Exercise 2A assignment:
I cut the first few seconds of the video where Mitch starts to walk to the vending machine. The video starts exactly when Mitch takes out his wallet and looks through the options on the vending machine. The reason why I cut the first few seconds was because I felt it was draggy. It was better to start of straight of him taking out his wallet. At the end of the video it stopped when Mitch punched the vending machine. I ended it there because I wanted to give it some suspense. What will happen when Mitch punches the vending machine? I leave up to the audience to think what could have happened after that. However, I wished that after he punched the vending machine it would go straight to black screen so that it would give more of an impact to the audience. They will be more curious about the ending like something bad could have happened to Mitch after punching the vending machine.
Exercise 2B assignment:
I had a few versions of this video but I feel that this is the best among all. The framing for the shots were not the exact frame like the first three shots and the dance moves were not the same so putting them together to see the continuity was a bit difficult. I tried working around choosing which shots to go first and what to go next. I started with Ali scenes and then with Mona scenes. I choose to reuse the shot from the beginning for the ending but at a different timing. I find that there is continuity as a whole. There’s a flow to it. However, I feel that it would be better if it was angle the same way and position the two main characters at the same spot so that the framing remains the same throughout and it will. The continuity from one character shot to the other would be smooth thus it will make the editing process easier.
Exercise 3A assignment:
The first abstract video I did was about the character first day in school, taking in her surroundings. We follow her footsteps, gaze and the things around her. I felt that my first abstract video was lacking in movement. I felt that it was messy and it did not really have the flow that I wanted. Each shots did not have a clear story to tell.
We went to re-shoot extra shots. My new abstract video revolves around the theme emergency. It is mostly made up of emergency signs or things related to emergency. For example, the staircase sign which always referred to “when there is a fire use the staircase”. The other shots includes the fire extinguisher, empty walkways and lift signs. In the beginning of the video it starts with a slow motion of people walking. I wanted to make the audience feel that everything is fine and also to make them feel the suspense of what will happen next. My next few shots are paced normally however, once the number of the lift change to “5,4,3” that is where the pace of the shots becomes faster. I used fast cuts and repeated shots. At the end I fast forward the speed to make the characters leave the building quickly. I wanted to have an urgency and panic feel since it is an emergency. Besides editing that way, I choose to edit it in black and white so that it feels more surreal. The audience would feel the fine line between reality and fantasy. It has an abstract feel.
