Homework In For 2nd Oct

As media studies
By Terry Henson

Match on action – 180Degree rule – Shot reverse shot – Continuity issues

I have chosen part of an episode of Eastenders to do my essay on. The episode was played on TV on the 29/9/08. I have chosen this episode because it shows a range of different camera shots. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00drmk1/ )

At the beginning of the clip, 2.55 minutes into it, it shows Bianca and her son talking, then she kisses him goodbye. The way they film it shows the look on Bianca’s face and the sons from different angles because they have used two different cameras placed at the side of them. This is called the 180 degree rule and it is used well in this clip. It gives you the effect of being stood there with them, because if you were stood where the cameras are you would be able to see both of there faces when there talking, and this is the effect that they have created using the 180 degree rule.

Shot reverse shot is used well in the clip,4.20 minutes into the clip, there are two people in the bar and it shows them both looking at a picture on the wall from how they would see it , it shows the backs of the girls head to show she’s looking at the same image. Then after a few seconds when they start talking, the camera changes sides and shows from the pictures view , there faces looking at the picture and talking to each other. This is a good use of shot reverse-shot and makes the scene a better scene because it shows you what they are talking about, then shows there reactions and what they are actually saying.

6.55 minutes into the clip, it shows somebody opening a door from the outside coming into the building, then it follows him from the front and the camera stays there as he carries on walking so you see the back of this. This is a good use of match on action used by the camera men. It gives you the affect that you are standing there and he has just walked past and is not in a very good mood. You can also see his reactions and they way he is walking, weather it be casually or aggressively and fast.
This clip also shows good continuity because as he takes his coat off and hangs it on the banister, it shows the coat still there in every clip that the banister appears after. Also him in just a shirt without his coat on. Not only does it show continuity with him, but also it shows the girl that had came downstairs, in the same clothes as what she had put on in a previous clip and wearing the same jewellery and makeup.
The clip shows the 180 degree rule also because you can see the girls face when she is talking, then when the man talks, the camera is behind the girl and you can see what she can see and the reactions of the man.