Continuity Clip (BLK)

This is a closing clip from the film 'Bladerunner' and I will be analysing it from the perspective of a continuity editor.

Establishing Shot - the clip does not begin with an establishing shot, but with a medium/close up of the main character (Rick Deckard)'s  hand struggling to pull him up onto a surface. Then after about 25 seconds his location is revealed with the initial establishing shot. I think the wait is to cause a bit of tension and to increase the shock when you find out hes clinging onto the side of a building. This shot also makes the viewer feel quite uneasy because of the darkness on the right hand side of the shot which is where Roy Batty could be - who is looking for him in the scene - this is presuming the viewer has seen the rest of the film rather than just this clip.

Match-on-Action - as Rick jumps the gap and manages to catch onto a beam or something there is a match on action, and again as Roy successfully jumps the same gap. This means the shot changes, yet the action continues - so despite the fact the characters have jumped the gap many times, they are edited together to appear as the same jump. \This is pretty effective on the second ump as it cuts to a low angle which in a sense works as a little establishing shot as the actual threat posed by the gap hasn't yet clearly been shown.

Shot-Reverse Shot - During the conversation the shot-reverse shot technique is used to give the impression they are talking to each other. During this they must follow the 180 degree rule so it makes sense in the viewers head. However, at first glance I thought they had actually broken this rule, but when I looked again I realised they hadn't, however it just seemed that way as Roy isn't actually facing Rick, he is looking into the rain, deep in thought.Since this isn't really a proper conversation since Rick doesn't really contribute - its more of a speech and the fact Roy isn't looking at him isn't an accident in my opinion its just to show how much hes thinking about what hes saying and with this his emotions attached to the speech are revealed. Also to back up my point that this doesn't follow all the rules deliberately - the first shot is an over the shoulder shot which introduces the conversation and the connection between the two characters.