Editing blog task

Your final analytical blog task is to find a film or television clip on YouTube that you feel has been edited in a distinctive way and write a 750 word analysis of the clip.

Shawn of the dead (2004) 0:01 - 2:50 

1800~ Words (Should be a good read)

Starting with editing the scene that begins the sequence of events within this clip starts off with a few straight cuts create juxtaposition that establish the main character and links the eyesight of the protagonist ‘Shawn’ to a board on the wall which helps establish that what’s written on there is significant to him and specifically enables the audience to gain a grasp and some context behind Shawn as a character and then the its edited in a way in which the camera straight cuts to someone laying on the couch with Shawn in the back. This establishes a connection between him and the character as being close as we as an audience can assume they are friends due to the request made by the man laying on the couch. After this scene a long continuous uninterrupted shot starts where by Shawn is travelling to the store and is intentionally done in a continuous shot possibly in order to create the idea that the only thing on Shawn’s mind is going to the shop and fulfilling the request which can give insight into his personality as a character within the film as possibly uncaring of the world around him or possibly really disassociated from it which may link back to the board we see in the beginning as he tells himself to ‘Sort out life’ and so we can infer from this that Shawn's life may not be going as he expected or might be in a situation where he dose not feel like its going to well due to this ‘Liz’ person who we can also assume to be the love interest of Shawn’s as the board says ‘get Liz back’ which makes it seem like he had a previous relationship with her as we can also see a picture next to the board that we can assume is them together on something like a date.

Continuing with the no cut sequence we are introduced to many different things in the background, and I would say that this is intentionally done to establish the threat and disequilibrium of the film right at the start while making sure, through the continuous shot, that we as an audience understand that Shawn has no clue of the dangers around him and assumes his daily life without worry. The scene within the shop clearly exemplifies this as when we enter the lack of shots of the shop keeper in the back or on the bloody hand prints on the glass door further allows us to infer that even with all the chaos in the background and all around him, Shawn is to oblivious to acknowledge his surroundings adding tension to us as the audience as we understand from genre the tropes of a zombie horror film and can tell that there is a zombie apocalypse occurring around him and Shawn is completely ignorant to this fact. This again shown as we follow his gaze to the till where he leaves without worry and even encounters a zombie on his way back home and the smooth flow of the camera, from what I would assume is a Dolby cam, without interruption can tell us that Shawn is completely calm and collected throughout this sequence and tells us as an audience that he is truly not afraid and does not comprehend the dire situation that he currently is in.

Furthermore we follow Shawn back into the house with an almost match on scene straight cut which is so smoothly done you almost can’t tell where the cut is, but breaks from the continuity of the continuous scene previously and is purposefully edited to show a disconnect between how Shawn feels while being outside and how he feels indoors while also narratively establishing through a zoom out that his friend is gone with a zoom out as our protagonist Shawn focuses on the TV talking about the zombie outbreak the different news segments which may foreshadow and link the outbreak to the disappearance of his friend creating further tension that only we as the audience feel compared to the nonchalant attitudes that we see of Shawn.

Now the use of sound throughout the entire scene establishes a stark contrast between the calmness of Shawn as he walks over and the dangers surrounding him as we can hear a dog barking, a telephone constantly ringing, glass shattering and a car alarm off in the distance. The seemingly simple task of buying a cornetto as is requested by Shawn's friend at the start becomes increasingly tense and makes the audience agitated over the lack of human interaction but a multitude of different sounds that overwhelm the senses and creates an atmosphere of chaos, violence and confusion as Shawn casually walks to the store and as he enters the tension building non-diegetic music turns to diegetic through the stores melody that plays over the radio and stays that way and changes as when Shawn walks over to the counter to pay the radio changes to a foreign news broadcast that sounds as though something dangerous is happening of which we as the audience can assume that they are reporting on the zombie outbreak. As Shawn leaves the store the music changes back to non-diegetic and continues to rise in volume as Shawn gets closer to encountering the zombie before completely falling off in intensity once he arrives home. Shawn then turns on the TV whereby every time the channel changes the next dialogue to come through completes the what the previous channel was going to say. This allows the audience to create a correlation and find a pattern through the dialogue to understand the narrative even if Shawn dose not really care what the news channels are saying it is still important to us as the audience. The music that plays when Shawn is not in the store or at home is parallel to the danger looming over Shawn as he walks home while when in the store its contrapuntal as it contrasts the danger that he is in with a generally upbeat melody playing from the radio.

In terms of the cinematography, the camera shots beautifully establish the characters positions as the beginning quite adequately tell us that Shawn is asleep in the kitchen asleep with a suit on through the use of a medium closeup. This can tell us as the audience that Shawn is not in a financially stable position as it seems as though he could have gone for a job interview but may have not gotten the job or possibly we can infer further that Shawn may be working really hard and that he is stressed looking after his friend financially and so fell asleep , although this is questionable as it is clearly shown on his board that he needs to get his life together. The second long shot can establish the relationship between Shawn and his friend as him being shown from a low angle of him above his friend can create the idea that it is Shawn's home that they are staying at and that his friend is leeching off him. The fact that the camera shots do not ever focus with anything other than a continuous medium shot and sometimes medium closeups of only Shawn, establishes him as the main protagonist of the film while also further exemplifying his lack of awareness and focus on the world around him. The small camera pan over to the stores counter further creates the image that the man in the back of the store was the cashier and had turned into a zombie. When Shawn returns home it cuts to him sitting down with a medium closeup before zooming out to a what would be a two shot but tells the audience that the man that had been sleeping on the couch is gone by the time Shawn is back. Shawn is shown to be watching the TV with a straight cut to the TV and we can see him in the reflection on the screen and his reaction to the channels of which its framed to be monotone for him as the camera zooms in at the same pace which to the audience can make the inference that the contents of the news is important as we get a closeup but Shawn is shown to have no interest and the constant uses of medium shots and medium closeups just further depict the lack of urgency and change in Shawn's life. 

To generalise Mise-en-scene the costume of Shawn establishes that he is a working man and has what seems to be a name plate which he has forgotten to take of possibly due to forgetfulness or falling asleep as soon as he  got back from work or at least is trying to actively find a job which is actively supported by the board that is posted in the kitchen, this Set dressing seems to be a big focus of Shawn's as its there right from the start as Shawn wakes up and may become a leading part of his narrative arc as the film continues and creates the expectation for the audience that we will see these goals be pursued or even accomplished. The lighting of the entire sequence is set as being high key throughout and is generally dark on the inside of the house to reflect the morning hour and possibly the laziness of both characters for not waking up earlier as it is already day. The lighting does not change when Shawn enters the store and can reflect that the situation within the store is in no different of a situation than the outside is reflecting that there is chaos everywhere.

The actor Shawn is quite clearly made to be our protagonist that we follow and can assume that his friend is important to his story, while the person who is sprinting as Shawn is walking over to the store reflects the urgency of the situation the Shawn has not considered. Furthermore, the zombies are seen quite rigid in the hand and body movements, gestures and slowly wobbling towards Shawn and their make up is made to make them seem quite pale and sickly with blood strewn on them and can tell from the interaction Shawn has with the homeless looking zombie is genuinely because he believes he is homeless and not a zombie. We can quite clearly tell that the setting of the film is in England due to the fact that Shawn is getting his friend a Cornetto and the roads are quite reminiscent of the tight knit roads of England but we as the audience specifically know its England due to the products in the store (Cornetto) and Shawn's accent and the News broadcast on the TV.