Preliminary Task Evaluation. James Presland

Preliminary Task evaluation

The Brief

The task requirements consisted of the use of three specific actions and three specific skills. Although this is not a skill nor action we had to show evidence of continuity editing.

The three actions were : sitting, walking and opening and going through a door.

The three skills were :  shot reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degrees rule.

The actions

Walking

Sitting

Opening and entering through a door

The skills

Shot reverse shot

Match on action

180 degrees rule

Pre-production 

Planning the narrative ( story)

In terms of time we were very limited , however the task was very open and the Preliminary task  could be portrayed in any genre. WE were able to plan the narrative of the film verbally for about 10 minuted before we began filming and we were able to also note down general ideas of whats shots we wanted and dialogue.

We settled for the task to follow a thriller/action genre film.We felt that this would be the best choice as it enabled the task to portray the different skills and actions in a large variety of ways.For example, we could use Shot reverse shot in conversation to emphasise tension or use the 180 degrees rule to show the relationship of two people walking.

Choosing the Location.

We were quite limited for choice for this task as we were not allowed outside of school grounds.

However, we decided to use a wide range of different locations from around the school. We used these different locations as it enabled us to expose and take advantage of unique vantage points which could be used to create interesting camera shots and angles. For example, when the camera is mounted high up and takes a photograph of Kyle this was done by setting the camera o top of a locker found near the door of which Kyle entered through.

I think the Pre-production past of the process went very well considering we did not have a lot of time to choose a location, narrative and to come up with dialogue. I think we also worked well as a team. We communicated verbally efficiently , we needed to communicate well about camera shot and angles in order to come to the best decision.

Production

Lighting 

overall Lighting was successful. We filmed during the day so we did not need any additional lighting. However , on that particular day the sun was quite bright and we had to position the camera to ensure no glare from the sun would be seen in the film. the actors also found it difficult to look in certain directions because of this.

Camera

We use a Canon DLSR 650D  for the shooting of our preliminary task. WE had discussed the different camera shots and angles we planned to use for the shoot before we started filming. We were also limited for time during the actual filming of the task. We also had to redo many scenes because of background noise interfering or camera panning difficulties. 

Sound

The sound was recorded using the Canon DLSR 650D  . The sound consisted of mostly dialogue and one sound effect which was the camera taking a picture.However, we had originally planned to record the sound separately on a recording app on a mobile phone however we later realised that the sound and film would not be able to sync up properly so the recordings were not used.

I think the production stage went well . Considering the location we choose and the difficulties surrounding it such as the ambient noise and passing people.

Post-production 

Editing

For the editing the original team was split into two smaller sub teams. We all used the same raw footage , however our finished products were very different. We used the editing program: final cut pro to edit our films. At first the program was difficult to get used to however, it soon became clear how to cut and move footage around. The main feature that we had to had to keep in mind while editing was to produce a film that had great continuity editing.

I think the editing went well despite it being the first time my and partner and I had ever used Final cut pro.

What I learnt.

I have learnt many a wide variety of knowledge while conducting my Preliminary task. 

For Pre-Production, I have learnt that planning out your shots, dialogue, actions for the actors/actresses and camera positioning is very key to having a well planned pre-production. I think next time i would construct a storyboard as this would enable production to be conducted much easier.

For Production, I have learnt that when recording characters far away it is best not for them to have dialogue as the microphone cannot pick their audio up.

For Post-production I learnt that when trying to combine an audio file with visuals without recording them at the same time is incredibly difficult to do.I also learnt many features of final cut pro such as : stabilization, place and cutting visuals and placing sounds effects.