Preliminary Task - Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
My group consisted of me, Aarti, Nick and Simon. We split the tasks between us and mainly stuck to those specific roles. Planning and shooting jobs were shared quite equally. During shooting, Nick and Simon were the main actors, and Aarti and I split roles in the production process. We tried to split the roles of Director, Production Assistant, Camera Person and Sound Technician equally between us. During shots where one actor was not needed, they usually contributed to the shooting aspect by becoming a camera person. During editing, we also shared the jobs equally, with each of us spending the same amount of time on it each. We’d spend about 10 minutes editing and then rotate, so the next person could try.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
During planning, we all made contributions to the ideas for the short clip and techniques to use when shooting and editing. We decided on a location and then we all created the shot list between us and placed them in the order they would appear in. We did this with the help of a basic diagram of the location. We then shared the storyboarding of the shots, each drawing a specific amount of shots (4 each as the total was 16). Nick and Simon then created the script for dialogue. We then had a walkthrough of the action and dialogue to make sure it worked and looked right. The planning process meant it was a lot clearer and we were very prepared when it came to filming it.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
During shooting we used a digital, mini-dv camera, tripod and a microphone with headphones. The camera was attached to the tripod in order to manipulate it into different positions, angles and distances. A microphone and headphones were attached to the camera and the mic was pointed in the direction of the action. This gave us clearer sound and helped mainly with dialogue in the scene. During editing, we used the programme Adobe Premier Pro to do non-linear editing. It was fairly simple to use as we just used cuts and had prepared the order of the shots beforehand. The shots were based on a timeline that we could zoom into and cut up the clips. We added a title to the start and also added a fade effect at the end to make it less abrupt.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning, shooting and editing our sequence, there were many factors that we had to consider. Firstly we had to think about the brief and plan something around this basic outline. We also had to think about our limits on time and therefore we needed action that would be able to be shot in the allocated time, and we also needed simple editing. With the location, we had to consider its suitability and whether it would fit with our sequence. With this, we had to take into consideration any background noise and how we would control it, this also includes keeping the area we needed clear so that no one walked into our shot whilst we were filming, that weren’t actors. We also had to consider whether lighting would be a problem; however it wasn’t as we chose to film in the media block which was brightly lit anyway, and this also meant weather wasn’t an issue. During planning, we had to produce a shot list and therefore consider angles, distances, camera movement and continuity techniques such as the 180 degree rule. During editing, we cut up the shots with about 1 second free either side, to make sure we didn’t cut off too much. This technique was also used in shooting, where after ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’ we would leave a couple of seconds.

5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
The main aim for this task was to present good continuity, and I think we did this quite well with our clip. I thought our match on actions in the sequence were very successful and flowed well. This happens when Nick is entering the room, from pushing the door handle, we see his hand, entering the room, placing the bag on the table, opening the book, Simon looking over his shoulder, and then showing Simon’s POV of the book. The acting by the two actors comes accross as quite natural, which we wanted to show. There is also no issues with lighting. There is a bit of camera sound, however this is extremely difficult to avoid. Also I thought the dialogue was clear enough anyway, so the extra sound didn’t really affect the sequence much. In hindsight, I would make the initial pan slightly smoother, however I don’t believe there were any obvious continuity errors that we could have changed.

6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
From completing this task, I have learnt that continuity is an extremely vital part of any piece of film. We tried to keep the sequence simple as we had to follow the brief, whilst still expressing the use of good continuity techniques, however it has shown that planning and preparation for this before shooting is very important. I noticed that if you plan all shots; the types of shots, the order to shoot them and where they will be edited together, it results in clearer and smooth shooting and editing. When I come to do the rest of my coursework I think this learning will be significant, as it has shown me what sort of planning I should do, techniques I can use during shooting and has reminded me of editing techniques.