I worked
with Josh Stevenson, Harry Kettenis and Juliette Wileman to create our
preliminary sequence. Our brief was to film a continuity sequence involving
filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting
down in a chair opposite character with whom he exchanges dialogue. Our
thriller involved the storyline of a strong antagonist asking a worker if a
task has been done. We shot our sequence in the foyer and classroom in the
media block.
Who did you
work with and how did you manage the task between you?
We planned
together in a group discussion, where Juliette first pitched the idea.
·
Juliette did
most of the illustrating of our shots as she did GCSE Art.
·
We cast Josh
S as the worker because he does AS level Drama and is a confident actor.
· We cast Juliette
as the dark antagonist in our thriller as out of the two girls in our group,
she had more experience acting in front of the camera and hence was more
confident.
·
We changed
roles in making the film by involving the whole group with filming, directing
and doing the clapperboard.
We did two
edits in groups of two people. I edited with Josh. Therefore there are two
edited versions of the edited task.
How did you
plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you take into
account?
When we
planned, we became more able to demonstrate common ideas. It became really
helpful for when we were shooting and editing.
· At first,
when planning our ideas, we came up with a concept. Hence we roughly drafted
dialogue.
·
Secondly we
made a rough outline of the narrative order.
·
We then
checked for permission to use our location.
·
In order to fulfil
our brief, we took the theory of continuity rules into account,
- Matching shots and action - We linked a shot
of Josh putting his hand on the door, him pushing the door, opening it and
walking into the room.
- The 180 degree rule, Eyeline matching and Shot
reverse shot – This was seen during the short conversation between Juliette and
Josh.
- The 30 degree rule and Range of Shot
distances – This prevented jumps which you can see in the varied shots that we
took.
- Crosscutting – We were able to link the
antagonist tapping the table to Josj walking into the room.
- Narrative Flow – Not revealing the top part
of Juliette’s face helped to build up the suspense for the audience.
- Camera movement- The tracking shot of Josh
walking towards Juliette.
· We drew up
our shots straight onto shot board (without do a prior storyboard) as our production
was simpler than what would be needed on an industrial level.
· We
negotiated timings with other teams to use certain locations before writing the
order on the shot list. Then we blocked locations.
We also
planned the costumes and props need in advance as these would make the content
of our sequence more believable. Juliette was to wear a black dress with heels
and red lipstick. We wanted Josh to evoke a sense of disarray so we wanted him
to wear a white shirt.
What
technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?
We used a
camera, shot gun microphone, headphones, clapper board and Adobe premiere Pro
to make our sequence.
·
For lighting, we use the classroom lights, which lit the shots well.
And the curtains prevented the light coming through and disrupting the set up.
· The tripod
was useful when filming the close ups. We used the camera which was model Canon
HV 30.
· We also used
a shotgun microphone to capture our footage and audio.
· The headphones
we used, Sennheiser HD 201, were helpful to check the sound was working and
audible.
·
The
clapperboard proved very useful for editing. It allowed us to quickly identify
shots and be able to reference them correctly.
· We used
Adobe Premiere Pro for non-linear editing which consisted of two video and two
audio tracks so we could alternate the clips between them.
This allowed
us to produce a seamless sequence that suspends the audience’s disbelief.
What factors
did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning, shooting and editing, we made
group decisions so we could maximise the potential of our production.
·
We checked for genre iconography and
continuity rules of our plans.
·
We blocked the locations before filming to
limit confusion on the day of filming.
· We had to make sure the actors performed in
role. Therefore we took some extra takes as a precaution.
· We had to make sure we didn’t breach any of
our plans that we made. So our whole group was always present on set.
· We worked on schedule to stick to timings
however we didn’t create a timetable. We worked in the order of our shot list.
The decisions that we made aided us in
shooting and editing to the time set for us by our teacher.
How successful
was your sequence? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would
you improve/do differently?
I thought our sequence was successful as it fulfils
the brief. Our general sequencing of events worked well as the audience where
able to understand the narrative of the task.
·
The camera movement involved the audience as
if they were physically in the parallel world.
·
The editing looks seamless however we had to
modify our shots a little. We cut out two shots as we struggled to match them
with action of the other shots.
· We had to razor and copy some of the audio
from the tapping to match the audio to the video.
· In hindsight, we could have changed the way
we shot Josh coming into the room. In the tracking shot of Josh, the camera
shakes which disorientates the audience. Instead we could have a pan of him
walking into the room.
· Also when Juliette’s shots come, the camera
should focus lower than her eyes. The framing could be more closer and central
to her lips.
Overall I think we produced this sequence
well given the tight timescale we were allocated.
What have
you learnt from completing this task?
I think I
have improved my production and editing skills during this task.
· When filming match on action shots, I learnt
that the crew should keep a note of where a character changes actions so this
can be replicated correctly in other shots of the same action.
· I understood
the significance of the 180 degree rule so I can now know where to place the
camera in relation to the subject.
· I learnt
that I can use the audio level bar on the timeline in Premiere Pro to increase
the match of the audio of differently framed shots.
·
I learnt to
use the razor tool to split clips on the timeline.
This will
help me edit the rest of my foundation coursework faster. I feel more confident
with applying the continuity theories to practical productions.
