Our Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task, there was a number of things we had to include; such as the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, match on action shot, a conversation and a clip showing someone walking through a door.  In my group, it was myself and Milly; however because there was only two of us we needed a third person, so we managed to get help from someone else who isn't in our media class, Jess.

180 degree rule is when all camera work has to be on the same side, this way the audience won't get confused and the actors in the film will match eyeline and be facing the same direction. Break the 180 degree rule and the audience will become disorientated. Shot reverse shot is an editing technique used during a conversation when the camera shots flick between each character in order for the audience to see the facial expressions of the characters. Match on action is a variety of shots used to show one action continuously, this technique allows the audience to stay interested in a simple action.

I was happy with the camerawork we used throughout our preliminary task, as we showcased a variety of different camera shots and angles, which I'm pleased with; however during the shot reverse shot -  character B isn't in the centre of the shot which means that the attention of the audience isn't on the main character; this is something that we can learn from and ensure we correct when filming our film opening.

I think the editing of our preliminary task was done well, there are some shot that perhaps don't work for example at 0.20 when character B looks to the left and right which is filmed as an over the shoulder shot - we didn't edit this as smooth as we would have liked and there's also a pause in the background sound which can be picked up. Overall, I think our continuity of the editing was something we did well, as it all flows together and doesn't cause the audience to feel confused. I think our preliminary task did make sense, despite the overall idea of it being rather basic - I think it works as due to the shortness in length it doesn't need an elaborate plot line.

I learnt that when filming in a real location with members of the public, mise en scene is very important especially when filming a variety of shots that all need to continuity amongst them. I also learnt to make the most of your mise en scene, for example the camera shot/angle used at 0.08 where character B runs past the windows and looks in; this is a very effective shot and adds an element of comedy - however we didn't think of this shot until we had arrived at our location and seen the mise en scene.

Whilst I don't think we managed to create an element of suspense, we managed to hopefully generate interest as there's a lot of dialogue said that suggests suspense, which could draw the audience in. I think one the best ways to create suspense is by using music, we didn't use a lot of this and so therefore in our coursework, we'll be sure to do the opposite as use plenty.

When filming, we forgot to film a more detailed shot of match on action seen at 0.16; initially we just had character B walking through the door and so after reviewing our preliminary; we went back to film. The next problem we had was that I wasn't wearing the same clothes, however this was easily resolved when we decided to just film an extreme close up of my hands opening the door so that way you wouldn't see my clothes.

We got a lot of good feedback from Mr Higgins after he had watched it back; he also pointed out about characters being centre when filming shots and the lack of match on action that we had initially used. Other than that, he said we had a lot of good ideas, great editing skills and that he looked forward to our film opening.