Match Cuts

In this lesson we focused on how and when a match cut is used and learnt that with good editing it can be hardly noticeable. We were also taught the importance of the 180 degree rule and why it should not be broken. We then split up into pairs to create a storyboard the following task:

'East London. 3pm. A man chain- smokes as he sits at his home PC. He copies confidential files and plans to a CD. He packages them and is seen posting them.'

Me and my partner Carel had to think about what shots could we use to include the information of the brief and how would they tell the audience about the scene, such as using an establish shot to show that the character was in east London or having a shot of the clock to show that it is 3pm. At the end of the task we had created 13 shots and had written about the type, the action and the description of the scene when we realized that at the beginning we had clearly we shown the man lighting a cigarette, but then after that it had disappeared because we had forgotten to indicate that the man was chain-smoking because no other shot included the cigarette. We should have included shot/reverse shots from the man to the clock to show that he is chain smoking as time goes by.

Mickey, the technician had already filmed footage of our exercise task earlier and played it back to us to see if our storyboard had any similarities and to also to spot the match cuts he had used.
Afterward we got into our Thriller groups and was given the task of creating a storyboard for the following task:

'A character opens a door walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue.'

We then planned to film it next lesson in a dramatic comedy style and have one character storming down the corridor and burst into a room, this would involve a range of match cuts. Then an argument would occur with the other character who is inside sitting down at the table in shot/reverse shot. Then the character who was sitting down would leave the room in angrily keeping to the 180 degree rule.