Preliminary task review

Preliminary task review

How many mistakes did you make? We made a few mistakes the first time we filmed the

preliminary task as it was the first time we had been given the opportunity to use the cameras in the field and have access to the editing software. The mistakes we made included not keeping 180 degree rule, not white balancing correctly and making mistakes filming match on action. To correct these mistakes we simply re filmed the necessary shots

How did you manage the group dynamic and collaborative nature of film making?

When filming the preliminary task our first group decision was to ensure that we picked two actors and two camera workers. As a group none of us really minded what role we took so we simply flipped a coin to decide. ( I was a cameraman with Ethan)

As a whole when ever we made a decision while filming we made sure to ask every member of our group for their opinions. All though this may have took up a lot of time, it is the only fair way for everyone in the group to be happy with our end result. Examples of this include checking over the angles of shots after most takes. This meant that that if one person didn’t like it they could voice their opinions and change it.

How did you manage the equipment? Managing the equipment was much easier than expected. During

our allocated filming period we made our way down the Media technician Mr Yadgar and asked his permission to take out and use the camera equipment. As a group we were very careful while setting up the camera and tripod etc as we realise that they are expensive items and we would not want them to break. For this reason, every time the camera was not on the tripod it was held with both hands to ensure safety. Secondly there are small parts that we were careful not to misplace such as the lens cap and video tape cover. One group member was given the responsibility to look after one item

How did you manage the deadline? Managing the deadline was quite tricky due to an unfortunate

number of illnesses and school trips during our allocated period of filming. This meant that when one of our actors, Daniel was ill one day it meant we couldn’t finish off the filming as he had already appeared on camera so we couldn’t use a different actor.

However due to our ability to bond and collaborate well as a group/team we were able to overcome all off these setbacks – finish the editing quickly and still be one of the first groups to produce a finished project.

Were there any health and safety logistical problems Regarding health and safety, we made sure there were no

loose cables or wires for people to trip over. If anyone walked by during filming we signalled this as a safety hazard to anyone that passed us during filming.

Secondly the lights in the media suite become very hot as they are made from filaments. So after use we made extreme care when switching on/off and moving around to not touch any of the hot parts. Looking back it would have been beneficial to use gloves to protect our hands and fingers from burns

How did you organise your human resources – people involved in your production Actors – as all of us are in the same class there

was no issue in all of us being in the same place to film. Two of our group filmed while the other two acted.

As this was only the preliminary task our use of props and costumes was very limited. The only prop we used was a table which was already located in the media suite. We simply asked permission to use it and set it out in the way we required.

How did your story boarding and shooting script work in practice? The story board we made was very simple

because the plot is very basic. Because we planned out each shot before and knew exactly how we wanted it to look it was very easy to go straight from the storyboard to filming with a high degree of accuracy.

This also applies to our shooting script as well because it was very basic due to the nature of the task

Did you make creative decisions to depart from the original plan? The creative decisions that I made didn’t depart

from the original plan but were creative none the less. On a couple of the shot I was unhappy with the playback of the angles and how zoomed in the camera was. So I suggested to my group that we re film the relevant parts with more aesthetically pleasing results. The results that we gained had better angles and the issue with the zoom had been fixed.

How successful were you with managing your time On the whole I feel that on both a personal level and as a group we were

very effective with managing our time. They were few wasted moments on shoots with all our efforts projected into making the best production possible.

During the beginning of filming we encountered numerous setbacks involving the camera picture and sound quality. The problems we encountered was the picture being grainy and the sound being muffled and barely audible. This meant that we had to start again from scratch several times. Initially we thought the problem was with the tape we had, when we re-filmed with a new tape the problems were still not fixed. From here we deduced that the problem lied with the camera itself. There was an internal fault with the camera that we could not fix ourselves. However once we found out the root of the problem we worked quickly and efficiently to resolve it by filming with a new camera and tape.

How did digital technology enable you develop creatively?

The editing software Adobe Premiere pro was particularly useful in developing creatively as it allowed us to cut/merge/layer shots however we wanted. Although it wasn’t appropriate in this task it gave valuable experience to use again in the future

What sort of realism have you created? The realism we created was one of an office meeting where

one worker was getting reprimanded for being late. For this reason we kept the language formal and kept stern facial expressions at all time. If I were to do it again I would dress the actors in more formal attire such as a suit for the sole purpose of adding to the realism of the piece. However I realise that as this is only the preliminary task, such efforts may not be as necessary as they will be for my main task. As I have learnt from this task, realism is very important and I will endeavour to make my final thriller as realistic as possible through the use of props, costumes, make up, set and dialogue