Preliminary Task Evaluation

Last Friday we began filming our preliminary task shoot. We filmed for an hour in the media class room which had many advantages and disadvantages. It worked as a location for our task as we had easy access to desks for props and also doors and exterior shots for scenery. However the disadvantages of this were that there was not much space to move around in and also the scene did look a little like it was taking place in a class room. During filming we each shared out the roles equally and in a rotation. So for one shot someone would be directing, another would be operating the camera, someone would be checking continuity and the fourth person would be checking off a list of things to be done before filming. I did all of these about two times each and found I learnt a lot from each of them. When I operated the camera I learnt to white balance and also zoom and focus. When I was directing I learnt all the terms of filming and put them into action. For continuity it required a lot of focus to remember how things were in the previous scene, the check list was really important to make sure our take went smoothly.

When it came to lighting we wanted to make shadows to create a spookier and intimidating atmosphere. We wanted harsh lighting to cast across our actors. This was important to the scene as it made the male character seem more dominating and vindictive, whereas the female character was seen as smaller and more nervous. It was effective as it really helped create our wanted atmosphere and helped show the characters of the scene. We used blonde lights to create the lighting and turned off the overhead lighting to balance it.

When it came to filming we had a lot to remember from our practice of the shoot. We remembered to set up the tripod correctly and bubble it to ensure the tripod was level. This is very important when filming on location to ensure that the camera is level and steady and not tilting to one side. We made sure the shot was framed correctly each time making sure the special relationships were accurate and remembering to include the rule of thirds and eye line matches. We had to make sure that our lighting equipment was not in shot by moving around them remembering them 180’ rule and not losing our way of how we wanted the scene to be lit. We then had to choose the appropriate angles for the shot following the guideline of the story board. This was important to ensure that the frames flowed into each other and also to make sure that we didn’t break the 180’ rule or the line of action. When we began filming we started off using a wide shot to have both characters in the same shot, then we moved to an over the shoulder shot of the male character and filmed this, we then zoomed into the male character and filmed his close up, after this we moved the camera around to film the over the shoulder shot of the woman and then her close up. We did two correct takes of each shot to make sure that we had variety when it came to editing. After the practice shot the week before we had to remember not to cross the 180’ rule. We made many notes to ensure that we kempt to it to make the scene flow more and also to keep the line of action. Before recording each shot we used the appropriate terminology for example ‘stand by’ ‘standing by’ ‘roll camera’ ‘camera rolling’ ‘action’ ‘cut’ leaving a lead in and lead out in the recording to help us when we came to editing. By doing this we everyone on the set knew what was happening, it also made the atmosphere on set seem more professional. We were able to film extra shots away from the storyboard like an establishing shot of the building and a close up on the main prop of the keys and an extreme close up on the eyes of the victim making her look more scared and also more threatened.

Overall we have learnt a lot from the practical lessons of film making. We worked really well as a team and were able to agree and equally disagree together making the whole process of filming much easier and calmer. I have personally learnt a lot about what happens on set about filming for instance with the appropriate terminology and lead in and lead out. I also learnt how to set up the camera in terms of bubbling and frames. Another thing I learnt was the importance of the story board and how useful it is to help the shot flow.