Film Analysis Intro

The movie I chose was Jaws (Steven Spielberg)

Scene I used (time code):
00:05:00 - 00:06:26

First Shot (00:05:00): Shot of man's head. Background in focus while foreground is blurred. Couple of seconds later, background is blurred and foreground is in focus. [racking focus]
Reason: ?

Second Shot (00:05:21): Camera follows man's movement. [tracking]
Reason: ?

Third Shot (00:05:38): Close up of man's face, camera moves back as character moves towards camera. [following shot]
Reason: ?

Fourth Shot (00:05:52): Close up of boys face and hand.
Reason:

Fifth Shot (00:06:01): Rule of thirds, close up of man on the phone. Foreground [man on telephone] in focus while background [wife and son] is blurred. [selective focus]
Reason: To emphasize the importance of the phone call

Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 Questions

On the Shot:
Explain the difference between small and large depths of field. Make up and describe two scenes in a movie and describe how both effects could be used to achieve the point of your scenes.

The difference between small and large depths is about how the objects are focused in. Lens with a depth field of 10 feet to infinity range will render the object clearly, but as the object moves closer to the camera the sharpness of the object will decrease. Wide-angel, short-focal-length, lens tend to have a greater depth of field than a telephoto, long-focal-length, lens. Depth of field controls the perspective relations by determining which planes will be in focus. Filmmakers may use selective focus, which is choosing to focus on only one plane and letting the other planes blur. This technique can also be used for more of a abstract compositional effect. Deep focus is where the filmmakers use faster films, shorter-focal-length lenses, and a intense lightning to create a greater depth of field. Along with the option of selective focus filmmakers may also be able to chose racking focus or pulling focus, which enable the filmmakers to adjust the perspective while filming. Raking focus is where the background elements come into focus and the foreground blurs, or vice-versa. An example is in Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. When the Peter, Edmond, Lucy, and Susan returns to Narnia from the train station, as the background, scenery, sharpens the foreground, the characters, blur. Another example is in the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When Harry, Hermione, and Ron where standing in front of Hagrids cottage they slowly blurred while Hagrid’s cottage came into focus.

On Editing:
Imagine a continuously edited scene in a popular movie you have seen. Now imagine it re-edited discontinuously. Consider what graphic and rhythmic possibilities exist in the shots you're thinking of. How does it change the scene and the rest of the movie?

An example would be the movie Kung Fu Panda. The scene at the end when Po and Tai Long are fighting is an example of an continuously edited scene. The Dragon Scroll that Po and Tai Long are after gets stuck in the mouth of a statue of a dragon on the roof. The shot is, a shot of behind the scroll looking at Po, goes to Po looking in the direction of where the scroll is placed, a shot of the scroll, and then Po looking at the scroll and behind him at Tai Long. This scene is continuously edited by having a flow between each shot to make the scene make sense. If this scene was not continuously edited and was re-edited discontinuously edited it wouldn’t make sense. For example, if the scene was Po looking at the scroll, then the next shot was Po look at Tai Long and then a shot of the Dragon Scroll the scene wouldn’t make that much sense and may even confuse the viewer. It might also leave a different impression of the movie and may give the viewers a different impression than the directors of the movie intended.