Preliminary Task (new)

Preliminary Task  

in this task we were asked to film and edit a short film where a character is seen to open a door, walks across a room and sit down in a chair opposite another character, further exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue with that character. The focus was on continuity editing, to make the piece realistic and more professional. 

What Planning did you do in preparation for filming, and how did it help ensure the shoot was smoother/better organised?

We first looked at where we were going to shoot our short film. By having an idea of the set we would use, we could further develop our initial ideas for the story line of our piece. The set gave us a basis as to what the story might be about; for example we used a stair way in our film which we chose to use to establish a significance over our character. We also use a bench in our scene which has the old school building behind it, accentuating the insignificance of the character sitting at the bench. Once we had these ideas, we could go on to develop a story board which gave us a clear vision as to how we would go about filming each scene. Although we did not completely follow our story board, we were able to plan our shots prior to shooting them; with this prior planning we were able to start shooting with the knowledge of how our film was going to be put together. This suddenly brought our story to life; by allowing us to visually picture the film, we could then establish how we are going to film each shot (camera angle, camera movement, etc.). We also wrote up a script so that the dialogue was rehearsed as opposed to improvised which could then jeopardise how professional the feel of the piece is.

 

Here we have the storyboard, floor plan and another copy of the script.  

Purpose of each stage:

Storyboard-

To allow for us as a group to visualise how our story was going to take place, and plan how we were going to fulfil the criteria. It also allowed us to have an insight into how we were going to film it. 

Script and floor plan

Floor Plan- 

By creating a floor plan we were able to get a clear understanding of the set so we could further establish other factors such as character and plot. Also by looking at where the characters were heading, we can then focus on how we would move the camera and think about the different shot types. This made it easier for us to follow essential rules such as the 180 degree rule. 

Script- 

A script is fairly essential as it the clearest form of indicating plot. By planning our script we could focus on how other factors would emphasise the plot and develop ideas within the plot. 

We were able to ensure we didn't break the 180 degree rule by planning where the characters were actually going. By doing this first, we could then look at how we were going to move the camera to allow for us to keep within the refines of 180 degrees. We made sure all of our shots were filmed to fulfil the continuity of the film. Thus we focused on sticking to the laws of the 180 degree rule. 

Additional planning that might be useful

I feel as though practising the shots prior to shooting the actual thing would have helped. By doing this we can see if certain shots work or not. Therefore we spend less time on testing shots out an d more time focusing on maximising the shots that do work. Also it helps to focus on the importance of character positioning and character movement which is important when establishing a storyline.

Techniques 

We open our short film with an extreme close up. By doing this there is an element of mystery to the character. With the focus on his feet, we don’t know anything about who the character is, other than the fact that he is heading somewhere. This enigmatic feel to the piece is what we want to convey as we want the feel of our film to fairly ambiguous and for the audience to want to know more about the back story of the characters and the plot itself. Therefore by opening the short film with this close up, we foreboded a mystery in the entire piece. 

We also furthered this through having another extreme close up shot, but this time with the camera following the character’s movement. This technique we used in conjunction to the use of it in Peaky Blinders. The camera follows the movement of the character’s, with the characters dictating where the camera moves. Therefore, with using this technique, we are accentuating a feel of empowerment before we even know who the character is. The audience can already sense that this character has an importance and can infer that this character may also have power.

We used this shot to introduce another character. By using the rule of thirds, both characters are seen with some significance. So by placing the characters on the lines, they are both seen to be somewhat important. Although we have one character who is visually higher than the other, from this it can be deduced that this character, despite the fact they both have some significance and power,  is more significant and more powerful.

These two shots are an example of how we incorporated continuity in the film. You see the character open the door from the inside then you see him pushing the door from the outside. This scene is vital when looking at the continuity of the shots as it is showing a fluid movement of the character.   

These 3 shots are also examples of how we used continuity. In all 3 shots the character is walking down the stairs and we see a change in shot whilst he  still walking, developing the continuity and fluidity of the piece. 

Here our new character is placed in front of a fairly grand background. This implies that this character is fairly inferior and has a lack of power because the set behind him is grand and overwhelming to the character. Also the character is placed centre of the shot. This does put focus on him, but it also disqualifies him from the rule of thirds. His position in the centre lacks the focus that is drawn to the other two characters previous to this shot.

Our idea for this shot came from the film Coffee and Cigarettes. By using a shot where the whole of the table is visible, and every character visible too, we are able to establish a connection between the dialogue, and the character's relationships.

We used shot reverse shot, in an over the shoulder fashion, to present most of the dialogue. We did however have some technical difficulties with our filming which only became apparent to us when we came around to editing, thus two shots are missing. Although we were still able to portray the relationship between the two characters with a tight over the shoulder shot. We wanted to show that the two characters have something of a relationship despite it maybe being negative, therefore we shot the scene with a sense of intimacy.

Main Learning Points
Practical-
From this task, I have learnt the fundamentals in using a camera, for example, the set up of the camera and tripod to ensure that the scene is shot professionally and with a sense of reality. Also from this I have learnt how you would use the camera to perform certain shots. An example would be the shot where we follow the feet of the character. The focus is on keeping the camera as smooth as possible. It is also an example of an extreme close shot; different camera angles were very important in this piece and will be later in the thriller project. This will be vital to look back on for our thriller opening preparation because we will be able to use this skill in that project. I feel as though towards the end of this short film, we failed to work the continuity of the piece well; this is something I will look back on and use in my thriller piece as it is something that is extremely important if I want to successfully make the opening look professional. We failed to make the conversation look believable as there were long pauses between different parts of the speech and the speech was only confined to one shot. Also we didn't look at the movement between the dialogue. It wouldn't have benefitted us to have included small shots showing movement- it would have created a more fluid feel. I have also learnt to use the tripod efficiently so that if a scene involves a still shot then the shot can be symmetrical and perfectly horizontal. This specifically may not be helpful but in this piece and my latter thriller piece i feel as though this certain technique can be used effectively. One of the biggest learning points i feel that has come from this is the use of the editing software. From this task I have learnt how to edit my footage, by cutting the certain parts I want, adjusting the colour of the shot, adding music to the film and using different fades (fade to black in particular) to transition from one shot to another. Also by simply learning how to add media from the media bin, to the source monitor, I was able to cut the clips by adding an in-point and out-point, and then add this clip to the timeline. This of course be vital to my thriller project as editing is a key part to any film project.

Planning and group work elements- 
We found that our group did not function as we hoped. One member didn't show up for filming, therefore there were only two of us to operate the camera and act in the film. This caused major difficulties, as we were restricted to only still camera shots (no panning, tilting or dollying). Also it made it hard for filming as one person would have to start the recording and then run into position to act in the shot. From this I have learnt to think about the "what ifs"; if something is to go wrong then what is the backup plan. Also, in future I believe it would be key to focus more time on planning. By creating an efficient story board and floor plan, filming and picking shot types becomes so much easier as you already have a visual idea of that the shot looks. In addition, it would have been helpful to practise different shot types prior to filming, so that we had an idea of what we were going to do with the shot and it would have given us time to decide which is the best way too shoot it.

Technical aspects-
From creating this short film, we had to look at the different technical rules- the main criteria of this piece was to focus on continuity, thus certain techniques were highly significant. The use of the 180 degree rule is an example as we had to make sure that the movement of characters seemed the same in every shot. By keeping the camera within 180 degrees of the moving character, the continuity is captured. The focus on conversation brought about many learning points too. the rules of shooting a conversation is vital as you want the conversation to look real and be believable. It developed my ideas on using techniques like shot reverse shot, camera close ups and different shot types- over the shoulder as an example.

Film-maker techniques- 
We looked at creating a powerful yet enigmatic character initially. The opening shot is a close up on the character's feet, with the character looming over the camera. This enigma is complemented with the idea that this character is also powerful. I feel as though we captured this fairly efficiently, although there is still room for improvement. This character type is used often in thriller films and this technique could be one that is used to establish the character in the thriller task. Our thought to use this technique derived from the use of it in Peaky Blinders. They capture a powerful aura within the characters, but still with this sense of mystery behind them. We also used a close up on the character sitting at the table which stayed on them for quite a long period of time. This, we found, helped us to establish this certain character an helped to capture their emotions.

What went wrong?
We made mistakes with the filming. When looking back on the clips we realised we had managed to miss out major parts of the dialogue by not using the camera properly. We also needed to focus more on different types of shots, such as panning or tilting to create a certain atmosphere. Also we had group problems which lead to a difficulty in filming an defining actors. All of these i would like to avoid in the future.