Creative Filmmaking Notes - Hidden Cuts

 

In this lesson of creative filmmaking we focused on opening scene and the 'This is America' music video by Childish Gambino, directed by Hero Murai.

The music video has a bold visual representation of America's social issues including Black oppression, incarceration, gun control, school shootings and many more. The whole video is shot continuously almost as if the camera doesn't cut away or is not edited, this is because they used invisible cuts which can be created to seem seamless to the audience however they do indeed cut.

The three camera techniques used in this music video were:

• The Steadicam
• The 'Continuous' Take
• The Whip Pan

The Steadicam:

The steadicam is a camera stabiliser mount that provides smooth and fluid motion without the need of a dolly track. The steadicam was invented by Garrett Brown in 1975 and is used frequently in todays films and videos. Even a mobile stabiliser has been created making video making more accessible to more people, it is also a good alternative if you're on a budget.

The Continuous Shot:

A continuous shots/ long takes are shots that last a lot longer than conventional shots. Editing helps a lot with these types of shot to make multiple shots appear as one by using different types of camera movements or objects that allow you to change from one scene to another seamlessly. A few examples of continuous shots would be the 'Russian Ark' directed by Alexander Sokurov in 2002. The film is 96 minutes long and is one continuous shot of the Russian State Hermitage Museum and recreating history as the

 camera travels from one room to the next.

 

The Whip Pan:

The Whip Pan is generally when the camera pivots to combine two shots into one without the need to cut. The technique occurs when the camera moves so quickly that the image blurs, these couple seconds of blurriness are the key area to hide a cut if it is needed, giving the effect go the action still happening so the audience is still hooked.