Preliminary filming for media

What I did

For my preliminary film, me and my group created a 30 second film clip of someone being late for an interview. At the beginning of my film, there is a long shot showing the audience a location of the setting and then the character late for the interview appears, running down the corridor, to which the camera cuts to the interview and cuts back to the late person running and then entering the room.

Evaluation - planning

When planning, we had to consider the different camera angles, the time it would take to film and edit it whilst keeping to the length of between 20-30 seconds. We planned everything out using a storyboard to give us an idea about how long each shot will take, which shots to use and which shots we need to take in and leave out. Another way we planned was by visiting the "sets" we were going to use for filming and taking photos and videos on our phones and cameras to make sure the shots would work and to help keep to the 180 degree camera rule.

Process of filming

We filmed our preliminary film over the course of two days. in the establishing shot, we had a extreme long shot to show the audience the location and to give them an idea about what time of film it is going to be and to set atmosphere. We had the character in the scene run towards the camera to make the audience feel like the character is running towards them. By doing this, sets an atmosphere and creates more of a tension. 

The incidental music used in the scene helped to create this atmosphere as if it were something out of an action film. We then got the camera to cut to the second character in the scene, but also have the incidental music cut out to create an anti-climatic mood. The second character then looks to her watch, to which the first character also does the same thing. The use of this action match was to show the involvement with the two characters and how they relate with each other in two separate scene. 

The camera then cuts to a close up of the first characters feet running to the door. The effect of this was to show the audience from a different perspective how much of a rush the first character was in to help add to the effect and help rebuild a climax. The camera then cuts to a close up of the hand on the door handle and then cuts to the door opening from the other side using an over the shoulder angle shot. The effect this has shows the change from one characters perspective to another and how they both relate. When they engage in dialogue, the camera cuts from the first character to the second character when they speak, whilst sticking the the 180 angle rule. This lets the audience know who is speaking during the scene and by sticking to the 180 rule, means they don't get confused about who the characters are talking to, which is why the 180 angle rule is important to stick to when there are more than two characters in a scene. We did well to stick to the storyboard, however some of the shots included were added and taken away to work with the film and the timing of the film.

Technical problems

Whilst filming, we did face a few technical issues. One technical issue we had to overcome was the establishing shot (or "wide shot"). What my group found out when filming was that the establishing shot wasn't aligned with our long shot (when the first character entered the scene).To prevent this happening next time, I will make sure to film the establishing shot and long shot on the same day and make sure they are completely aligned with each other. Another technical issue my group had to overcome when filming was wardrobe malfunctions. What we found out about filming over a period of days was that the characters don't always wear the same clothes/make-up that they did the day before. To prevent this happening next time, I make sure to duplicate the outfit and make-up as worn the day before so that there are no faults in terms of outfits.

Another issue my group faced when filming was the setting. Our film was set in a school environment which meant that the camera would pick up unnecessary background noise or sometimes students or teachers would wander past in the shots, which destroys the atmosphere of the film. To prevent this happening next time, I will make sure to plan more carefully when filming in public environments so that it is during a period when it is a lot quieter and calmer.

One final issue my group faced was faulty equipment. During filming we had difficulty using the tripods, which in effect wasted filming time. To prevent this in the future, I will be using more professional camera equipment so I shall be less likely to come across technical faults with the equipment.

Skills and programmes

The editing programme we used to put this film together was called "final cut express". The skills that were expected to use when using final cut express included using crop tools, audio editing skills as well as adding sounds, music and effects where needed. When adding the incidental music, we used the audio tools to mute out the background noise so it didn't collide with the incidental music. The programme we used to upload the video was YouTube, which didn't involve any skills.

Working as a group

Positives

~ Get filming done quicker.

~ Collide ideas and opinions to create something better than individuals could create.

~ Don't need to waste time looking for actors.

~ Multiple tasks can be done quicker; one person storyboards whilst others go taking photos to see if it works well.

Negatives

~ Different opinions; some people may not get along.

~ More likely to mess around and not get work done.

~ Takes longer to upload onto different blogs.

~ May argue too much/ go off onto a different topic.