Storytelling,engaging the viewer,relationship to genre

Storytelling - drama

Once all of the footage is filmed it does not become a story until the editor edits everything together. When telling a simple storyline in a TV programme or a film there are 3 key shots that are frequently used. These shots enable us to understand the basic plot of a story. These three shots are establishing shot; an establishing shot is to establish what is happening around the character and what type of scenery the character is in. It gives the viewers a good idea of what type of story it could potentially be. From an establishing shot the editor will then cut into a medium shot of the character, the medium shot is used to get closer to the character and tell the audience more about the character. The third shot is a close up. When an editor cuts into a close up this is to show in detail what the character is feeling. For example, if we do a close up shot on someone’s face we can see more about what they are thinking. It gives the audience watching an idea of what might happen next.

Engaging the viewer - drama

When editing footage together there are lots of techniques that can be used to engage the audience watching. Some of these techniques consist of playing music before something is about to happen to build tension, playing music when something is happening, speeding up the cuts of shots and taking sound out completely. All three techniques give a different feel to the audience but are all to do with sound. Sometimes in media text the removal of sound is often as powerful as the inclusion of sound. The reason for this is because taking sound out completely often engages a viewer to watch closer to what the character is actually doing in the scene. It gives the audience watching an opportunity to understand how the character feels as there is no sound to tell the viewers what the mood of the scene is. When sound is played over a scene in most cases there will be an action shot taking place. Sound is played over and the cuts of shots are sped up to make everything seem quicker. When there are more shots and sound is playing over the top this engages a viewer and prevents them from getting bored. If sound gets played just before a scene is about to take place this builds a lot of tension in the audience watching which then engages the viewer. When an editor is editing a film together, they will use longer shot types when tension is trying to be built up in the scene. The reason longer shots are used is because when there are loads of shots it doesn’t give the viewer a chance to take in what is happening. Whereas, when there are longer shots there are often more silences and this gives the audience an opportunity to feel what the character is feeling.

Relationship to genre - drama

The conventions of drama are, a fight happening, something dramatic taking place and relationship issues. When filming these conventions different shot types are used to carry out these scenes in a proper way for the viewers to understand what is taking place. A shot type used when a fight happens is normally a long shot or a tracking shot. A long shot is to establish both characters and be able to see the action in full. A tracking shot is in case the action is moving the audience is able to follow the action. When there is a relationship scene taking place there are often over the shoulder shots used. The proximity of characters within dramas is essential in drama texts. This is why over the shoulder shots get used to establish that two characters are talking to one another.