Preliminary Task - Review

Overall I think the preliminary task came together well, considering that it was our first attempt at film making.


However the film itself was not perfect and as actors we are not trained in controlling our nerves, therefore the acting was half-hearted. Due to this, it was hard for my camera woman to get the full dialogue and the actions. And because of our inexperience in acting, many lines were fluffed; we were plagued with bouts of giggling and nervousness. The acting was not awful, but in the next task I would prefer there to be plenty of practice to avoid these problems.


I am happy with the fact that our ‘match on action’, ‘180 degree rule’ and ‘shot reverse shot’ were filmed effectively, there are many improvements that are required in the next task. I did notice that our editing of the ‘match on action’ was a bit fast and jumped a few seconds, possibly because we may have cut the scene too short.


Generally I’m satisfied with the acting, editing and the camera work; the best bit for us was designing the credits.

Preliminary Task- Software

The software I will be using is on the Mac laptop which is called iMovie 11; I will be using this software throughout the different tasks



Preliminary Task – Equipment

The equipment that will be used in this task and in the next are:


· A Sony HD digital video camcorder

· Tripod

· Props

· Mac Laptop

Preliminary Task - Casting

Cast


Female#1 – Aabidah Ali


Female#2 – Safina Rashid


Director – Jemma


Writer – Jemma


Producer 1- Jemma


Producer 2- Aabidah Ali

Preliminary Task - Location

The location we all agreed on would be at school, and the filming location take place in the drama block where the year 8’s have their break.

The reason for choosing this location was because it already had a built in sitting area which is convenient for us because we needed an area where the characters could sit facing each other. The drama block matched what we needed, as we liked the fact it was big and the lighting was appropriate for the film. The only difficulty we had was to film the 180 degree rule due to how female#2 was sitting, hopefully in the next task we will have improved our choreography.

If I had to film this again I would choose a slightly smaller location, the scene required being 2 minutes, filming the approach of female#1 to female#2 took up too much of this designated time .

Preliminary Task

What I Did

The first thing I did was to look at the brief, the brief instructed that we include a match on action, over shoulder reverse shot and 180 degree rule. I decided to create a story board showing the positions and actions of the characters. I also included what angle shots I would be using. But within the group, we decided to go with Jemma’s storyboard out of a choice of three.

We filmed it during our 2 hour media lesson on Tuesday, therefore we were rushed in the completion of it. I worked as one of the characters, Jemma was the director because she is good with cameras and she was positive about the angle shots we had to put in and Safina was the other character. During the filming we had to stop quite a lot, firstly because none of us are trained or professional actors, and nerves got the better of all of us. Usually trying to control our laughter at the mistakes made either by running into a shot too early or forgetting our lines, Secondly we had people walking into camera shots, which further delayed filming time.

After the filming Jemma and I edited the movie, unfortunately Safina was unable to do the editing with us because her time table was not convenient. First we uploaded the clips to the Mac laptop and opened it with iMovie 11. Next we decided on what should be cut and what should stay, as this was our first attempt to edit a movie, in our enthusiasm the graphics and the music which we put in initially was not appropriate. We were advised to get rid of them as they were considered unauthentic and didn’t suit the ‘match on action’ and also drowned out the dialogue. After getting the scenes as we wanted, we then prepared the credits as well as the music following it. There were final checks, before being uploaded onto our own blogs.

Codes and Convections of Film Openings

The opening of the first 2 minutes of any film is highly important, as with any entertainment the beginning is what will entice and keep the audience interested. For instance the film opening should be gripping, should entice and not allow the audience or film critics to become bored, however this must be achieved without also giving too much away.



At the very beginning of every film before any suspenseful or action scenes occur; a production logo is introduced usually shown before any actual movie scene. The most common often being Paramount, Tri-Star and 20th Century Fox. This shows the viewer who has produced the film, as well as which studios have funded the making of it. The production logo also may add status because it denotes a studio, a nationality and the quality of the film we may be about to watch.

After the production logo is shown the next step of the opening of a film, will traditionally be the opening credits also known as the opening title sequence. This is also crucial because this will tell the audience who the director is, who the actors are and if there will be any guest appearances.



However, there can be variations to the standard form of introducing these credits, George Lucas (an established director) decided to do something different. In the opening of the 1970’s sci-fi Star Wars movie, Instead of rolling credits he decided to open with dramatic silence, and a short and memorable quote appears for the audience to read, “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away”. Followed by the film title is a rolling narrative introduction, of a general background story for the audience to also read and understand. In the same frame two spaceships fly at an angle to make it appear, as if they are going over the audience’s heads; shooting lasers at each other. The effects of this are still recognised and marvelled at today, due to Lucas’ creativity, not only with the opening style, but also the dramatic music used in the first few scenes. Other recognisable openings have also been noted in James Bond movies, Jaws and Indiana Jones.

Most films have a central protagonist, which means throughout the film the story will be evolved around him or her. If this is the case the actor may get introduced in the opening scene. For example in the opening of all ‘Indiana Jones’ movies, Spielberg chooses a format where he introduces the hero ‘Indy’ played by Harrison Ford; in initial dramatic, audience enticing action scene’s. These initial action openings have nothing to do with the general plot, but are tactics to excite the viewer even before the actual narrative takes place.

 

Coursework Brief

We are required to have a Continuity task involving filming and editing a character, opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. With whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate a match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Match on action is when one cut is shot and edited to be shown from two different angles. For example, someone entering a room can be shot from a front and behind angle; whilst the shots may come after another in a movie scenario. The audience will be portrayed that the two cuts of one subject are happening at precisely the same moment. 

Shot/reverse shot is when a scene shows a series of opposing views, so that the audience sees action from both sides. The most common of these is Over the Shoulder and Over the Shoulder Reverse.

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states, those two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects the subjects need to be in reverse position to maintain continuity.