Continuity Research - The Notebook (2004, Nick Cassavetes)

I have chosen to analyse the Ferris wheel scene from ‘The Notebook', where Noah (Ryan Gosling) asks Allie (Rachel McAdams) out. To watch the clip click here.
The first shot is a downwards tilt. This allows us to see the whole of the Ferris wheel and Noah walking into the frame.
There is then a MS of Noah looking up to Allie on the Ferris wheel, his eyes follow her as she goes around the top. We know this as the next shot matches his eyeline and shows us Allie looking at him. There is then a MCU of Noah. This shows us his reaction to her and is a shot-reverse-shot drawing us into the scene.
He then looks up again and starts to move to the right hand of the frame. There is then a MS of him running towards the Ferris wheel. This cut is seamless and we don’t even notice it has happened. To the audience it feels as if we are standing still and are watching him run past us towards Allie. We are then brought into the scene again with a VLS of Allie on the Ferris wheel and Noah running into the frame. We feel as if we are closer to the action and have a better view of what happens than if the camera stayed behind Noah.
There is then a matched cut of Noah jumping onto the Ferris wheel next to Allie. The position of the camera only moves slightly, just enough so that we can see the action more clearly, and so we don’t notice the movement. The camera then tilts up to follow them and then as they get to the top there is a MS of Allie and her date on the Ferris wheel and Noah sitting between them.
This MS allows us to see what’s happening more clearly and to see the reactions of Allie and her date.
There is then a HA shot of the Ferris wheel operator, Tommy (Jude Kitchens) shouting up at Noah and we hear Noah’s reaction to what he says.
We then go back up to the MS of Noah, Allie and her date. This allows us to see the conversation between the three of them and their reactions, clearer.
Then there is another HA shot of Tommy stopping the Ferris wheel and looking up at them. There is then a match on action shot, with a LA, ELS of it stopping.
After this there is another HA shot of Tommy shouting up at Noah and a LA shot of Noah replying to him.
Then there is a MS of Noah, Allie and her date. Noah moves to get up and the shot moves to a VLS in front of him, and then a LA, ELS. The shots stick to the 30 degree rule, and are better than one shot from one position as they help us to see what Noah’s doing, a lot better.
After Noah jumps up onto the rail and turns around, we see a shot of Fin (Kevin Connolly) and Sara’s (Heather Wahlquist) reaction. This is shown using a HA shot of them looking up to the top of the frame. There is then an OTS shot of Allie and her date looking at Noah. This shows us him looking down at his friends and then a LA, ELS shows him hanging off the Ferris wheel. This makes is look real as we can see him hanging off.
There is then a slightly HA, OTS so that we are looking at Noah when he talks to Allie. We then see her reaction to this with a MS of her and her date looking up at Noah with his body in the frame. Then we go back to the HA, OTS of Noah. And then back to the MS of her. This is a shot-reverse-shot, getting us involved into the conversation.
There is then another shot reverse shot with a MCU of Noah’s reaction to her saying no to him, then a MS of Allie with her date who replies to Noah and then a MCU of Noah. This again brings us into their conversation.
Again we have a shot-reverse-shot of the same shots but this time Noah talking to Allie again.
There is then a HA of Noah letting go with one hand. This allows us to see what happens clearer as we can see his hand swinging next to him. Following this is a MCU of Allie’s reaction to this. And then a HA, MCU shot of his friends’ reaction. We then go back to the HA shot of him. Then back to a MCU of her. Then to a MCU of him. Noah says ‘My hands slipping’ and the camera tilts up to show us his hand and then goes back to a HA, MCU of his friends’ reaction. We then see a HA, OTS of him and then back to the HA shot of his friends. These three shots are again a shot-reverse-shot.
The fast cuts add to the worried feeling that the characters have, that he may fall, and so makes us worried as well.
There is then another sequence shot-reverse-shot of eight MCU’s of Noah and Allie with Allie agreeing to go out with him. This draws us into the conversation and makes us feel as if we are between them and looking at each of them as they reply to each other.
After Noah holds back on with two hands the cuts slow down as the characters and the audience are now relieved, and feel more relaxed as they know he won’t fall.
There is a MCU of Allie’s reaction to what just happened in the scene, and a HA shot of his friends’ reaction to what happened. Then there is a MCU of Allie looking down to Noah’s friends and replying to Sara, and then of her turning around to Noah. There is then a MCU of Noah’s reaction to Allie starting to undo his belt and then back to a MCU of her undoing them.
At 1.52 there is a LA, VLS of her pulling his trousers down. This makes us feel as if we are watching with everyone else at ground level.
There is then a MCU of Noah, a HA shot of his friends and a MCU of Allie and her date showing their reaction to her pulling his trousers down. The final shot is an ELS of the Ferris wheel making us feel as if we are standing far away with everyone else. This shot helps lead into the next scene of the film as we feel as if we leaving the funfair.