MASTER EDITS IN VARIOUS FILMS

The first master edit I noticed was simultaneity, in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". This was a scene where Harry pushed Voldemort off of a building. I feel that this represents simultaneity because in one shot it shows Harry and Voldemort fighting and wrestling, and the other in what's going on on the "outside", which is the black smoke flying around. It is showing the same event, just from two different perspectives. This is the cutting between two simultaneous events, which as a result drives up the suspense.

The second master edit I noticed was symbolism, also from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". The first shot shows the stairway with nobody on it, and a completely empty and quiet room. The scene then briefly shows students marching into the school, then cuts back to the same stairway, just from a different angle. Also, there are now students on it marching down as a man watches them. This shows symbolism because it shows empty stairs, then the children walking on them. It shows that something important is about to happen, which indeed it did, moments later in the film Harry Potter battled Voldemort on the stairs. 

The third master edit was leitmotif. In another scene from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2", Professor McGonagall battles Snape. There is very quiet, almost no music playing, then once she throws him out the window and puts the lights back on, the students cheer and the theme plays. This theme usually plays at a moment of relief, or joy. This is considered a leitmotif because it shows a recurrent musical theme associated with a person and a moment.

The fourth master edit was contrast. In "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", there is a scene where Greg Heffley is performing in a school musical, with his mom, dad, little brother, and older brother Rodrick watching. The scene cuts back and forth a few times from Greg singing seriously, too Rodrick laughing at him and making faces from the audience. This shows two things happening at the same time, but different emotions are felt from it. When you watch Greg you can see he is concentrated and a little embarrassed, but when you look at Rodrick you see him laughing and making jokes.

The fifth and final master edit was parallelism. In Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train", the opening scene shows a very clear example of the parallelism editing technique. The first shot is of a man helping another man with his luggage. It then shows the ONLY the man's shoes as he walks out of and away from the car. The next shot is the same exact sequence of events and type of camera shot/angle, just a different location and different men/shoes and luggage.

FIVE MASTER EDITS VIDEO

        The link to our video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFgE6NAsQa4&feature=youtu.be

        The first master edit that kelly and I did was contrast. The first scene showed a bird flying quickly in the air, and the next one showed me sitting on the ground, bored. The first scene represents having fun and being free, while the other shows boredom, and confinement. This shows contrast because these are two completely different "feelings", or scenes.
        The second master edit we recorded was symbolism. For the first scene I slowly walked down nation's square and recorded all of the flags on the ceiling. Then, I zoomed in on the American flag. For the next scene, we started out zoomed in, then zoomed out to reveal a huge map. We zoomed out from the United States. This shows symbolism because we went from the American flag in nation's square, to a map of the United States in a different building.
        The third master edit we recorded was simultaneity. The scenes we alternated between were a decently quiet classroom where everybody was sitting down, and a loud courtyard where everybody was moving around. This shows two things going on at the same time in different places. Having a classroom and a courtyard emphasizes the difference between the two scenes.
        The fourth master edit we focused on was parallelism. For this edit, I recorded Kelly putting the hood of her hoodie on and turning to face away from the camera. Then, I put on Kelly's hoodie, stood in the same place that she was standing, and put the hood up. Then Kelly recorded me turning around to face the audience and taking the hood off. This shows parallelism because similar, but not the same exact scenes are used to transition to one another. By using the hoodie we flowed from Kelly to me, and changed scenes completely by just using a similar object.
        The fifth and final master edit we recorded was Leitmotif. The first scene was my pet lizard sitting there not moving. The second one was Kelly fighting the trojan statue in the courtyard. We alternated between these scenes a couples times. This is supposed to show what is going on in the lizards head.

CAMERA TECHNIQUES USED IN THE HUNGER GAMES

       The movie I chose to analyze was The Hunger Games. In the movie, the twelve districts of Panem each pick two tributes, a girl and a boy, who compete in the televised "Hunger Games". The tributes fight to the death, until one victor remains. Katniss Everdeen, the main character, has volunteered as a tribute to save her sister. The movie focuses on Katniss, and most of it takes place in the arena during the actual games. Many camera techniques are used throughout that are meant to express a feeling to the audience.

       The first shot I noticed was a close-up. A close-up shot gives the audience a key focus to look at. It generally indicates that something important is about to happen regarding the object of focus. In this scene in The Hunger Games, that's exactly what it meant.

This shot was taken during the reaping, where Effie Trinket, the escort for the District 12 tributes, is drawing the female name for the annual Hunger Games. By using a close-up shot for this scene, the movie is telling the audience to pay attention and remember this object, because it will be important later on. It creates a sense of  mystery, because it leaves the audience wondering what the significance of that object is. Sure enough, the card happened to be Primrose Everdeen's name, Katniss's sister

       Another shot I noticed was a high angle shot. A high-angle shot makes the subject appear to be vulnerable, or powerless. It makes them seem as if they're insignificant in relation to something "greater".

This shot was taken during a scene where Katniss and her best friend/lover Gale were in the woods hunting, when suddenly, a Capitol blimp flew by, parting the trees to almost reveal the two characters in a "no trespassing" area. This shot establishes the idea that the citizens of Panem fear the Capitol, and shows that the capitol is considered to be above of, or holding more importance than the districts.

       The next shot I noticed was a low-angle shot. A low angle shot makes the subject appear to be larger than, or more important than others. 

This shot was taken when Effie was announcing the annual Hunger Games before she drew the names of the tributes. The low angle shot shows that Effie is part of the Capitol, emphasizing that the Capital is of higher power, and that the others are below it.
       Another shot I chose was an establishing shot. This shot helps to set up, or establish the context for a scene by showing the setting. This was also a point of view shot, because it was from Katniss's point of view. The camera moved around frantically, mimicking Katniss's nervousness, and her looking around at her surroundings

This was the first look at the stadium for the 74th Hunger Games, showing the forest, the mountains, and the cornucopia. This gives the audience an idea of the surroundings, and helps to better understand the situation that the tributes are in. Also by looking through Katniss's eyes, the audience can understand the anxiety and fear that she's feeling in the arena.

REVIEW ON MY CLASSMATES' CAMERA SHOTS

The first camera shots I looked at were Zoe's. I chose to comment on her head-on shot, follow shot, establishing shot, and close-up shot. For the head-on shot, I love how Zoe used her dog as the subject of the shot, it was unique, and really gave me the sense that the dog was coming directly towards me. For the follow shot, Zoe did a great job of keeping the camera steady, so the shot wasn't just all a blur. I felt like i was trailing right behind the subject. The establishing shot in Cassadaga was well done because Zoe moved the camera slowly and steadily, and got a lot of the environment in her shot, which made me feel very familiar with where she was, and almost as if I had been there before. Finally, Zoe's close-up shot was another unique shot. I love how instead of using a person or an actual object as her subject, she used the shoreline and the waves. I really saw the details in the sand and water, and I really like how she took that shot.

The second camera shots I looked at were Sarah's. I chose to comment on her point of view shot, follow shot, high angle shot, and establishing shot. In Sarah's point of view shot, she mimicked a person walking by loosely holding the camera so it moved with her footsteps. This created a very realistic moment, and made me feel like I'm the one walking, not like I'm watching a video. For the follow shot, I love how steadily Sarah held the camera. I felt as if i was walking right behind the subjects, or moving in a car almost because of how steady the camera was. For the high angle shot, Sarah found a good angle to really make the viewer feel like they were standing above the subject, or much taller than her. Lastly, Sarah's establishing shot was very well done. Her use of her surroundings, and the lighting from the sunrise really established the setting and made me feel like I was sitting there watching the sunrise with her.