Blog Post: Breakfast with the Gallaghers

This clip contains a lot of movement and energy, a lot of stuff is happening but is also quite easy to follow because it starts off with Fiona opening the fridge and grabbing the milk gallon. This milk gallon appears in the following shots as it is being passed around, and returns back to Fiona as we see her fill it up with sink water. This hints (without knowing the context and story of the show) that this family isn’t in the best financial situation, and is supported by the fact that the family is sharing money to put in a box to pay the electric bills. This box was also passed around like the milk gallon, with each character in the show saying the word electric so we can follow what is happening easier.

A lot of the framing in this scene manages to show a lot of what the background characters are doing. For example- when one of the kids throws Fiona the phone, the camera angle flips the next shot and we see her catch it, while also getting to see the others eat their cereal/do whatever they’re doing as they’re hurrying to get ready for school. So even though it was kind of a chaotic scene in the episode, the camera framing and continuity was easy to follow and understand.

Shameless Framing

What is happening visually?
Framing and editing are creating a busy, chaotic scene. Showing minor interactions like the two boys fighting over the bathroom shows that the family tries to manage with multiple people living in a single home.
How does continuity editing help narrate the family dynamics?
The continuity editing following the main character and then the behavior from the rest of the family members shows the roles they all play. Following the main character and the tasks she is doing shows that she is the main caretaker of the family. Showing the rest of the family members gathering at the dining table eating breakfast together shows there is no one else that has an equal role to the main character. Showing the box for electric bill money being passed around to all of the kids and them handing over cash with no question shows that they all have a means of making their own money and pitching in to the bills of the home.
What are the visual anchors within the chaos of movements?
The anchors in this scene changes at different points in the scene, but they are the main character, the electric bill and the milk jug. In the beginning it is the main character as we follow her as she gets ready and wakes everyone else up, as well as taking care of tasks. The electric bill money box comes from the main character and moves through the rest of the characters as well as the milk jug.

Montage

 

DTheTech. “DD Shotgun 2A.” Freesound, 1 May 2024, freesound.org/people/DTheTech/sounds/734058/. 

FALCONS_SHADOW. “Cocking Shotgun.Wav.” Freesound, 5 Nov. 2017, freesound.org/people/FALCONS_SHADOW/sounds/408486/. 

Saladsounds. “Wooden Door Breaks.” Freesound, 18 Feb. 2024, freesound.org/people/Saladsounds/sounds/723974/. 

Silan, Diego. “Monster.” Voice Memos, 19 Sept. 2024. 

Silan, Diego. “Monster dying.” Voice Memos, 19 Sept. 2024. 

Silan, Diego. “Relief.” Voice Memos, 19 Sept. 2024. 

Silan, Diego. “Run.” Voice Memos, 19 Sept. 2024. 

Silan, Diego. “Scream.” Voice Memos, 19 Sept. 2024. 

skinnytecboy. “Lift Door Bangs.Wav.” Freesound, 11 May 2013, freesound.org/people/skinnytecboy/sounds/188063/. 

SmartWentCody. “Bullet Casing on Concrete 2.WAV.” Freesound, 25 Feb. 2013, freesound.org/people/SmartWentCody/sounds/179005/. 

 

Shameless Blog Post

I feel like the scene is showing something along the lines of organized chaos since there is so much going on at once after the shot of the note on the fridge. It has a sort of feeling that despite everything going on at the same time there is a form of synchronization between all the family members who manage to fluidly follow the previous person that was being interacted with. Visually, it looks like another day of breakfast with a seemingly too large amount of people. There’s also the details like the washer shot and the filling the milk jug so everyone has enough for their cereal.

The continuity is set up to be at the kitchen table and the areas around it which include the kitchen itself and the washing machine. It sets up how the room is laid out and helps the audience get a view of how the family lives. As said before, there is a certain amount of synchronization between everyone as they go about separate things at the table while also paying attention to each other at the same time. It’s something that likely takes practice and time to get used to. Some anchors of attention are the milk jug and the box for the electric bill payment. The milk starts out the sequence and is then followed by the box for the payment, it guides the scene along and gives something to focus on with all the chaos happening in the ‘background’.

The scene demonstrates what I feel is the peak form of multitasking, something which is fairly hard for some people to do and easier for others. I find that for myself I’m better at multitasking with certain things and not other things which has helped me figure out what works and what doesn’t. Having music in the background while doing almost anything helps me focus more on what I’m doing rather than getting distracted by other things while cleaning or working on homework. Even when I read books I’ll sometimes have music going just to block out other noise, when on long car rides or road trips and sometimes at home but more rarely.

Duel Blog Post

The scene I picked is the train one where the truck is pushing the car closer to the oncoming train seemingly out of impatience.

The arrangement of shots makes a believable space by utilizing the cut-in/match on action form of editing in order to give context to the scene. The space seems to be large since we get all kinds of angles, low shots, backwards(in relation to the main character) shots, and close-ups of the main character while in a panic and slightly angry that the truck is trying to ram him into the moving train.

The framing focuses attention to narrative detail by switching from varying shots and angles rapidly which helps keep the tension of the moment high. Emphasizes both panic and stress from the main character as the truck pushes him closer and closer to the moving train. 

The role of sound in supporting the spatial relationships made in the cuts is done well to have the car’s struggle to resist, the truck’s roar of dominance, and the train’s clattering and clanking down the track without knowing what’s happening as it passes by. These noises come in at just the right moments with the various shot switches that occur to cause tension. Then adding the dangerous sounding music in the background adds more depth to the scene by escalating it further. 

The continuity editing of the scene builds tension through the rapid switching from shot to shot, compounded further by the use of background music to set the feeling of ‘danger’ even higher and then having the vehicle noises when they are specifically in the focus of the shot.

What narrative information is revealed and concealed in the scene through the cuts? There isn’t muh background scenery since the primary focus of the scene was the train, car, and truck. Some narrative information that is revealed is that the truck seems even more impatient than the main character and is thus pushing the car/main character towards the moving train. Something that is hidden at this point in the film is the fact that the truck was actually out to get the car/main character the whole time and just played it off numerous times before we actually see the ‘true colors’ of the truck.