a clear and continuous narrative by following a sets of 8 rules. The 8 rules consist of the 180 degree rule, the 30 degree rule, Cross-cutting, Match on Action, Eyeline Match, Shot/Reverse Shots, Establishing Shots, and Re-establishing

Shots. 

The 180 degree rule consists of an axis, which is an imaginary line connecting and passing directly through the characters, but most importantly this rule results in the first character being on the left of the screen and the second on the right, if the camera stays on one side of the axis. If the camera crosses this axis, the characters will then swap sides, the first being on the right and the second being on the left; this is why it is important to maintain this rule so you don't confuse the audience. 

Eyeline match is an editing technique used to show the audience what the character is looking at. An example of this is when a sequence will cut from one shot of the character looking of screen, to another shot of the object she is looking at.

Shot/reverse shot or shot/counter shot is a technique where both characters appear to be looking at each other, but are actually not. This works by having one character looking off screen in one direction, and then cropping to another shot of the other character looking in the opposite direction, so to the audience it appears as if they are looking towards each other. 

The 30 degree rule is when the camera should move at least 30 degrees between shots of the same sector. If a jump cut occurs when this rule isn't followed, the audience could focus more on the rough edit then what is actually taking place. 

Cross cutting is an editing process which allows the audience to see two things taking place at once; it is done by cutting one extremely different clip after the other. Cross cutting can cut back and forth between any amount of scenes, not just two, and is also referred to as Parallel Editing. 

Match on action, also known as Cutting on action, is where the scene cuts from one shot of something to another that matches the first shots activity. Match on action shots give the audience the impression that the two scenes are shot in continuous time, although they could have been shot hours apart. 

An Establishing shot is usually shown at the beginning of a sequence, and is used to inform the audience of where the scene is taking place. Re-Establishing shots are used to return to an initial establishing shot in a scene, which act as a reminder to the viewer of the context of the closer shots.

D-Day with MOBAS

Mobas is a large marketing agency based on the outskirts of Cambridge.

The company specializes in helping brand strategy, digital, design and PR services, and offers a complete portfolio of creative and strategic marketing assistance. They offer services to clients such as IBIS, Accor, Bupa, The Cambridge Building Society, TOSHIBA and many more. 

Yesterday, we started of our D-day by listening to a speech and presentation presented by Peter Chaloner, the Digital Director of MOBAS, and Beck Lamont, the Director of PR and Social Media. In this presentation we got an incite of what the company was about, and also learnt what we would be doing through out the day.

Our task for the day was to create a Clothing Brand, and plan to advertise it through a variety of online social networks. For the majority of the day we split into groups of around 5, planning and sharing ideas of how we could advertise our brand. We put these ideas into practise by designing profiles on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr; also by designing a website, Ipad and Iphone app. Our group based our brand on Retro/Vintage clothing, similar to what you would find in Camden Market or Shoreditch. We spoke in groups and discussed how we could draw our customers in, coming up with ideas such as monthly discounts and offers, and placing stores around locally so everyone could access them (including online shopping). Lastly, we came to the decision that we would promote our clothing by constantly posting on our pages male and female models of all sizes, so people can come across something they like, and feel more confident when buying the clothing.

Once we had finished planning out our marketing strategy, we presented our ideas in front of the MOBAS members, our tutors and peers, and afterwards discussed what would work well, and what would need improving.

On this day, we learnt what companies like MOBAS do, and learnt how we could advertise and promote our own brands through social networking. We also improved our team working skills and confidence by presenting our ideas.

What we could have done differently if given more time was added colour to some of our designs and sketches. Also, we could have come up with a better name, as "Lane 21" sounded a bit like a racing game, and less like a Retro Brand. With hind-sight, we could have named it "Route 21" having a more vintage feel, (i.e Route 66). Also we could have actually created a http address for our site, and presented our Brand idea with more confidence, explaining more of our ideas, and being more enthusiastic about our plan.

Wallpaper

My objective was to create a wallpaper for my college MacBook desktop. To produce this piece, I firstly had to create 5 - 10 objects of my choice in Adobe Illustrator, which I drew using the shape tools, the pen tool and the eyedropper tool to add colour to the objects. After drawing each object, I selected its components and then went to the object tab, and pressed group to merge the objects together. Once I had created 6 images, I decided this was enough as I was running out of time, so then began turning them into symbols.

To turn the objects into symbols I selected the images individually and dragged them into the symbol box, where I then named them and set the symbols as 'graphic'. 

Once all my objects were symbols, I created a new page and set the dimensions to 300 x 300 mm. I then went to the symbol box where I then dragged out my objects, and placed them around my page, resizing them each time and using each symbol at least 5 times. If I placed an object slightly out of the central canvas, I would select it, go to object, transform and then move, and either set horizontal as 300 and vertical as 0 or the other way round, depending on where I wanted the copied image to appear.(Before selecting okay, I would make sure I selected copy).

When I was happy with my finished piece, and I had filled the canvas up enough, I went to file and selected save for web which I then saved as a PNG - 24 and selected Transparency. 

Finally, I opened up Photoshop and created a new page setting the pre-set to web and the dimensions to 1280 x 2400. In Photoshop, I then selected the paint bucket tool and set fill to pattern. I lastly loaded my finished illustrator tile into the patterns box, and then filled my Photoshop canvas with a repeated pattern of my tile, creating my final wallpaper. 

What I admire about my finished wallpaper is how the colours all complement each other, as I have tried to stick to mostly, creams, greens, blacks, greys and reds. I'm especially fond of the vintage camcorder, camera and sushi, as these were the most challenging and time consuming to create but they turned out well and are quite easy to distinguish. Another thing I'm impressed with is how I've used a mixture of 3D and 2D objects, for example, the bed is quite 3 Dimensional, where as the camcorder is extremely flat. 

What I could have improved is the amount of objects. If I had more time on the tile I would have added at least 2 more objects in, and maybe scattered relevant text around my tile as well. I would have also made the images in my tiles smaller and added more of them; as compared to my peers my final wallpaper had a lot larger images and less of them.  

Shoe

This image of my Doc Marten was firstly sketched out on A4 paper, scanned into the computer and coloured on Adobe Photoshop. This is my favourite Photoshop piece so far, as I am pleased with the proportions, and impressed with how the shading and colours turned out.