Sunday, 27 October 2013
Shot List - Preliminary Task Planning
Evaluation of Preliminary Task
Question One:
As part of my planning, I researched and tested various camera shots/ angles (as seen in previous blog post). These helped enormously, especially when deciding how to film something e.g. if it should be film, or edited as such in order to maintain a variety of different shots; for example, I only needed to cut the opening scene of Liam walking a cross the field in three different places (to create a jump cut shot), whereas had I of tried to 'stop and start' whilst filming it, it would have taken more editing skills to match up the clips, then it did to cut it whilst editing.
My planning also consisted of ensuring that continuity was maintained throughout the filming process, for both the actors and the setting. We had no problems with clothing or setting thus were able to film on all occasions. However, if we were to shoot again, I think we would choose a different location to shoot the conversation as the canteen was often noisy /full of people that would walk in the background /sit in a different place therefore causing us to have to re film and replace several good shots that didn't match up (with the continuity) to the rest of the footage. Moreover, my group had to plan a topic for the conversation; we decided that our conversation would be vague, ambiguous and have no real meaning or outcome, this creates interest and sparks curiosity, which is especially important within such a short film.
Question Two:
The 180 degree rule is when the camera maintains on one side of an invisible line for every shot in a particular scene, for example, character one will always be right of character two, who will always be left. Without this rule the audience may become disorientated and loose track of the plot; the filming of football matches is a famous example of this. This rule was important when filming the prelim task as it upheld continuity.
Question Three:
The first shot used in our filming was an establishing long shot, which (as previously mentioned) I cut into a jump shot when editing, the long shot was initially used to establish location and present the first character as being isolated /distant from the other, however I felt this shot was too simple to be of any interest thus by editing into a jump shot, I feel the scene became more interesting; I also edited it so that each shot still had a shadow of the last, (hopefully) intriguing the audience further. Next, I used the close up, tilted tracking shot of the other character's feet, this enabled us to present the audience with the other character, without revealing too much again, making the audience curious. Additionally, the footsteps were heavy thus showing the audience that not all was right, therefore making the scene tense. I also used a close up of the characters hand opening the door as this adds importance to the mundane movement, making the audience question as to why. During the conversation we used 'point of view' (POV) shots alongside 'shot, reverse, shots' - these engage the audience, making them feel as if they were apart of the conversation. It also quickens the pace, reinforcing the sense of angst which has built up throughout the clip.
Question Four:
Initially, my editing skills were weak and very basic, however throughout this process of the preliminary task my confidence has vastly increased. I'm now able to cut down clips, add special affects such as 'fade to black' and 'disolve'(which I used to cut from one scene to another, as this makes the change more natural and less false), I've also learnt the importance of 'rendering' editing clips to ensure high quality. By adding additional affects to my edit its become more dramatic and seemingly more professional.
I now look forward to the bigger task of editing the thriller opening, and feel confident that I'll be able to create and edit a worthwhile piece.
As part of my planning, I researched and tested various camera shots/ angles (as seen in previous blog post). These helped enormously, especially when deciding how to film something e.g. if it should be film, or edited as such in order to maintain a variety of different shots; for example, I only needed to cut the opening scene of Liam walking a cross the field in three different places (to create a jump cut shot), whereas had I of tried to 'stop and start' whilst filming it, it would have taken more editing skills to match up the clips, then it did to cut it whilst editing.
My planning also consisted of ensuring that continuity was maintained throughout the filming process, for both the actors and the setting. We had no problems with clothing or setting thus were able to film on all occasions. However, if we were to shoot again, I think we would choose a different location to shoot the conversation as the canteen was often noisy /full of people that would walk in the background /sit in a different place therefore causing us to have to re film and replace several good shots that didn't match up (with the continuity) to the rest of the footage. Moreover, my group had to plan a topic for the conversation; we decided that our conversation would be vague, ambiguous and have no real meaning or outcome, this creates interest and sparks curiosity, which is especially important within such a short film.
Question Two:
The 180 degree rule is when the camera maintains on one side of an invisible line for every shot in a particular scene, for example, character one will always be right of character two, who will always be left. Without this rule the audience may become disorientated and loose track of the plot; the filming of football matches is a famous example of this. This rule was important when filming the prelim task as it upheld continuity.
Question Three:
The first shot used in our filming was an establishing long shot, which (as previously mentioned) I cut into a jump shot when editing, the long shot was initially used to establish location and present the first character as being isolated /distant from the other, however I felt this shot was too simple to be of any interest thus by editing into a jump shot, I feel the scene became more interesting; I also edited it so that each shot still had a shadow of the last, (hopefully) intriguing the audience further. Next, I used the close up, tilted tracking shot of the other character's feet, this enabled us to present the audience with the other character, without revealing too much again, making the audience curious. Additionally, the footsteps were heavy thus showing the audience that not all was right, therefore making the scene tense. I also used a close up of the characters hand opening the door as this adds importance to the mundane movement, making the audience question as to why. During the conversation we used 'point of view' (POV) shots alongside 'shot, reverse, shots' - these engage the audience, making them feel as if they were apart of the conversation. It also quickens the pace, reinforcing the sense of angst which has built up throughout the clip.
Question Four:
Initially, my editing skills were weak and very basic, however throughout this process of the preliminary task my confidence has vastly increased. I'm now able to cut down clips, add special affects such as 'fade to black' and 'disolve'(which I used to cut from one scene to another, as this makes the change more natural and less false), I've also learnt the importance of 'rendering' editing clips to ensure high quality. By adding additional affects to my edit its become more dramatic and seemingly more professional.
I now look forward to the bigger task of editing the thriller opening, and feel confident that I'll be able to create and edit a worthwhile piece.
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