HW 3b- Existing continuity sequence analysis

This scene tells the story of another very close call for the infinitely lucky Ferris Beuller who is unknowingly coming close to getting caught on his infamous day off throughout the film. In this case he is at a baseball match and as his principal is by coincidence in a diner with it on tv the ball gets hit into the crowd where he catches it and gets on television although is only in shot when the principal is wiping his face.

In this continuity is achieved incredibly effectively in a number of ways. One of the first examples is in the sound, in a close up of the principals face you can hear a commentator slightly muffled in the background before it gets clear and the shot cuts to a tv with two people around it before the principal steps into the shot, this shows how the audience is introduced to the television and it then makes logical sense that with a few steps the principal is by the television. It also shows his arm reach out before a close up of him taking napkins, this makes sense because it shows the start of the movement before cutting to close up where you see him finish the movement. The scene also uses a shot-reverse-shot technique when the principal converses with the cook, this involves the camera changing perspective from each character when the other is talking, this makes it obvious they're conversing with one another and adds to a smooth scene from an audiences point of view. The camera then cuts to the baseball game being shown on tv where it shows the main 3 characters who had just been shown in the tv shot, this makes sense to the viewers because the timeline of the film works because they would still be at the game at that time in the film. When the two male leads are conversing you see them glancing towards the other who is out of shot when they say their lines before the shot cuts to a close up of the other, this makes sense to the audience because it means they're directing their words in the direction of the person they're talking to so makes the conversation more believable. Then when they talk about how they "would be in gym right now" it immediately cuts to the gym class that the two characters were meant to be attending, this gives the audience the context of the statement made before and means they understand why its undesirable.