Image - Shot - Sequence - Story

The video shooting exercise is about learning to use the camera.  It is also about learning to shoot creatively and intelligently.  Don't just run around shooting the required shots to complete the exercise.  Run around and shoot the shots so that they could be edited in a reasonable way.  You are not shooting to create a story but you are shooting to create sequences.  Once you create sequences then you will be able to create stories.

Here is the logical progression of elements within visual grammar and the construction of a visual story.

1. Image - this is a still picture, a moment in time.  There are important compositional decisions being made at this level of creation.

2. Shot - this is a moving image, a series of connected images that give the impression of motion and the passage of time.  A shot is the capturing of a single continuous frame or action and can be defined by its field of view, angle of view and perspective of view among other things.

3. Sequence - this is a combination of shots that create a unified sense of time, place, action or meaning.  When the shots in the sequence are directly connected it is a continuity sequence.  This type of sequence has a strong sense of reality for the viewer.  When the shots in the sequence are seemingly unrelated then it is more properly called a montage.  In a montage the connections between shots are more psychological than physical.  With continuity or montage there are compositional elements in the sequence that can make it more effective.  (in the SHOOTING EXERCISE you are trying to capture shots that will allow you to build continuity sequences, you are not just shooting random shots of assigned objects and actions)

4. Story - this is the combination of sequences that forms a logical whole and tells some kind of story to an audience.  Once again there are guidelines for composition that help us create meaning in a visual story.

So in the Shooting Exercise you are shooting for the creation of SEQUENCES.  We are not yet creating stories but it is a good thing to be thinking about how you might build a story.  It is always a good thing to be thinking ahead while you work...think like an editor when you shoot...think like a producer when you edit...think like a shooter when you write, storyboard and plan!

Dr. W