Preliminary Task

1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

My group consisted of Holly, Bhavika, Kris and myself. We got on well and were really efficient (and surprisingly calm when all the other groups were hogging the corridor...) We managed the task by evenly distributing the roles as much as possible. Holly and I were acting, but we also filmed the shots that we weren't in. Bhavika and Kris didn't act, but apart from that we all did everything. Planning, storyboarding, editing and shooting (to an extent) was all equally shared, which we thought was a good idea to get us back into the mindset of film-making (after the long summer, I had forgotten some of the film stuff I knew, like shortcuts while editing etc.). I filmed the cut-away shot of Holly and her blog as it was the only shot I wasn't in. When directing and filming, you get to decide the framing, but of course you can ask the opinions of everyone else in your group, which I did. I even turned the viewfinder round so that Holly could give her approval/disapproval of the framing, and this happened with all the shots so that we were all happy with the filming. We all did some editing, and shared out the hour we had evenly. Every 15 mins or so, whoever was on the mouse at the time, would say to one of the group members "do you want a turn now?" Some of us were more confidant at editing than others, so if they were a bit unsure we would help them. All in all it was a pretty smooth project and we had fun as well as got work done.

2) How did you plan your sequence?

Firstly we came up with some ideas about a storyline to our sequence, and quickly settled on one of Holly blogging (which was kind of a jokey subject as Holly blogs A LOT) so we all found it funny (even Holly, though she was a bit reluctant at first). We wrote a list of shots that would make up the sequence, and then we categorised that into continuous shots (our shooting script). For example, with the conversation, instead of showing loads of shots, we just wrote from one angle (because in shot-reverse-shot you film the whole conversation from every angle). We had to incorporate a door into our sequence, so we chose Mrs Thrasher's classroom door as the computer was right near the door (for the blogging) and as no-one else was going to be in there (according to Mrs Blackborow). We made a basic storyboard, and even did a walk-through at the location to check how it would work. We decided on actors almost instantly, as both Holly and I wanted to act, and the others weren't bothered if they acted or not. We had asked Mrs Thrasher to use her room for the walk-through, which she said was fine, but we forgot to actually tell her that we'd need to film in there on the 21st Oct! So when we turned up with our camera and everything, there were some year 13's setting up for a photo shoot. Luckily they hadn't set much up and were able to move locations, but it taught me to ALWAYS make sure that we actually TELL the teacher when we need a location, so that's a good lesson to learn! We made a shooting script (as mentionned) but we had to alter the order we did the shots in because all the groups wanted to use the corridor, so we had to go last (we had 3 minutes at the end!). We came up with the dialogue when we came up with the idea, and it is all very naturalistic. The script is very short and simple, which made it easier to focus on the camera work as opposed to creating a complex dialogue.

3) What technology did you use to complete your task?

To do this task we were given a lovely new Cannon HV30 HD mini DV camcorder (with touchscreen controls!). We also used a tripod, a microphone with headphones (which was quite strange the first time I did the sound and filming, as I could hear voices REALLY LOUD even when they weren't right next to me). We also used a whiteboard (in place of a clapper board) to show us which shots were which, and how many takes we'd done. This was useful when it came to editing. For editing in post production, we used Adobe Premier Pro, which I have used before. All the footage had been captured for us, and we had to cut it into the clips we wanted (using the razor tool) and place them on the timeline on alternate video tracks. We used non-linear editing which meant we could copy and paste clips and move them around, so that we could film in any order, and add transitions later. It was quite obvious which takes were the best, and luckily our group agreed on all of those choices. Matching on action wasn't as easy as it looked, however it wasn't too difficult, it just took some trial and error. We had to keep cutting bits off/adding bits that had already been cut off.

4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We had 1 hour for planning, 1 hour for shooting and 1 hour for editing.

Planning: We had to take into account the locations the other groups wanted (so that we could all finish filming), the amount of time we had (which went VERY quickly), and how to make the sequence not only fit the brief, but use some interesting shots. We had to keep it simple, so that we could focus on making the conintuity good as opposed to the content. We realised that we had to have 2 people for the conversation, which was fine as it left two doing most of the filming and sound. After we had planned all of this out, we were all really eager to get going, and so we had a walkthrough while the other groups were still planning. It went fine, and showed us that we had thought it through. We filmed indoors because we couldn't rely on the weather, and we had no budget, but that was no surprise. We had to keep an eye on the battery life, so that it wouldn't cut out during filming, so we made sure the camera was fully charged before we used it. When storyboarding, we had to vary our shot types to make it more interesting, and our walkthrough showed us whether the continuity of the sequence worked or not.

Shooting: Shooting was harder than planning, as we soon realised that some shots were harder to film than others. For example, the slightly high angle shot over my shoulder of Holly was very difficult to film as we didn't take into account the fact that there was a back rack right where we wanted to film. We had to balance it on a shelf, and hold it (which was quite awkward). This happened because we had to move location slightly. We wanted to film using the second computer along, however when we actually got to filming it (and needed the blog on the screen) we found out that the internet on that computer didn't work, so we had to shift to the computer closest the door, which didn't leave much space for the camera in that shot. We also realised (after watching our first take of that shot) that the tripod had been left in the background, so we quickly removed that and did another take. We left a gap between saying "action" and actually starting the action, and the same at the end, so that we could have extra footage if we needed it when editing. As all of the groups were using the corridor at some stage, we had to keep going out there and asking them to be quiet while we were filming as it was quite loud. We also had to get them to move out of the view through the window in the door as they were in the background of our shots.

Editing: When we started editing, it felt a bit daunting, because we had so much footage, and it took AGES to drag a clip to the start of the timeline, so we were all getting a bit frustrated. We started by referring to our storyboard to get the first clip onto the timeline first (which we had actually filmed last, so that took a long time to drag it to the front, even when we zoomed out from the timeline). It was quite easy to edit the cut-aways because that only involved one clip, however matching the action was a bit harder. For example, when I came down the corridor and looked through the window of the door, we had to match that with the shot of my face (from the other side of the door) and then with the view that I would have had (point-of-view shot). This took a few times to get right. With the p.o.v shot, we disagreed on the length of it. I felt it was too long, and that no-one would take 3 seconds looking through glass at someone, but the others disagreed, so we left it for a bit. However, when we had watched it back a few times, they saw what I meant, so we cut it down a fair bit. With the conversations (shot-reverse-shot) we had to use one take from each side so that the tones of voice, position, and pace matched. This was quite hard to do because we spoke quite quickly, and we all felt it was a bit too fast, however there wasn't anything we could do about that. Kris kept reminding us about the 180 degree rule and 30 degree rule, which was helpful, so we managed to not break any of those.

5) How successful is your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I think our sequence is very successful considering the time we had to do it in. It meets the brief, and shows some good shot sequences. We included a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down opposite another character and exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue. We used shot-reverse-shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule. We worked efficiently as a team and made compromises if there were any disagreements. We shared the roles as evenly as we could, so that we all got a chance to do everything (except for acting). The sequence works well because it makes sense, is believable, and it has good continuity. In hindsight, I would do the conversations slower, because in our editing it seems a bit jumpy in the actual conversation, and the dialogue happens a bit too quickly. Since this is a preliminary task, it doesn't matter too much, however in the long run I think it's a good thing that this happened, because I now know that when I am making my acutal film opening, I need to leave more space in between lines in a dialogue to allow for smooth editing. The actual acting of it was fine, and we said the words the same way each time (which seemed silly at the time, but was good because it then meant we could choose takes based on camera techniques rather than content). I am very happy with the beginning and end of our sequence, but I think the middle could have been better if we had had more time. When editing, there seemed to be a blip in the soundtrack during the shot-reverse-shot. There is a quiet hissing sound that is heard througout (which I learnt the camera makes and there is nothing you can do to stop it) and yet in this clip it cut out for a second. After examining it closely, we realised that somehow, two parts of the audiotrack were missing and that is why there was a blip. We extended the silence on that clip (by dragging the audio to meet the other audio clips) and it worked a treat! We were all so happy and relieved! I would say that the editing is fairly seamless, except for some of the conversation as it is slightly too jumpy, which makes the audience aware of the cutting. Right at the end when we still had some time left, we added some fades to our titles and the sequence. We called it "I Can't Stop Blogging" and used simple white text on a black background, which we faded from black and then back to black. We also faded into the sequence, and at the end faded to black. This made it look really proffessional and made the entire sequence better.

6) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I found this task very useful because it showed me the importance of adapting my planning and shooting to incorporate continuity. Last year in media we made a trailer, but in a trailer you don't really need continuity. I have made several mini-movies over the years with friends and my brother, but I never really had to think about the logic of continuity, we just sort of filmed it and checked if it looked right, without referring to rules. Of course that stuff was much more amateur than this, so it was good to have some knowledge of how to achieve successful continuity. I learnt the importance of properly booking a shooting location, and of slowing conversations down and leaving more pauses so that I can have more freedom when editing. This project definitely confirmed my thoughts on the importance of a well-thought-out storyboard and shooting schedule. I already knew how to edit, but it was good to re-familiarise myself with it. To sum it up, this task has helped a lot and has really got me in the mood for filmmaking (despite now knowing how LONG it all takes!) Media is possibly my favourite subject (or on par with drama), and this little task reminded me why. I LOVE IT!