Preliminary Task

We were set the preliminary task to see if we understood the different shot types and editing techniques and if we could implement three of them into a short impromptu film. One of these techniques was the 180 degree rule, which means the camera must not go past the 180 degree area in front of the camera, containing the two subjects causing a focused attention on them and avoiding confusion within the audience. It also leaves it up to the audiences imagination to decide what is behind the camera. For instance, it could be another wall or window. Another shot we had to apply was the shot/reverse shot, which we used during the conversation between the two subjects have from 24 seconds to 46 seconds.Lastly, we needed to prove that we could use a match on action shot and we did this through editing by taking multiple shots of the same scene and using them to show different views of the scene. The editing makes the short film appear more fluid and intriguing for the audience. The match on action shot was applied throughout the sequence and can be clearly seen from 54 to 59 seconds, when we see the subject walk out of the door, then continue this action from the outside of the room. All the members of my group took part in the editing process, and the making of the film, with me and Sam Warren filming and James Lawley and James Scott staring in it. A major problem we faced when filming was that the tripod we were using was broken, causing the camera to be unstable, shaking making it hard for it to focus on the subjects, and so we countered this by holing it as steady as we could with the help of chairs to get the heightened shots. Another problem related to the broken tripod was the lighting. In a few of the over the shoulder shots the lighting changes in the background behind the subjects and we thinks this was caused by the angle the camera was at when facing the subject, which could have been remedied if we had good quality equipment. Finally, we had a problem with video data of one of the scene being lost and so the film appears to be a lot shorter than it should be. Also, we lost the good shot of the handshake and so we cut two different failed attempts together, but the cut is still visible in the final product and the shot could not be taken again as we were filming under timed conditions. After filming this task ,we as a group feel confident that we know how to film a range of important shots and know now to check the equipment thoroughly before it is used to film. We are also now able to film freely in a longer time frame and so we can go back and film shots if they are not up to a good enough standard.