The preliminary task which was given to us was: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot amd the 180 degree rule.
From the brief which was given, I have learnt what match on action is, it is where the perspective of the camera changes during a scene but it continues to flow. Shot/reverse shot is where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character and I have also learnt about the 180 degree rule which is like a guideline whilst filming two characters amd you can only film from one side, you can not film on the other side as the characters will then be seen on the opposite side from the scene before
I personally think that my group and I had planned quite well, we discussed our ideas together therefore we listened to each other so we also brainstormed our ideas for the filming, we also showed our ideas/plan through a storyboard, however it needed to be re-drawn as it was not all accurate/correct for the different camera shots which we wanted to use. As a group we decided who would be the characters, even though we came to that decision, it was a bit difficult at first as some people did not want to be in the video or on youtube, therfore two of us had to just volunteer as we wanted to just get it done. We then wrote a script out which was decided as a group to keep simple as it would not be too complicated and easy to remember. We also sorted out what days we were free to film after school and at school during our frees.
Our storyboard was quite effective as it gave us a guideline of what, how and when to film each part. However, it was not so effective as it was not drawn properly, meaning the different camera shots for each scene was not accurate, for example for one scene we drew feet walking, but on the storyboard it was not shown accurately as we wanted a close up shot on the feet, but it was showing most of the legs too but we did not want that when it cam to actually filming it, but that was our first storyboard. Our first storyboard had to be re-drawn as we changed the whole film, however a certain member of our group had the role of drawing it again but they have not shown it to the other members of the group, therefore it was not very effective in helping us to film our different scenes.
As a group we found it quite easy to connect the camera lenses to the camera, but we struggled a bit to connect the camera to the tripod as it was quite hard to fit it on and we were not 100% sure of how to put it on securely at first, but we then knew how to do it after some practice, but in the end we did not use the tripod. We found it very easy to use the gorilla tripod as we just had to connect it to the camera. We learnt how to use the steadicam in class, but we did not use it whilst filming as we found that we did not need to. We also knew how to connect the microphone with the camera, however we forgot to turn it on whilst filming, therefore we had to then re-film some scenes. So as a group we did not struggle that much with the camera equipment, we knew how to use it and as a group we helped each other to know how to use it if some of us were struggling. As an individual, I did not personally use the camera equipment as I was playing a character in the film, but sometimes before filming if some people were struggling with the equipment, I would then try to help.
We learnt that the camera had three lenses, one was a small lens, second one was medium lens and the third one was a big lens. These lenses all had different views for each shot, one was for a close-up shot, another was for mid-shot and the another was for a distance shot.
We also learnt that there are different types of tripods, there was a standard tripod and a gorilla tripod. The standard tripod was a tripod which you could wheel around so it would make it easier to move the camera whilst keeping it steady. And the gorilla tripod was where you could connect it to the camera and then wrap it around an object (e.g. a tree) and the camera would stay steady so you can film shots from different positions.
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| Gorilla tripod |
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| Tripod |
We learnt that the steadicam can be used by just one hand rather than two, it allows a smooth shot, even when moving over an uneven surface.
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| Steadicam |
Whilst filming, as a group we came up against some problems such as when we filmed our first film, we filmed some scenes, but then realised we forgot to put the mic on, therefore we had to re-film those scenes. On one scene where I play the character who walks through the doorway, on some scenes the door was open and other scenes it was closed, so again, we had to re-film some of those scenes. When it came to editing our first preliminary task, we realised that we had missed one scene out, therefore it lacked continuity. As a group we came up with suggestions to just re-film that one scene but the lighting would not be the same, there were suggestions that we could use a spotlight, but it would still look very different in the film because it would not be natural light like the scenes before. So we decided to re-film the whole film. We also faced problems with absences within our group so we missed some opportunities where we could of filmed because some people were ill, therefore we had less time to film, but we still got it filmed in time. Sometimes we had to film some scenes anyway if one member of the group was not there, but we would tell/show them what we did and then we would discuss it to see if we all agreed on it. When it came to editing our second filming of the preliminary task, we were very pleased that we had finished the filming and editing, but when we showed the video to our teacher, he spotted that we had crossed the 180 degree rule, so instead of filming the whole film again, we only had to film the dialogue scene. We then edited it all and eventually finished it all by the deadline which we were given.
As a group we coped well with using the apple macs and using final cut pro to edit our films, we found it quite easy and understood how to edit our footage by using the cut tool, we sort of knew how to add transitions, but we did not use any in our video as we did not need to. As a group we did struggle with converting the files as we were not so sure how to do it, but one member of our group knew how to do it more than the rest, and from that we all learnt how to do it. We all had a go at editing some of our footage by using final cut pro. From the editing process so far I have learnt how to convert the files, how to cut scenes and how to add some transitions.
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| Editing on the macs by using final cut pro |
With our finished product, on a scale of 1-10 as 10 being very happy, I would personally say that I am 8/10 of our film as I am quite happy and pleased with what we have produced but it is not perfect. It was our first film produced, and even though it was quite short, we included different camera shots and it followed the brief which was given to us, so I am pleased with that. I am also happy that we have shown good continuity, especially within the dialogue scene as it is quite difficult to get that to look continuous. One shot which I think is particularly effective is the close up shot at the beginning, as it shows the character walking, but only shows their shoes so it creates suspense as to who the character is, because you can not see their face. Another shot which I think is effective is the shot/reverse shot during the dialogue scene as you can see what each character says, what their facial expression is and the continuity is good.
If I had the opportunity to do this task again, I think I would choose to work in a different group as some members did not give enough effort sometimes and they can not always be reliable as they have not done the task which they individually needed to do. We had to show continuity in this task, but if it weren't to just show continuity, then I would change the storyline and the setting of the scenes to make it more exciting/creative and there would be more techniques of suspense/tension. But if it were to still show continuity and keep it simple, then I would try to add some transitions so it shows continuity still but in different ways.
I feel that we worked well as a group as we managed to listen to each other and hear other people's ideas on what we could do, we all had our personal roles to fulfil but some members of the group did not do what they had to do. A member of our group also tried to keep changing our video after we had already planned it all, and we tried to keep it as simple as we could because we wanted to mainly show continuity, and the elements which we had to include which was in the brief, but the certain member wanted to make it more exciting, but their ideas were complicated. But we worked well as a team as we helped each other and worked together. In the team I personally had to play a character in the film and I had to sometimes take charge whilst we were filming some scenes as some people were not focusing. So in some ways, I personally think that I brought leadership into the team at certain times, I also listened to everyone and heard what they had/wanted to say and then tried to combine all of our ideas or using some ideas from one person and a few ideas from another person. We also all enjoyed making the film and was very pleased when we finished it all and met the deadline.
