I wrote and planned my own scene for week 12’s shoot. Although I had been investigating and studying other scenes which crossed the line from films and television shows, I found the thought of having to come up with my own idea from scratch quite daunting. The prospect of having to include at least three people in the scene was also worrisome, as most of the clips I had found that crossed the line only included a conversation between two characters.

A scene from Mad Men ended up becoming my main inspiration. Although I wrote very different dialogue, the blocking is quite obviously similar. I found it extremely helpful to draw out a floor plan of the scene from Mad Men to start off with, and then try and formulate my own scene around a similar positioning of cameras and actors. Despite studying this scene quite closely, I came to realise after I had edited my own footage that I had missed an important factor in the original scene. When the line is first crossed in Mad Men, The footage cuts from showing the three characters, Pete, Don and Roger in an establishing wide shot, before crossing the line to show Pete from a mid shot. An essential characteristic of this line cross is that Pete is seen continually talking in both shots, making the transition across the line smoother. Had I noticed this prior to filming my own scene, I would have definitely incorporated this technique into my own work, as I believe it is an effective method to cross the line successfully.

Another important factor in the Mad Men scene was a women’s bathroom sign on the wall behind Pete. This small prop allows for the viewer to recognize that Pete is still in the same position when the line is crossed, and has not moved at all. I endeavoured to find a location that also included some easily distinguishable background features. The area that we ended up shooting in we perfect in this regard, as each character had very different objects in the background of their shots, making it easy to determine where they are positioned in the setting.

I ended up cutting the footage that I recorded into four different edits. Initially, I had only planned on editing together two different versions, but after reflecting on the work, some other possible edits were brainstormed. The first version that I cut did not blatantly cross the line. In the second edit, I used a couple of different shots, which included a line cross. I do not think that the second version is significantly more uncomfortable or jarring to watch in comparison to the first, so I think that I did successfully cross the line in this edit.

After finishing the first two edits, a couple of factors that contributed to the success of the line cross became apparent, which I had not considered before. Maddy, the actor standing in the middle position, was conveniently wearing a bright red top on the day, whilst the other two actors were in darker colours. I believe this costuming ended up aiding the scene as it signified where Maddy was in each shot, making the positioning of the other characters easily inferred.

I deliberately used “dirty” shots of the characters, so that it was obvious to the audience that each actor was still in their original positions, and had not moved when the line was eventually crossed. This lead to the realisation that I should try and cut a version that did not include a dirty shot. In the third edit, I removed Kate’s shoulder from the frame when we see Jess after the line is crossed. Although this small change makes the scene slightly more jarring, I do not believe that it become completely disorienting.

I think that the fourth edit is the most unsettling to watch. This version is exactly the same as edit one, except that I made the footage black and white, which eliminated the orienting red of Maddy’s shirt. The colour version of this footage is probably the easiest to follow, yet when the colour is drained from the scene, the cut to Jess seems to become far more uncomfortable. Prior to this edit, I had not considered the value of costuming when crossing the line at all. It has become obvious, however, that it is an extremely important factor that should be noted before endeavouring to break the rule.

There are a few things I would do differently if I were to re-film this scene again. One of the obvious shortcomings of the final cuts is the poor audio quality. It seems I did not set the microphone up properly on the day, and because of this, attention is likely drawn away from the content of the videos and onto the annoying background hum. Some shots are also quite out of focus. I believe this is primarily due to the poor lighting in the area that we filmed, as I do recall struggling to find focus during filming. Despite these issues, I am quite happy with my final exploration into crossing the line, and I think that my knowledge on the topic has significantly improved over the course of the last few weeks.