Miryssa Casas & Zach Heller

Edited as group due to technology malfunctions.

Apologies for the slight delay on getting this in, I had to make a last minute change to make sure it was natural audio only.

-Jeremy Sauter

Name: Ammaar Akhtar
Date: 9-13-24
Class: DTC 208

This relatively short clip has so many different things happening in it. It feels very intentionally chaotic yet also methodical. The scene depicts a family, of sorts, assembling for breakfast and collectively contributing to the electric bill due to be payed that day. Some of the stand out things that I noticed were the long camera shots where several things happened in a single scene as the camera moved around observing the carefully executed chaos. When they have all sat down at the table to eat, they pass around a money collection basket to pay for the bill. As this happens, the camera swaps between moving shots following the box around as it is passed, and swapping between different characters speaking. It does so relatively quickly but not in a way to where the viewer cannot keep track of what it happening. Before they all sat down, the camera got several shots of everyone going to sit down at the table, which I would imagine allowed the following camera shots at the table to be more fast-paced since the viewer already knows what is happening overall. Even though the scene is clearly much shorter than a real breakfast, it doesn’t feel this way at all when watching; the editing, sound effects, and overall coordinated pacing helps make the scene feel natural and not rushed any more than what was intended.

Filmed this video for fun, thought I would share it

Continuity Video

For this assignment we were not supposed to use music but because of the process that I decided to film I felt like I needed to add just a little bit at the end to give the viewer a clear idea of what was being made in the video.

One of the most commendable traits of ‘Shameless’ is its ability to create unbelievable situations that unfold in somehow believable ways. While, realistically, the audience knows that these events cannot unfold so quickly in real life, the quick and clean editing allows for a strong, yet chaotic, continuity.

Throughout the scene, we follow a variety of objects as characters pass through the house, focusing on key objects that the characters interact with in turn (i.e. the bathroom door, the calendar, the cereal box). While items of interest are passed from character to character, the audience is introduced to each of them and part of their role in the family. The quick movement of certain objects (throwing the phone across the room) allows for the camera to change to be fast but maintain a cohesive scene.

Another interesting editing trick used is keeping more than one character in frame for most of the screen time. This allows the viewer to absorb more visual chaos as they see multiple characters completing actions at the same time, with some of these actions passing from one character to another as well. This is controlled by one of the actions being more ‘dominant’ than the other, such as one character filling out a form while others do the simpler action of pouring cereal.

Here’s the video for the continuity assignment.

The first scene in this sequence takes place in the hallway that connects the rooms of the siblings (I’m assuming their siblings). Shooting this scene in such a tight narrow space can be difficult bust also afford unique opportunities. Much like a road, a hallow is very linear, people travel up and down it. For the most part, we can get a sense of the space by following the main character with the camera as she goes back and forth to the different rooms. Here the director is using the movement of the subject to guide the camera and give the audience a sense of the space.

Then we have a nice transition to the breakfast scene. We cut from the action of the previous scene to an empty frame of the fridge door before a hand comes into the frame. Here the director tells us that we are already in the kitchen before cutting to the wide shot. Then we get a series of intercutting between wide shots and chaotic closeups. However, this works because the director has already done his job and made us familiar with the space and the placement of each character in that space. The audience is already well acquainted with the space, so the director can afford to jump back and forth across the 180-degree line without confusing the audience.

I think this sequence is a good example of how showing the audience a space early in a scene can afford you more freedom later on.

-Luca Wagner