For this assignment, we will divide into groups of four–that’s your creative team, and each team will choose “montage” or “long take.” Within each team there will be 1 director, 2 camera people, and 1 editor. You need to work together on a concept. The director is responsible not for controlling the concept but helping your team come to a shared vision, and coordinating the process as you go. The two camera people will be in charge of creating footage (with the help of theeir group members), and the editor will link it together in conversation with the other members. While only the editor needs to actually edit the footage, they shouldn’t be conceptualizing the edit entirely on their own. Please share the load.
Parameters:
Whichever team you are on, your video should be between 1 and 3 minutes long. It is up to you to decide whether you want to use diegetic sound, nondiegetic sound, or no sound.
For the Montage Teams:
- Each minute of video should have between 12 and 23 cuts.
- You must use the full range of framing, from close up (CU) to long shot (LS), and everything in between.
- At least one of the cuts should be a graphic match.
- At least one of the cuts should be a match on action.
- At least one of the cuts must signal a temporal ellipsis.
- You must pay attention to rhythmic editing throughout.
- You must open with a carefully chosen establishing shot and close with the same shot, but you can change elements of the mise en scene within the shot.
For the Long Take Teams:
- Your shots must average 23 seconds.
- Within the limits of your few shots, you must use the full range of framing, from close up (CU) to long shot (LS), and everything in between.
- At least one of the cuts should be a graphic match.
- At least one of the cuts must signal a temporal ellipsis.
- You must pay attention to rhythmic editing throughout.
- Pay attention to the careful construction of verisimilitude through mise en scene, depth of focus, and shot relation.
- You must open with a carefully chosen establishing shot and close with the same shot, but you can change elements of the mise en scene within the shot.
Parameters (for all teams)
- You may not use any additional people to appear in your video: that is, only people in your group can participate in this project, whether behind or in front of the camera.
- Your video does not necessarily need to tell a full story (though it can); consider how you might effectively communicate a brief incident or anecdote or even a thematic exploration.
- Be sure to pay attention to light conditions; dimly lit rooms may obscure the quality of your film.
- As you prepare and shoot, keep in mind the basic rules of continuity editing: the 180 degree axis of action, eyeline matches, etc. These protocols should be adhered to carefully, or broken only with careful consideration.
- You must storyboard at least your four opening shots in advance of shooting. Storyboard sheets will be available for download from Teams. You will submit these opening storyboards to me when you submit your final film.
- Though the basic frame of this assignment centers around shot duration and editing, don’t forget about the centrality of mise en scene. Pay careful attention to all elements of mise en scene, from costuming to sets to color to body language and performance style to depth of focus. Think carefully about every choice you make, from costuming to framing.
- You should plan to meet as a group several times to come up with a subject for your video, to prepare the shoot, and to undertake the actual filming.
