Continuity Editing Techniques - 'Fight Club' scene

This is a clip from David Fincher's film 'Fight Club' (1999), where the boss of the anonymous protagonist, played by Edward Norton, confronts him about a suspicious set of rules he finds...
The first shot of the clip, a MCU at eye level, we see the protagonist sitting at his desk, looking preoccupied. He is also the narrator of the film via a voiceover, which is present in this clip and starts it off. As the protagonist (let's call him Jack) stares into space, a new character, his boss, enters the shot from audience right, stops in front of Jack's desk, and turns to face him. Because of the shot distance we can only see the middle of his torso.
There is then a motivated matched cut to a HA OTS MS with the focus on the second character, Jack's boss. The shot then cuts back to our original view of the situation, a MCU of Jack. As the conversation occurs between Jack and his boss, the shots cut between the two we have seen. This is the shot/reverse shot technique, and is employed up to 0:37 seconds into the clip. The shots of each character within this time frame also work as reaction shots, predominantly the reactions of Jack as his boss reads out the rules of Fight Club, for example at 0:07 seconds, and 0:13 seconds. However, at 0:33 seconds we get a reaction shot of the boss, still a HA MS, though the back of Jack's head and shoulders are no longer in the shot. This is good continuity, as 10seconds earlier Jack leans back in his chair against some cabinets, and, therefore, out of the reverse shot.
At 0:38 seconds we see a change occuring. Whereas before the camera was static, there is now a tilt as Jack gets up out of his chair, with a constant matching eyeline to his boss, and a pan as he walks round the desk towards him. The shot distance starts at a MS, and as Jack gets closer to the camera, becomes a MCU. There is then another motivated reaction shot, an OTS MCU of the boss, showing his expression of shock, confusion, and disbelief. The camera zooms in slowly and very slightly as Jack moves slightly closer to his boss. There is then a matched cut, following the 180 degree rule, back to a MCU of Jack. Throughout their conversation, their eyelines are always matching. As before, this shot/reverse shot technique between these matched shots goes on till 0:59 seconds into the clip.
There is then a jump cut to a medium long two-shot, with Jack's back to the camera, but so that we can see the boss's face.
This distance allows the audience to see the action of the shot - Jack snatching the paper from his boss. It lasts for just under two seconds, before cutting back to the OTS MCU of Jack from the previous sequence. There is a shot/reverse shot back to the boss as we hear a phone ringing, and they both look down (presumably - it's out of shot) at it, and Jack seems to be picking it up. This is confirmed when the scene cuts back to Jack with the phone in his hand, talking into the receiver, but still looking at his boss.
Although in this sequence there is not a great range of shot types, continuity techniques are successfully used in helping to create a sense of rising tension, especially when it gets to about 0:37 seconds into the clip, and the camera positioning and movement finally changes.

Extended 'Atonement' Trailer Analysis

I think this trailer (for Joe Wright's Atonement, 2007) is really effective, and the different shot types and distances are a big part of creating such an impact.
The trailer opens with an ELS of a large country mansion, used as an establishing shot to reveal the setting and the characters likely to be involved.
The camera tilts down towards the garden and there is a fade into the next shot, emphasising the size of the garden. This is an ELS and shows two girls
lying beside each other on the lawn.
0:10 is a high-key lit MCU of a pretty young woman, one of the protagonists, wearing a bathing suit and cap, looking to her right, perhaps to or away from someone.
At this distance we can see her expression, a little of her costume, and, from the background and the previous shot, we can deduce she is swimming in a lake.
This then fades to a LS of a bathroom, with low-key lighting, and we see a man sit up in the bath. There is a cut (rather than a fade, to signify it's the same
scene) to a MCU of the man lying back down in the bath and looking at the ceiling or out of the window. At this distance the audience can see his expression,
which is quite purposeful. He is evidently another protagonist in the story.
0:16 is a MS of the same young man, intently typing on an old typewriter. From what we have seen so far we can assume the film is set in the past. This shot allows
the audience to see not only the man, but, being from a side angle, the typewriter and the background clutter of the room too. The room is quite dark, and he is
wearing a white vest. There is then an ECU to the paper with the letters being typed onto it.
There's a cut back to the girl who is diving in the lake - it's an ELS in order to show this.
In the next shot, a new character is introduced properly (she's the other girl who was sitting on the lawn) with an ECU. She's facing the camera but looking down
at something we can't see. Presumably it's what's in the next shot - it's an ELS showing the young woman stepping out of the fountain wearing a skin-coloured slip, while the man stands in front of her watching. His back is to the camera and he's dressed in a shirt and trousers. Here, the ELS shows us the whole picture that the girl looking out of the window is seeing, so we know what's going on.
We then see a MCU of the woman, frowning slightly (presumably) at the man.
The trailer continues this way - there is almost no dialogue, apart from at 0:35-38, 0:52-55.
A wide range of shots is used throughout, e.g. an ECU at 0:33, a LS at 0.40, and an ELS at 1:37.

There is a large variety of shots put together and shown in quick succession which gives the audience a lot of information to take in, but doesn't give away too much of the story, instead enticing the audience to see the film to find out more.
As well as variety in shot distance, the director has made use of different angles and camera movements too.
For example, the second shot of the trailer, at 0:07, is a crane shot. At 0:45, a high angle is used, as it is from the perspective of the girl looking out of a window. On the other hand, 1:24 shows a low angle shot.
The trailer also demonstrates the use of pans and tilts, such as at 1:13-18, where a tilt is used effectively to slowly reveal something to the audience.
Towards the end, a lot of the shots are also slowed slightly, making them more dramatic and having a greater impact upon the audience.

Horror Still Shot Analysis

Our shot consists of two shadows, one of a girl, one of a boy. The shadow of the girl is smaller than that of the boy, and shows her hands out in a defensive position, as well as her mouth open in a scream. The boy is taller and has his arms and hands stretched out, claw-like, towards the girl, and he is also leaning towards her in a threatening posture. The postures of both characters in the shot help to create a scene connoting the genre of horror. The fact that it is dark and that the characters are shadows also adds to this.
To achieve this, we positioned the girl further away from the light source than the boy, so that the shadow of the boy was bigger and so more threatening and sinister. We held the light source tilting upwards to elongate the shadows further. The camera was positioned so that the shadows were in the frame but the actors creating the shadows weren’t. We had also gotten rid of any other light sources, in turning off all the lights and closing the curtains.
Our shot is successful in that it’s mysterious because you can’t actually see the figures involved, which makes it more sinister, bringing in the sense of the known. The whole shot is lit by low key lighting anyway, which is conventional of the horror genre. The hands of the boy are claw-like, and because he is so much taller than the girl he looks like some kind of monster. The girl’s expression, which you can still discern, implies that she is very afraid, and that there is something to be scared of, which is a feeling that would be transferred to the audience.
In hindsight, I would have found a more suitable background, but we were quite limited in places in which we could take the shot. Generally, I would have done more with the setting and costume as well, and put in more signifiers to connote a scene from a horror. I would also have tried to make the shot in sharper focus, and have more contrast between the characters and the background so they're more clear.