Friday 15 October 2010

Evaluation of Preliminary Task



Evaluation
In this evaluation I am going to answer the questions relevantly to my film the group and I have produced. Exploring the editing and filming techniques I have come across during the assignment.
Firstly, the text is based on a surreal dream, but shows continuity throughout the text. Including two match on actions, 180 degree rule, and shot reverse shot. Using continuity editing we were able to create a sense of realism to our piece.

(2 screen shots)





 In addition at 0.46 we see the first match on action to display the evidence I have selected two screen shots from the text.
These screenshots from the text shows that we have stayed chronologically showing that the character has moved through real-time, which shows how we made it continuous.            
As a group we have incorporated the desired techniques, match on action, shot reverse shot, and the 180-degree rule.  Firstly shot reverse shot, is an effective continuity technique. Shot reverse shot is when a scene is shot from multiple angles, when characters are normally in conversation. The audience understands that one continuous action develops chronologically using this technique. 

(3 screen shots)

180-degree rule is an important aspect to filming. Additionally the 180-degree rule helps the viewer establish where the characters are, if the camera was to ‘cross the line’ the scene for the audience would become disjointed and confusing.  We have incorporated this into our film.

(1)
Match on actions were difficult to edit, as we had to get the correct time and cut various shots to find the perfect match. Filming the shots were rather easy I thought, although it took a long time to get the camera into the correct position.  In addition match on action is an effective technique which helps the continuity flow.  

(2)




As a result I believe that our group worked extremely well together, all attended dates set up to film and plan. The communication within the group was great because everyone’s opinions and ideas were valid and it helped us create a successful piece of text, which fits the criteria. The process within the group ran rather smoothly, with not many problems. Furthermore when the group faced problems, we worked them out together. We had little and big problems, such as fitting the camera on the tripod, or trying to fully understand the 180-degree rule, thinking we were crossing the line?  Everyone worked a fair amount, which is how we met the deadlines.  


Even though the film was successful and met the criteria, I would improve on the shot reverse shots, as in many cases the characters head was cut off in the frame. I would also try to have a storyline which made sense as the text was rather random, in which some cases fitted the idea that we had in mind but also left the audience confused as to what was happening. Furthermore I think that as group if we decided to make it into a advert, we should have designed the text to be filmed as an advert.  Finally I also think that as a group we should have come up with more than one idea to we could refine and have more definite idea, because we jumped straight into the storyboard, which i think we should have spent more time thinking about.

Firstly I think that we should have planned our film better, it was a sufficient effort but needed a better storyline. As a group we should have organised an hour session, planning various ideas so that we could come to one final decision rather than jumping straight into the first idea, although time was limited. Consequently the film lacked storyline and when our film was evaluated many commented on this.

We used two transition within the film, a dissolve at the beginning to add effect and professionalism and also a fade to black at the end. As a group we decided not to incorporate many as too many would look unprofessional.

During the whole process i have learnt lots of editing techniques, cutting out unwanted shots from one section of film, adding sound effects, removing audio, adding audio, incorporating transitions, and creating a professional piece of film.


Throughout this project, I have learnt many techniques, but also I have developed my skills using camera’s setting up the equipment. I value these techniques and intend to expand on them for my G321 project. I tried to learn as much as I could so I would know what I was doing when it comes to the G321 project. I have learnt how to put up and put down a tripod adjusting it to the height I desire, i have also learnt how to attach and detach a dolly. I have also learnt how operate imovie on the Imac, and also learning various editing techniques. Also I have learnt how to pan and include a back tracking shot into a film. In conclusion i have learnt many skills i would like to build upon and refine.














This is the final product of the preliminary task, I am overall pleased with the outcome, but there are a few improvements that could be made such as title's, a more thorough storyline. In the last setting of the the text, the shot cuts our half of Scott's head which could also be improved.

Thursday 14 October 2010

Preliminary Task Script

Preliminary Task Script
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DEVON DALTON | SCOTT COLLINS | CHARLOTTE MORRISON | JESSICA FOSTER


Shot 1          A clock is ticking on the wall
Shot2           A tap is running in a toilet
Shot 3          The bottom of a door opens and the main character steps out. A peculiar object sits before the door. The shot only displays his feet and the object in front of him.
Shot 4          Camera slowly rises to reveal the rest of the character.
Shot 5          Shot zooms out to show a hallway littered with a trail of rubbish.

Down the middle of the long hallway, a trail of rubbish leads up to a pair of glass doors and continues round a corner.

Shot 6          Backwards tracking of the man curiously following the trail. He stoops down and examines the first two pieces of rubbish, confused.
Shot 7          The character continues to follow the trail through a set of doors and down 2 sets of staircases.
Shot 8          The camera follows the character and pans from left to right as he approaches a door, where the trail ends.
Shot 9          The character hesitantly reaches to open the door, wary and unsure. There is a match-on-action as the character proceeds through the doorway.

Shot 10        After the character enters the room, he closes the door and faces away from the entrance. The camera faces him from a distance.

The room is dark and the only light is streaming in from the hallway through the glass window on the door. The light is coming from behind the character and only his silhouette is visible, making it difficult to see his facial expressions.

Shot 11        The main character reaches hesitantly to his right to turn on the light switch.

The room lights up and a strange man is perched on a table in the back corner of the room.

Shot 12        Scott: Uhh, hello?
                        Minur: (jumps up in excitement, shouting) Ah HA! There you
are! The man of the hour!
                        Scott: (wary) Do I .. know you?
                        Minur: (changes from jolly to curious) Can I ask you a favour?
It’s really important to me you see..
                        Scott: (tense) Sure?
            Minur: Can you help me clean my rubbish? It’s all over the
floor, and I can’t .. I can’t ..

The man’s voice breaks, and his lips begin to quiver. He releases a sob, and begins to cry hysterically. As he screams, the camera razor cuts to a close up shot of the main character screaming as he awakes from a horrible nightmare, and quickly jolts forward in shock.

The camera changes to a high angle shot and slowly fades to black, where a bottle/tube appears on the screen.

SleepTight
Chase your nightmares away with SleepTight!

StoryBoard





























Discription of our idea's for the task.

As a group we tried to keep the idea orignal, thinking out side the box, but in an effective way to make the exam boards request relevant to the content we have come up with.

We intend to incorperate the requested shots but also to include others to make the preliminary task effective and up to the standard expected and hopefully beyond.  As a group we have decided to select the genre of comedy. Using the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action, we are going to try and create the video we possible can to get a high mark.

Using the 180 degree rule we intend to stay on one side of the characters during the walking and the dialogue to insure that we stay within the boudaries of the 180 degree's also insuring that the audience are not consfused, so we need to make sure that it is consistant.

To incorparate the match on action we are going to include two and film it to the best of our ability making sure that it is effective and meets the criteria. We are going to pan scott walking through two doors, one camera on on side and another on the another side panning his movement.

Shot reverse shot  is a continuity technique that can be used during dialogue, this is how we are going to incorporate shot reverse shot in our piece, using it to film the dialogue, this will help the continuity flow.