Match on action

Match on action is an editing technique, which enables the audience to view a certain situation from different points. The editing makes the differing points seem effortless and natural. An example of this could be seeing someone approaching a door, to seeing them having come through the door on the other side. Doing this provides continuity for the audience, as the shots flow one after the other.

In class we were asked to create a preliminary task successfully demonstrating match on action. My group and I decided to use the simple example of two actors walking down a corridor towards a door and beginning to open it. As a group we decided the two actors would have a general conversation whilst walking, in order for the scene to be realistic and relaxed. The second shot is filmed from inside the room they are entering to show them walking through the door. Both of these shots were then edited together to seamlessly show the two different points of the scene. I then went on to compose a simple birds eye view diagram to clearly show exactly where actors and cameras would be located, as well as the direction they would travel in:

 

 

                     

Within our group of four we each decided which role we would be assigned with. Bryony Johnson and Chloe Connell took on the role of filming, whilst Leah Gathergood directed the scene. I acted in the scene and recruited extra help from our peer Ranjana Nisanth; who acted alongside me. After having filmed the scene, I edited it via iMovie as you can see below:

 

 

In general I found the task  as we had already decided on exactly where the cameras and actors would be positioned. Also we had a very short and light hearted narrative, so it was easier to film. In contrast the most challenging aspect was ensuring that the shots taken from both cameras matched, meaning that they flowed successfully one after. However once it came to editing we all realised that the dialogue from the first shot did not match the dialogue from the second shot, this is the cameras had started filming at different times. Whilst filming we did several takes of shot two, so we all decided that when we came down to the editing we would retrieve dialogue from a take which flowed fairly well from the dialogue in shot 1. To make it so that this problem does not occur again in the future, I will ensure that both cameras begin to record at the same time.