The ending sequence in Steven Spielburg’s Duel is a good example of editing for continuity, which I’d like to break down for this blog. The shots are all kept focused on and don’t deviate from the general environment of the crash, that being the desert cliffside. Even as it’s cutting between shots of the truck, the main character, and so forth, it all remains the same location and it’s obvious when looking at the shots. With the continuity maintained, the scene has the space needed to let its climax play out. Notably, the shots of the truck tumbling down the cliff, getting decimated, the shots are frequently of a larger scale, with many wide shots and long shots. Meanwhile, many of the shots showing the main character often being close-up or medium shots. It helps to emphasize the scale of each perspective, with the scale of the main character in that space being rather narrow while the scale of the truck and its destruction was rather large. It helps bring continuity to the work by keeping the backdrop and the scale consistent with each perspective.
Author: sdaron24
Scott’s Introduction Post
Greetings, class! I am Scott David Daron Jr: student at WSU Vancouver and former student of Clark College. I am among many here who are majoring in DTC and taking this class as part of its curriculum.
My history with cinema and filmmaking in general goes back a long way, ever since I was a kid. I’ve been editing videos, such as mini-movies I made for my Elementary School back in the day. I was introduced to editing software and how to utilize it, and even at an early age I was enthralled with the process. I’ve since then been expanding my familiarity and skillset involving not just editing, but also in fields related to it, including the subject of this class: cinematography.
While my choice in what kind of video I want to make can certainly change in the intervening time, the video that stands out to me at the moment of being the type I’d like to make would probably be a little youtube short called “Ryan vs Dorkman 2”
RvD2: Ryan vs. Dorkman 2 — HD (youtube.com)
This is a lightsaber duel cinematic short that was made about a decade and a half ago, yet still holds up remarkably well as a great example of not just fight scene choreography, but also in camera angles and techniques. The sheer amount of variety in this video’s angles, shots, locations, and fighting techniques yet the consistency in the style of each combatant throughout is a work of art. While my video obviously wouldn’t be as heavy in the use of special effects, I still think this could provide a great source of inspiration when it comes to angles and choreography in fight scenes.