1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the tasks between you? Explain how you organised your time and schedules. What issues came up with time management? What problems did you come up against? How did you deal with these? What were your strengths and weaknesses in this area? What would you do differently next time?
For the preliminary task which consisted of filming a short scene of a character walking through a door and having a conversation with another character I worked with Rachel, there were various tasks that we had to carry out for pre production such as writing the script, drawing the storyboard & creating the filming schedule. Due to the fact that preproduction was about us coming as a unit and forming ideas together we mainly did the storyboard and script together, however when it came to creating the filming schedule there were a few minor issues. Due to the fact there was not enough lesson time we had to take it upon ourselves to do the schedule at home, none of us had done a filming schedule in the past so we decided to both give it a go doing separate ones at home and then choosing the better one the next day in class, but later on we realised that their was only one copy of the storyboard which I had, so I had to create the shooting schedule alone, therefore in the end we only had one shooting schedule to choose from. However it was a very good shooting schedule which Rachel and I felt was good enough to work with. In future for this not to happen again we will have a copy of the script and story board photocopied to enable backup just encase it gets lost and just so each of us can have a copy to refer to if we need it for anything.
During production there were more tasks to do such a working and setting up the camera, calling every shot with the clapper boards and also directing the cast and keeping them informed in what they had to do, each of these tasks were important and required a lot of detail and thought so rather than working together we shared the work load, we both set up the camera and the tracks however I operated the camera for all the shots whilst Rachel called all the shots, when it came to directing the cast, we both unconsciously took turns to direct them as there we some scenes Rachel envisioned a certain way and others I envisioned a different way but together they worked well, it was also better for the cast so they didn’t feel like they had one person bossing them about and it felt more like a team effort rather than a task.
In addition to the envisioning of scenes Rachel and I struggled to draw the scenes in the way we wanted them done, so our final product will differ from how it is on the storyboard. On the other hand Rachel and I knew want we wanted so their was no problems when it came to filming and how we wanted it done, although the scenes are not identical as how they look on the storyboard we feel it is better this way as drawing images is a completely different concept from doing them practically and also you come across issues that you don’t come across when doing them on paper, we felt that the issues we faced and the way we resolved them was the key to having a successful film piece rather than having everything go to plan as change can mean improvement. When there is no change there is no improvement.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What process did you use?
To plan our sequence we used the process of storyboarding and script writing.
We started off with an idea in mind and interpreted it into pictures. Our idea was to have a character running late to her P.E lesson and having a teacher waiting impatiently, and then during the confrontation the pupil reveals she has not got her kit. This makes the teacher very angry issuing the girl with a detention. It is a very simple story line however when it came to drawing on the storyboard we wanted it to be filmed in a way it would create an impact even though it was a simple idea e.g. rather than just having a scene that flowed we decided to have cutaway shots, having this would enable use to create an atmosphere within the scene and make it more appealing for the audience whilst watching.
When writing the script we took into account the shortness of the piece therefore we made the script very short leaving the characters with the max of three lines each.
3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? What did you learn about using the cameras? Here you can also refer to the discussions we have had in class recently about digital cameras.
The camera was the main technology we used during the prelim task we had to be very careful with the camera and set them up correctly as us not doing so could had cause use problems whilst filming. ……. (not sure)
For the preliminary task which consisted of filming a short scene of a character walking through a door and having a conversation with another character I worked with Rachel, there were various tasks that we had to carry out for pre production such as writing the script, drawing the storyboard & creating the filming schedule. Due to the fact that preproduction was about us coming as a unit and forming ideas together we mainly did the storyboard and script together, however when it came to creating the filming schedule there were a few minor issues. Due to the fact there was not enough lesson time we had to take it upon ourselves to do the schedule at home, none of us had done a filming schedule in the past so we decided to both give it a go doing separate ones at home and then choosing the better one the next day in class, but later on we realised that their was only one copy of the storyboard which I had, so I had to create the shooting schedule alone, therefore in the end we only had one shooting schedule to choose from. However it was a very good shooting schedule which Rachel and I felt was good enough to work with. In future for this not to happen again we will have a copy of the script and story board photocopied to enable backup just encase it gets lost and just so each of us can have a copy to refer to if we need it for anything.
During production there were more tasks to do such a working and setting up the camera, calling every shot with the clapper boards and also directing the cast and keeping them informed in what they had to do, each of these tasks were important and required a lot of detail and thought so rather than working together we shared the work load, we both set up the camera and the tracks however I operated the camera for all the shots whilst Rachel called all the shots, when it came to directing the cast, we both unconsciously took turns to direct them as there we some scenes Rachel envisioned a certain way and others I envisioned a different way but together they worked well, it was also better for the cast so they didn’t feel like they had one person bossing them about and it felt more like a team effort rather than a task.
In addition to the envisioning of scenes Rachel and I struggled to draw the scenes in the way we wanted them done, so our final product will differ from how it is on the storyboard. On the other hand Rachel and I knew want we wanted so their was no problems when it came to filming and how we wanted it done, although the scenes are not identical as how they look on the storyboard we feel it is better this way as drawing images is a completely different concept from doing them practically and also you come across issues that you don’t come across when doing them on paper, we felt that the issues we faced and the way we resolved them was the key to having a successful film piece rather than having everything go to plan as change can mean improvement. When there is no change there is no improvement.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What process did you use?
To plan our sequence we used the process of storyboarding and script writing.
We started off with an idea in mind and interpreted it into pictures. Our idea was to have a character running late to her P.E lesson and having a teacher waiting impatiently, and then during the confrontation the pupil reveals she has not got her kit. This makes the teacher very angry issuing the girl with a detention. It is a very simple story line however when it came to drawing on the storyboard we wanted it to be filmed in a way it would create an impact even though it was a simple idea e.g. rather than just having a scene that flowed we decided to have cutaway shots, having this would enable use to create an atmosphere within the scene and make it more appealing for the audience whilst watching.
When writing the script we took into account the shortness of the piece therefore we made the script very short leaving the characters with the max of three lines each.
3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? What did you learn about using the cameras? Here you can also refer to the discussions we have had in class recently about digital cameras.
The camera was the main technology we used during the prelim task we had to be very careful with the camera and set them up correctly as us not doing so could had cause use problems whilst filming. ……. (not sure)
4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
There were many factors we had to take into account whilst planning and shooting such as, the length of our sequence we had to ensure that our sequence was no longer than 30 seconds it had to be short and effective, so whilst planning and creating the storyboard we had to limit the amount of shots and keep the storyline short, keeping into account the 180 degree rule, which consist of keeping the camera at one side of the characters on screen and always referring back to that same side. Keeping to the 180 degree rule kept the flow and continuity to our scene which is vital as us not doing this could lead to us losing marks. J just as important as continuity is having the correct spirit level on the camera. The spirit level enables us to see if the camera is level we had to continuously keep checking this as if the bubble was not exactly in the centre it would have meant that we were recording at a tilt. Shot reverse shot was another aspect we had to incorporate into our sequence, we used it mainly during conversation e.g. shooting from over the shoulder of one character then reversing it to the shoulder of the other character.
Whilst editing we had to take into account the fact that the scenes needed to link together well, to ensure this would happen we had to cut and set in/out points in the correct places. I n addition we had to capturise the correct scenes and assemble in the most effective way. Even when we thought we had finished we had to keep checking and triming until our final product was of its highest standard. The biggest challenge for me was knowing when to stop editing, due to the constant replaying of our scene i started being tempermental picking up on unnessary faults thinking they needed changing, When all in all our scene was complete and looked the way it needed to look.
There were many factors we had to take into account whilst planning and shooting such as, the length of our sequence we had to ensure that our sequence was no longer than 30 seconds it had to be short and effective, so whilst planning and creating the storyboard we had to limit the amount of shots and keep the storyline short, keeping into account the 180 degree rule, which consist of keeping the camera at one side of the characters on screen and always referring back to that same side. Keeping to the 180 degree rule kept the flow and continuity to our scene which is vital as us not doing this could lead to us losing marks. J just as important as continuity is having the correct spirit level on the camera. The spirit level enables us to see if the camera is level we had to continuously keep checking this as if the bubble was not exactly in the centre it would have meant that we were recording at a tilt. Shot reverse shot was another aspect we had to incorporate into our sequence, we used it mainly during conversation e.g. shooting from over the shoulder of one character then reversing it to the shoulder of the other character.
Whilst editing we had to take into account the fact that the scenes needed to link together well, to ensure this would happen we had to cut and set in/out points in the correct places. I n addition we had to capturise the correct scenes and assemble in the most effective way. Even when we thought we had finished we had to keep checking and triming until our final product was of its highest standard. The biggest challenge for me was knowing when to stop editing, due to the constant replaying of our scene i started being tempermental picking up on unnessary faults thinking they needed changing, When all in all our scene was complete and looked the way it needed to look.
5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I feel our sequence worked really well , it flowed well, the storyline is clear to understand,the action reaction shots were really effective and we kept to all the rules we needed to keep such as the 180 degree rule. However towards the end of filiming the quality of shots filmed were not of the highest standard as the shots at the beggining of the scene, this resulted to us not being able to use all the shots I take full responsiblity of this as i was the person in charge of the camera in future to this not to happen I will try and be more patient and keep an image of what I want the final product to look like to keep me motivated whilst filming even when I get tired and agitated, in hindsight although we had this problem we managed to edit in such an efficient way that our sequence made the impact and got the message across that these deleted shots were not nessesary.
Right at the start of our sequence we have Esma running into the sports hall, we used a range of shots such as close ups and longs shots, when it came to editing we linked all these shots together cutting and setting in/out points in all the right places, and it ended up looking like one shot, I was amazed by how good it looked! We have Thelma saying detention midway though the sequence we added a zoom effect and slowed down the tone of her voice at first it sounded silly but we played it again a couple of times and came to the conclusion that it worked really well so we kept it.
All in all I am very pleased with the sequence we created, I have learnt that the higher standard of filming results to and easier editing process which results to having a good piece of work in the end.
6) What have you learnt from completing the task? Discuss time management skills, group work skills, organisational skills and technical skills of production.
During this whole process I learnt that team/ group work skills are vital when in comes to working with other people you have to be willing to compromise, share and put together ideas in order to end up a with a successful result. Problems will always arise but it is about how you solve them which makes the impact in the end.
When time is limited it is important to organise and share the work load efficiently trying not to spend to much time on one thing and not enough on another e.g., writing the script should take just as long as creating a shooting schedule. Being adaptable to situations is also important as things my not always work as how you wrote them on paper.
Being open minded especially when working in groups will help as each group member is an individual and each individual has different ideas, thoughts and beliefs, also being willing to learn is key, as one person may know something or understand it better than another it is down to you to humble yourself and take in that information not just for the task but to better your skills for future reference.
When you have a vision of how you see a certain scene it is down to you to take charge and enforce your vision upon those you are working with mainly the cast so your end product can be as effective as you want it to be.
You have to be considerate for your partner as a good working relationship is the foundation for creating a good piece of work in a pair, and lastly I learnt that filmmaking is not an easy process and it is not as glamorous as people think it is.
During this whole process I learnt that team/ group work skills are vital when in comes to working with other people you have to be willing to compromise, share and put together ideas in order to end up a with a successful result. Problems will always arise but it is about how you solve them which makes the impact in the end.
When time is limited it is important to organise and share the work load efficiently trying not to spend to much time on one thing and not enough on another e.g., writing the script should take just as long as creating a shooting schedule. Being adaptable to situations is also important as things my not always work as how you wrote them on paper.
Being open minded especially when working in groups will help as each group member is an individual and each individual has different ideas, thoughts and beliefs, also being willing to learn is key, as one person may know something or understand it better than another it is down to you to humble yourself and take in that information not just for the task but to better your skills for future reference.
When you have a vision of how you see a certain scene it is down to you to take charge and enforce your vision upon those you are working with mainly the cast so your end product can be as effective as you want it to be.
You have to be considerate for your partner as a good working relationship is the foundation for creating a good piece of work in a pair, and lastly I learnt that filmmaking is not an easy process and it is not as glamorous as people think it is.
7) Post production - What did you learn about the editing process? How did you make decisions while editing? How did you plan your time to complete the editing task? What were your strengths and weaknesses in this area? What would you do differently next time?
The whole editing process was a new experience for me, I learnt that it consists of digitalizing shots, then assembling shots & then adding effects. When working with Rachel we had a good partnership we both knew what we wanted the outcume to look like so when it came to making decisions there was nothing Rachel wanted that I didnt agree with, vice versa. There were problems I spotted that Rachel didnt notice and there were issues Rachel noticed that I didnt see which we had to address, I believe thats what makes good teamwork during the course of the editing process, being able to rely on each other for constuctive feedback and critism. We did come across a problem during our first day of editing, we couldnt degitalise our shots and spent a whole lesson trying to do so, but it was a technical problem we could do nothing about. So, we took it upon ourselves to come back after school and catch up because the rest of the class was ahead of us. We ended up getting so into the task that ended up being ahead of everyone else and finsihed editing a whole day before the deadline. During the editing process I dont think there would be anything we could do better in future but now we have learnt and grapsed the concept of editing it will be a quicker proccess next time. However to get the best sequence we could film better to make the editing easier for ourselves eg. we can film a wider range of shots so we can have a large selcetion to chose from when editing, this will enable us to compare and choose what suits us best.
Overall it was a very sucessfull task and personally I was pleased to work with Rachel, we are both hardworking and focused students, this worked in our favour as the task we completed together was of a high standard. We made mistakes but most importantly we will learn from them to better our knowledge for future reference.
I have enjoyed doing this prelim task but it is only a fraction of what I can achieve and now that I have learnt all there is to know I hope that in the next task I can surpass my own exspectations and create something outstanding.
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