Blog assignment #3

The scene I will be using is the fight portrayed in the movie "Kids" (1995). This clip has mostly continuity editing rules. The dialogue incorporates diegetic sounds within the characters and the location of Washington Square Park. Finally, the director matches the action between shots using multiple static shots. The first scene starts at a medium wide angle shot with Casper smoking and passing it off to his friend. It then moves to a wide angle shot when Casper rides his skateboard. The shot then switches between a close-up and medium shot when Casper accidentally bumps into a stranger. This scene also uses the element of eye line matching, where Casper is looking at his skateboard "off-screen" at a close-up shot, then it switches into a medium wide angle to show what Casper was looking at before immediately bumping into the man. Each scene afterwards is switched between these close-up, medium, and medium wide angle shots when the all the kids start attacking the man. The scene does not violate the 180 degree rule, it is consistent with the shot pointing at one direction and not capturing a shot from the opposite side to show a completely different environment. The scene does not have any sudden jump cuts, but it is used however at the very beginning where the young lady is talking to Telly at a different side of the park. The entire fight scene maintains a steady composition and does not stray away from the content until it has fully ceased using the very basics of continuity editing. The scene does not have any inconsistent shots that violate the "20mm/30mm degree rule", where one camera is close another making match action shots "awkward". Only 3 types of angles were used throughout this scene.

Larry Clarks "Kids" (1995) Skateboard Scene
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKD58vkjamM