Preliminary excercise

Our brief was to create a continuity task involving a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. Techniques such as match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule were expected to be included and demonstrated in the correct way within the sequence.

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

I worked with three other team members, Molly, Mahalia and Gavin. We shared the responsibilities based around who was acting in each shot, and making sure each one of us had an opportunity of helping to shoot the sequence at some point. Therefore for each shot, we would have one person one the camera, one of the sound, one person doing the clapperboard and the appropriate person acting. Decisions on who would act in the sequence itself were based around who was most confident taking lead in this aspect of the sequence, while others such as myself and Molly decided we would prefer to focus on the shooting of the sequence. This did not mean that the people that were acting stuck to acting, as we all had an input on the framing and shooting style of each shot, working as a team to make sure techniques like the 180-degree rule were put into practice correctly and generally how to shoot the sequence in order for it to be a successful continuity sequence.   
Considering editing, we split into groups of two to enable everyone to get a chance to edit themselves. Both groups created one individual edit which allowed us to compare and contrast both edits of the same sequence.

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?


We began planning our sequence by discussing what genre we wanted it to be. After deciding to do a mock-thriller we thought about what narrative the story would have, and therefore how we would create a continuity sequence from this narrative. We produced a storyboard to enable what shots our sequence would include and what style of shooting they would be. After establishing who and what would be in each shot, as well as how each shot would be filmed (e.g low angle, panning), we evaluated the continuity of the sequence we had created. This involved considering things like if we had broken the 180 degree rule which would confuse the audience’s perspective, and if our sequence contained the involvement of things like establishing shots, match on action and reaction shots, as well as angles and movements of the camera which were interesting but did not break the continuity of the sequence.
We did not produce a script as our sequence only included two lines of dialogue. We did not feel it was appropriate to form a shot list or shoot board as our storyboard seemed to be a very successful visual demonstration of what our sequence would include, to an extent that we all were confident in what we were doing, and what order the sequence would be shot in. What confirmed our confidence in this as our walkthrough of our sequence, which we did using our storyboard. As we went through blocking what would occur in the sequence we also thought about the set up's of each shot. We had to think about what we had to move, and where we would have to shoot from in order to get everything we wanted into shot. For example, our use of Pa11 and the computers meant we had to turn all the computers to an angle, so all the screens could be seen from the camera.. Due to a successful walkthrough we did not feel a floor plan was necessary, especially considering our sequence did not cover a lot of space.

3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

To film the sequence we used a Canon HV30 camera. we used a shotgun microphone and Sennheiser HD 201 headphones connected to the camera to enable the sound was working throughout , we used a  mini dv tape to record our sequence, and we used a tripod to make sure the shots were steady. Moving shots were done by either moving the tripod, or taking the camera off the tripod and using it hand held.
To edit the sequence we used a non-linear editing software Adobe Premiere Pro.
Considering pros and cons  of the technology we used to complete the task, there was nothing that was outstandingly negative. The camera was simple to use, small and lightweight so we could easily move it around for shots that involved things like panning. The tripod could easily be shortened or heightened in order for different angled steady shots to take place. The headphones made sure that the dialogue in our sequence could be heard, meaning the narrative was something the audience could follow. The editing software was not something I had used before, and was a little different to the Premiere elements 7.0 I have previously used. But, after being given a tutorial with all the necessary information we needed to use Premiere Pro it became certain that it was a very clear and simple editing software after a little getting used to. The setup of the software was very logical and allowed our shots to be chronologically chosen, edited using 'in and out points', and dragged into the timeline using alternating tracks in order for our overall sequence to be created.

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

The factors we took into account when planning were:

-Where we were going to film
-Who was going to be in each shot, and who would be managing the camera and sound.
-How many shots there would be, What would occur in each shot, what movement the actor/actress would make.
-Who else was using his area. This was so we could plan who would film there when, in order to decide in what order our shots would be filmed.  
-Timing: how long we would have in each different location we needed to shoot in.

When shooting the factors we took into account included:

-Sound: If sound was being picked up, which was displayed on the camera, if the character speaking could be heard, if there was any unwanted background noise like others talking within the shot. 

-Shot: making sure anyone else or anything else that we didn’t want to be in shot wasn’t, choosing the framing, the length of the recording for each shot (which would be edited later), choosing the angle, if the camera needed to be moved throughout a shot (e.g panning or track, or simple turning the camera slightly from the tripod).

-Layout: What was in each shot, what needed to be moved.

-Timing: How long we had to shoot each shot, leaving time to look through our footage and see if any shots needed re-shooting.

When editing the main factor we took into account was:

-Continuity: If there were any continuity errors, making sure each shot flowed into one another and didn’t cut or jump suddenly in order to make sure the audience could follow the story.

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

When considering meeting the brief, there are a few things that were not covered to the extent the brief displays. Our sequence did consist of dialogue, but not enough to consider it a conversation. We should have included an extra line in response to Gavin's 'go away' as Mahalia's 'oh my God' is more of a reaction than an input to conversation.
The movement that was involved in our sequence was also not enough to cover the brief. 'crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character' is the movement necessary in the sequence, but in ours our character simply comes into the room without sitting down.
On the other hand we did demonstrate shot/reverse shot, the 180-degree rule and match on action.  We also used techniques such as an ellipse in order to move across space in a seemless fashion.
What I would improve would be the use of sound in our sequence. Throughout our sequence there is unwanted background noise which does distract from the sequence itself. We could have also added our own sound effects at certain points to add effect, as some parts have no sound at all.

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 have learnt about the things you need to especially consider before shooting, in order to make sure the shooting and editing can run as smoothly as possible. This involves planning all the shots before, in appropriate form such as a storyboard to make sure when you shoot no decisions have to be made but you can simply film what you need to film. This gives more leeway for re-filming shots necessary, in order to reach the full potential of the shots and the sequence as a whole. I have learnt how to follow the 180-degree rule in a practical form which has granted me a better understanding of it. I feel this will be significant for the rest of my foundation course because it will allow me to analysis films and similar sequence to a different extent, and for me to understand the techniques and rules they have followed and put into practice.