Planning: Preliminary Task (Mr Smith)

Preliminary Task

Purpose of a preliminary task:
A preliminary task is designed to familiarise you with the camera and how to film a short sequence. It gives time to understand how to set up and use the camera before actually getting to the production. This benefits the group significantly as some may have not used a camera before which gives them an opportunity. This also benefits us when understanding techniques in editing.

This is our preliminary task...




The scenario: (screen shot)

 Our 30 second scenario starts of with Carlie walking round the corner into the study area. We decided to use the tri-pod in order to keep the filming stable and clear for the audience to see.

She sits opposite Emine and asks her if she is going to attend a party. We used shot reverse shot for this scene and over the shoulder shot. This gives the audience a clear understanding of the narrative as they can follow the conversation well. This shot was filmed with the tri-pod also to keep the camera stable during the conversation.

 Emine replies by saying she would go but does not have anything to wear. This is shot reverse shot being continued and another over the shoulder shot. This gives the audience a clear view of the other person in the conversation. This was also supported by the tri-pod to stabilise the scene.

Carlie then offers to lend a dress, however, Emine declines by saying they are not the same size. This is also a continuation of shot reverse shot to keep the flow of the scene.

Carlie takes offence and feels insulted. We decided to use a reaction shot to emphasise her response to Emine. We also used a close up for the audience to feel the emotion of the character. This was not filmed on a tri-pod and instead was hand held in order to get close enough to Carlie's face.

 

Emine immediately apologies for the misunderstanding and Carlie accepts. We decided to use a two-shot for this scene in order to show the audience the surroundings of the characters and stuck to the 180 rule in order to not confuse the audience. This shot was supported by a tri-pod in order to ensure the characters are the centre of attention even though the surroundings are being shown.

 

 

 

Emine then says she has a lesson and leaves the table, walking off. This shot was hand held in order for the camera operator to follow her as she walks.

Group roles:

In our preliminary task we decided that Emine and Carlie should be actresses in the production as they were the most confident and comfortable. We also decided that as they're going to be acting that they could take part in most of the editing. I was responsible for operating the camera and filmed the scenes needed for the task and also contributed to the editing alongside Carlie and Emine.

Difficulties you encountered whilst filming:

Difficulties we encountered whilst filming was the lack of continuity. Whilst filming in one shoot there was no chair in the scene however, in the next scene the chair appeared. This is an example of the lack of continuity in our production. Another difficulty we encountered whilst filming was sound as there was a very noisy background which interfered. Also, Emine was not speaking as loud as Carlie so the camera did not pick up her voice clearly.

In this scene, there is no chair placed between Carlie and Emine as they're having a conversation.

However, the scene after there was a chair placed between them which lacked continuity during the scene.

Difficulties you encountered whilst editing:

Difficulties we encountered whilst editing was that we had very basic knowledge when using Final Cut Pro. We had to learn and understand how to use the editing system before we could make significant changes to our scenes.

What have you learned?

During this process we learned how to operate the camera and tripod properly and also got used to the editing process. We have understood our difficulties and this gave us an opportunity to familiar ourselves with these factors before filming our thrillers. Its been beneficial as we are now ready to film without difficulty and complication and also saved us time.