What have learnt from this task the Preliminary task?

During the filming of my Preliminary task I have learnt many things. One of these is how to effectively use camera shots; things such as a low angle to show power, or over the shoulder shot to add tension and put you in the characters shoes.Another thing I have learnt (or learnt from) is how to manage time when we were filming. This is because we didn’t plan which room we were going to use, so often it wasn’t free or because we weren’t wearing the right clothes. So in future we know that we will have to plan ahead to ensure that we get all of the filming done in time.Something else I learnt from this task was how to use continuity, things such as wearing the same clothes or using the same room to make the video look more realistic and professional. Not only did we have to use continuity in the filming but also in the editing too; ensuring that it all fitted together, making it look real.Editing was another thing I have developed during this task. Although I am not a master at editing I have learnt the basics, and with the basics our team has made a fairly good video.

Areas of SuccessFor a first try we actually had a quite a few areas of success. One area where we excelled was the continuity; it was the main thing we focused on. Our continuity was good because we always used the same room and clothes, helping the film to look realistic.

Another area of success was the variety of shots we used during the task; over the shoulder, close-up, mid-shot, low angle, long shot were all used during the task helping it to look good and showing that we are capable of using them all to good effect.

We all had defined roles during the task which I think is an area of success because it meant we could all stick to the roles and become part of the film without constantly changing the main actors/cameraman, which would have made it a lot harder to film.

During the editing we added music which we thought would add tension and atmosphere to the video. It was an area of success because the music fits perfectly to the key parts of the video; for example a drum beat when something was revealed.

Camera Shots used

Close up

Over the shoulder

Low angle

Wide angle

High angle

Areas for developmentTo improve next time, there are a few areas that would help the next project. The first thing I would change would be to plan the times, but not only plan them- plan them effectively, so that everything can be done with time to spare, so if there are any errors they can easily be ironed out due to the time being planned effectively.

The next thing I would change would be to use a few more challenging shots. I would perhaps use the go-pro camera to add more variety to the shots, and use other angles such as one from the corner of a room, or a two shots to show the conversation more effectively.

The final thing I would change links to planning time effectively. This is because we didn’t have any names or credits in the completed video, as we did not have sufficient time to add them in due to the lack of time we had left to edit.

Meeting the BriefIn the Preliminary task we didn’t use a 180 degree rule shot as we struggled to fit it into our storyline. However, we did practise a few times with using it, but it just wasn’t included in our final piece.

We did use the match on action effectively, combining a variety of different shots and still being able to make the film flow and look realistic.

We did not manage to use the shot/reverse shot in the finished piece; like the 180 degree rule we did practise using it but it didn’t fit into the final piece, so we decided not to include it. Although, we did use a shot to the same effect where both characters expressions could easily be seen.

Feedback from others3 Good things:

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3 Bad things:

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My ContributionDuring the filming, I helped set up the camera and also helped to chose the correct camera angles to set the right atmosphere. I played a part in the film as 1 of the 2 main actors, and alongside this I helped with the editing. The group worked very well together, and we gave up our own time to ensure the video was finished. I have learnt many skills, but the main one was learning the basics of editing, and I learnt how hard acting was!

We were all flexible to changing roles in the group, but once the roles had been set we all got along with it and made sure we did our job to the best of our ability.