5) 'What new skills have you developed during the process of filming your prelim?'
I feel that i have developed new skills when it comes to filming and directing. As i hadn't really done this before, i could only develop what little i had already experienced. I now know the process of filming, and the order of how things should run when filming shots, which is a skill i will develop even further when it comes to my final piece. My directing skills are now new also, because the directing i had experienced prior to our prelim wasn't like this. I have developed new skills in following an order in which the filming process should run in, and of course, this skill will also develop when we create and film our final piece.
I also feel I have developed skills such as how to scout locations, and cast actors. I also feel that I have skills that are yet to be developed, such as my camera operating skills. I spent the majority of the time, when filming the prelim, directing and advising the actors and camera operator, I only got the chance to film one shot. As a result of this, I am know going to take a step back from directing in the final piece at one point in the filming process, and experience operating the camera.
Saturday 31 October 2009
Friday 30 October 2009
Prelim Evaluation - Question 4
4) 'Think about things you would do differently next time. What will you change when you do your final piece and why?'
Well, we will definately check the reliability and availability of our chosen location when it comes to creating our final piece. This is because during our prelim we had so many problems with our location, and whether we were able to use it or not, and it just caused so much trouble when it came to continuity. Also, we don't want this sort of problem to ruin the overall look of our final piece. Because continuity is something that is easily identifiable to an audience, we wouldn't want to give them anything to pick at immediately when they view our piece. We will most likely appoint someone to be looking out for continuity errors, so we don't have to spend time trying to think of ways to rectify the errors later on in the process.
Another thing we will change when it comes to producing our final piece, will be checking our actors reliability. Because, during the filming of our prelim, we had to accommodate the time we filmed to suit our actors. So, when it comes to filming and drawing up schedules of when we are filming for the actors, we are going to have to talk to them about our film having to be a priority. If we do this then we won't have to panic about whether the actors are available or not, and it will basically save the group alot of stress, and ultimately-time.
In conclusion, all the things that didn't go as well for the prelim, and the process of making the prelim, will be avoided when we are creating, filming and editing our final piece.
Well, we will definately check the reliability and availability of our chosen location when it comes to creating our final piece. This is because during our prelim we had so many problems with our location, and whether we were able to use it or not, and it just caused so much trouble when it came to continuity. Also, we don't want this sort of problem to ruin the overall look of our final piece. Because continuity is something that is easily identifiable to an audience, we wouldn't want to give them anything to pick at immediately when they view our piece. We will most likely appoint someone to be looking out for continuity errors, so we don't have to spend time trying to think of ways to rectify the errors later on in the process.
Another thing we will change when it comes to producing our final piece, will be checking our actors reliability. Because, during the filming of our prelim, we had to accommodate the time we filmed to suit our actors. So, when it comes to filming and drawing up schedules of when we are filming for the actors, we are going to have to talk to them about our film having to be a priority. If we do this then we won't have to panic about whether the actors are available or not, and it will basically save the group alot of stress, and ultimately-time.
In conclusion, all the things that didn't go as well for the prelim, and the process of making the prelim, will be avoided when we are creating, filming and editing our final piece.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 3
3) 'Evaluate your prelim. What could be improved? What is already good about it?'
There are 3 main areas for improvement in our prelim, and they were; continuity, the use of the 180 degree rule and also the clarity, tone and volume of the actors voices.
When it came to continuity, in some aspects of the prelim, the lack of continuity is quite apparent to the audience. For example, the change in location is very clear, as the lighting is different in the 2 places, the colour of the door is different, and the desk is a different size. If we remained in the same location throughout, then the continuity in the prelim would have been good.
We could have improved on the 180 degree rule, because at one point in the prelim we break the rule. We film everything on our selected side, but the we accidentally filmed an over the shoulder shot, not on the selected side. We now know that we must always be aware of the 180 degree rule, and must check that every shot is abiding by the rule.
And finally, we could have improved on the sound and clarity, tone and volume of the actors voices. Although the majority of the time you can hear what lines the actors are saying clearly, there is a line in the prelim where the sound isn't as clear as it could be, and sounds slightly muffled. We now realise that before we begin filming we are going to express the importance of clearly projecting your voice to our actors.
There are 2 major elements that I believe make the prelim good already; the editing and some of the shots we chose to do. I feel that as a group, we did a pretty good job completing the editing. We all equally contributed to the editing, and we all enjoyed it-ending with productive results. I feel that the editing in the prelim was maturely chosen, and we all had reasons behind why we wanted certain elements in the prelim. Also, with the music, we wanted it to provoke reactions from the audience when they watched the prelim-so we spent time picking the right music.
I feel that our choice of shots were good, as we wanted to try out some certain shots that we all liked. For example, we wanted to try a panning shot, so we did, but this panning shot also coincided with a point of view shot, therefore making our choice of shots and the reasoning behind the shots, more complex. We wanted to avoid making the prelim look too amateurish-obviously we couldn't fully avoid that, because we are amateurs-but we tried to avoid making it look poor quality.
There are 3 main areas for improvement in our prelim, and they were; continuity, the use of the 180 degree rule and also the clarity, tone and volume of the actors voices.
When it came to continuity, in some aspects of the prelim, the lack of continuity is quite apparent to the audience. For example, the change in location is very clear, as the lighting is different in the 2 places, the colour of the door is different, and the desk is a different size. If we remained in the same location throughout, then the continuity in the prelim would have been good.
We could have improved on the 180 degree rule, because at one point in the prelim we break the rule. We film everything on our selected side, but the we accidentally filmed an over the shoulder shot, not on the selected side. We now know that we must always be aware of the 180 degree rule, and must check that every shot is abiding by the rule.
And finally, we could have improved on the sound and clarity, tone and volume of the actors voices. Although the majority of the time you can hear what lines the actors are saying clearly, there is a line in the prelim where the sound isn't as clear as it could be, and sounds slightly muffled. We now realise that before we begin filming we are going to express the importance of clearly projecting your voice to our actors.
There are 2 major elements that I believe make the prelim good already; the editing and some of the shots we chose to do. I feel that as a group, we did a pretty good job completing the editing. We all equally contributed to the editing, and we all enjoyed it-ending with productive results. I feel that the editing in the prelim was maturely chosen, and we all had reasons behind why we wanted certain elements in the prelim. Also, with the music, we wanted it to provoke reactions from the audience when they watched the prelim-so we spent time picking the right music.
I feel that our choice of shots were good, as we wanted to try out some certain shots that we all liked. For example, we wanted to try a panning shot, so we did, but this panning shot also coincided with a point of view shot, therefore making our choice of shots and the reasoning behind the shots, more complex. We wanted to avoid making the prelim look too amateurish-obviously we couldn't fully avoid that, because we are amateurs-but we tried to avoid making it look poor quality.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 2
2) 'Explain the creative decisions you made during the process.'
Our first creative decision was the decision to use mine and Sophie's storyline and plot. This decision was made because me and Sophie had already written three quarters of the script, and we had got about six shots in with the storyboard. We thought it would be ridiculous not to utilise the work we had already done, so we decided to use our storyline. It didn't really affect much, because the storyline/plot didn't have to be anything majorly complex.
Our next creative decision was the decision to use a meeting room, instead of an office-which we had already planned to use. This decision had to be made because the room that we originally wanted, was occupied, so we all decided that we needed either a different office in the school, or a room that was similar to an office. We then found a meeting room, and found that this was still a plausible location to film. This decision did affect what we did, as we ended up cutting out about 3 shots because we didn't have the props that we would have in an office. So, as a result of this creative decision, we had to adapt our original storyboard to suit the location.
Another creative decision made was the decision to give Mr.Smith my role in the prelim, when we had already filmed one shot with me in. We decided we would use him whilst we could, although we had no real reason as to why we decided to change the casting half way through filming, it had no real affect on the prelim.
The next creative decision that was made was to cut some of the opening shots that we had originally planned to do. We decided this when we were editing, because we had edited in the opening titles, and we found that the opening titles transitioned into the shot after that quite nicely. So we discussed the necessity of the opening shots, and after this, we all agreed that these shots could be cut and there would be no drastic difference to the prelim. This decision proved to be beneficial, as the amount of time the process took was now shortened because 2 shots had been cut.
A different creative decision that was made was us deciding what different room to use when the one we used to originally film in was occupied. We all named rooms that were similar, or that we could make look similar, to the original meeting room location. We then prioritised the rooms we had discussed, and went round seeing if they were free or not. We then found a classroom, and decided to 'transform' this into a meeting room, and make it look as similar as we could to the original location. This affected our continuity majorly, as it is clear in the prelim where we have changed location.
Our last creative decision that we made, was probably the biggest. We had to make the decision to put in a shot counter shot, because we had accidentally forgot to include one when doing the storyboard. Also, we had to then come up with some new lines for the new shots, and we discussed and decided what lines we would have. This decision affected how successful the prelim was, because if this element was not included then we wouldn't have been sticking to the rules.
Our first creative decision was the decision to use mine and Sophie's storyline and plot. This decision was made because me and Sophie had already written three quarters of the script, and we had got about six shots in with the storyboard. We thought it would be ridiculous not to utilise the work we had already done, so we decided to use our storyline. It didn't really affect much, because the storyline/plot didn't have to be anything majorly complex.
Our next creative decision was the decision to use a meeting room, instead of an office-which we had already planned to use. This decision had to be made because the room that we originally wanted, was occupied, so we all decided that we needed either a different office in the school, or a room that was similar to an office. We then found a meeting room, and found that this was still a plausible location to film. This decision did affect what we did, as we ended up cutting out about 3 shots because we didn't have the props that we would have in an office. So, as a result of this creative decision, we had to adapt our original storyboard to suit the location.
Another creative decision made was the decision to give Mr.Smith my role in the prelim, when we had already filmed one shot with me in. We decided we would use him whilst we could, although we had no real reason as to why we decided to change the casting half way through filming, it had no real affect on the prelim.
The next creative decision that was made was to cut some of the opening shots that we had originally planned to do. We decided this when we were editing, because we had edited in the opening titles, and we found that the opening titles transitioned into the shot after that quite nicely. So we discussed the necessity of the opening shots, and after this, we all agreed that these shots could be cut and there would be no drastic difference to the prelim. This decision proved to be beneficial, as the amount of time the process took was now shortened because 2 shots had been cut.
A different creative decision that was made was us deciding what different room to use when the one we used to originally film in was occupied. We all named rooms that were similar, or that we could make look similar, to the original meeting room location. We then prioritised the rooms we had discussed, and went round seeing if they were free or not. We then found a classroom, and decided to 'transform' this into a meeting room, and make it look as similar as we could to the original location. This affected our continuity majorly, as it is clear in the prelim where we have changed location.
Our last creative decision that we made, was probably the biggest. We had to make the decision to put in a shot counter shot, because we had accidentally forgot to include one when doing the storyboard. Also, we had to then come up with some new lines for the new shots, and we discussed and decided what lines we would have. This decision affected how successful the prelim was, because if this element was not included then we wouldn't have been sticking to the rules.
Wednesday 28 October 2009
Prelim Evaluation - Question 1
1) 'Explain, in detail, the process you went through to create your prelim.'
Firstly, we began speaking about different ideas that we all initially thought of when we were told the prelim had to revolve around a conversation. We each had one idea that we first thought of, and we then explained in further detail our ideas to one another. We found that some of the ideas that we discussed were too complex for the task, and we all agreed that we wanted something that was more simple and straightforward. We ended up agreeing on the idea that became our prelim, so after the idea was agreed on, we began to storyboard and script the idea. We completed the script first, as we knew it wouldn't take long. Then when we moved onto the storyboard, we began to realise that this part of the process would be rather time consuming, as we all had specific, precise shots in mind for certain parts of the prelim. As we were creating the storyboard, we encountered no problems, as we were all aware of what shots had to be in the prelim.
After we completed the storyboard, we began to scout locations. We knew that, for our story, we had to find an office location, but the one we had in mind had been taken by a different group, and they were filming the same time that we were. We then continued on scouting to find a similar location, we then found one, and asked if we could use it as it wasn't owned by the school.
We originally had a certain teacher in mind to play the main part in our prelim, but they were busy, so we had to search around and find a teacher that had no lessons when we were filming. We eventually found a teacher, and we then began filming. When we entered the room, we all agreed that we wanted to do all of the shots where the teacher we were using was needed. So, we found all of the shots in the storyboard where the teacher was needed, told her what her lines were in the shot, and then told her the process we would have to go through each time we began filming. We filmed each shot she was in, and during one shot we had to think about the continuity. She had to write on a piece of paper, and the shot showed what she was writing down, so we had to make sure we got the shot correct the first time, or we would of had a problem when doing another take.
Another factor of continuity we had to consider was what she was wearing and how she had her hair, because we were going to have to film more on a different day, we had to ensure this was the same. One of the shots we filmed involved a third character, who i was originally playing, and we filmed this shot with myself in it. But then, the teacher who we originally wanted to play the main part, came in and told us he was available. So we agreed that we would make use of him and give him my part to play. So, we then had to re-film the shot i had done already, and then film the shots that the third character was needed for. This made the process all the more time consuming, but we dealt with it in the end. Whilst on location,we watched one shot back, and realised that we had left our books in a shot, but luckily enough, they had been left there during other shots, so we had no continuity problem there.
After we finished filming for that day, we realised that we still had a fair bit left to shoot. During the next lesson, we began to edit what we had already done. Thankfully, as a result of the editing, we were able to clearly see what was left to film, and also, during this process we realised that we had left out a shot we needed to have in the prelim. We discovered that we hadn't incorporated a 'shot counter shot', which was a key part of the prelim-as it showed the actual conversation. Although in that lesson, we did get alot of productive editing completed, we added in transitions from the last shot into the credits, and we also completed the transitions needed for the opening titles into the first shot. We also added in music where we had planned to in certain shots to add an atmosphere and to provoke certain reactions from the audience watching. The editing was very time consuming, but, as a group, we all thoroughly enjoyed the process. We did want to go off and try and film some of the remaining shots that required only the member of our group that was playing one of the characters, during that lesson, but we were unable to do this as the location was occupied and the camera we wanted to use had a low battery.
We then had to film during the next double lesson that we had the next day, and encountered problems. The location we originally shot in was occupied, so we instantly knew we shouldn't have chosen that room originally as we knew that there was no guarantee that we were always going to be able to have that room. We then went around searching for a room we could make look similar to the one we originally used. We found one, and we had already accepted the fact that the continuity of the location was going to be obvious to audience, but we couldn't do anything about it. So, we filmed what we needed to film, and arranged the room so it looked as similar as it could look to our original location. We then remembered that we needed to get a bit of paper for the teacher to write on, and after we sorted out everything we filmed the shots we needed to film and returned back to the lesson to finally complete the prelim by editing the new sections of film. We added in and edited the shots, and even though the change of location was clearly apparent, it didn't look as bad as we all thought it would.
Firstly, we began speaking about different ideas that we all initially thought of when we were told the prelim had to revolve around a conversation. We each had one idea that we first thought of, and we then explained in further detail our ideas to one another. We found that some of the ideas that we discussed were too complex for the task, and we all agreed that we wanted something that was more simple and straightforward. We ended up agreeing on the idea that became our prelim, so after the idea was agreed on, we began to storyboard and script the idea. We completed the script first, as we knew it wouldn't take long. Then when we moved onto the storyboard, we began to realise that this part of the process would be rather time consuming, as we all had specific, precise shots in mind for certain parts of the prelim. As we were creating the storyboard, we encountered no problems, as we were all aware of what shots had to be in the prelim.
After we completed the storyboard, we began to scout locations. We knew that, for our story, we had to find an office location, but the one we had in mind had been taken by a different group, and they were filming the same time that we were. We then continued on scouting to find a similar location, we then found one, and asked if we could use it as it wasn't owned by the school.
We originally had a certain teacher in mind to play the main part in our prelim, but they were busy, so we had to search around and find a teacher that had no lessons when we were filming. We eventually found a teacher, and we then began filming. When we entered the room, we all agreed that we wanted to do all of the shots where the teacher we were using was needed. So, we found all of the shots in the storyboard where the teacher was needed, told her what her lines were in the shot, and then told her the process we would have to go through each time we began filming. We filmed each shot she was in, and during one shot we had to think about the continuity. She had to write on a piece of paper, and the shot showed what she was writing down, so we had to make sure we got the shot correct the first time, or we would of had a problem when doing another take.
Another factor of continuity we had to consider was what she was wearing and how she had her hair, because we were going to have to film more on a different day, we had to ensure this was the same. One of the shots we filmed involved a third character, who i was originally playing, and we filmed this shot with myself in it. But then, the teacher who we originally wanted to play the main part, came in and told us he was available. So we agreed that we would make use of him and give him my part to play. So, we then had to re-film the shot i had done already, and then film the shots that the third character was needed for. This made the process all the more time consuming, but we dealt with it in the end. Whilst on location,we watched one shot back, and realised that we had left our books in a shot, but luckily enough, they had been left there during other shots, so we had no continuity problem there.
After we finished filming for that day, we realised that we still had a fair bit left to shoot. During the next lesson, we began to edit what we had already done. Thankfully, as a result of the editing, we were able to clearly see what was left to film, and also, during this process we realised that we had left out a shot we needed to have in the prelim. We discovered that we hadn't incorporated a 'shot counter shot', which was a key part of the prelim-as it showed the actual conversation. Although in that lesson, we did get alot of productive editing completed, we added in transitions from the last shot into the credits, and we also completed the transitions needed for the opening titles into the first shot. We also added in music where we had planned to in certain shots to add an atmosphere and to provoke certain reactions from the audience watching. The editing was very time consuming, but, as a group, we all thoroughly enjoyed the process. We did want to go off and try and film some of the remaining shots that required only the member of our group that was playing one of the characters, during that lesson, but we were unable to do this as the location was occupied and the camera we wanted to use had a low battery.
We then had to film during the next double lesson that we had the next day, and encountered problems. The location we originally shot in was occupied, so we instantly knew we shouldn't have chosen that room originally as we knew that there was no guarantee that we were always going to be able to have that room. We then went around searching for a room we could make look similar to the one we originally used. We found one, and we had already accepted the fact that the continuity of the location was going to be obvious to audience, but we couldn't do anything about it. So, we filmed what we needed to film, and arranged the room so it looked as similar as it could look to our original location. We then remembered that we needed to get a bit of paper for the teacher to write on, and after we sorted out everything we filmed the shots we needed to film and returned back to the lesson to finally complete the prelim by editing the new sections of film. We added in and edited the shots, and even though the change of location was clearly apparent, it didn't look as bad as we all thought it would.
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