Preliminary Task: Evaluation

When given the brief of the task, I learnt about the 3 particular types of shots that we had to use: match on action (which means the shots are continuous and flow), shot/reverse shot (this shot is usually used during a conversation between 2 people) and the 180-degree rule (where you have to keep on one side to film the scene and not cross at 180 degrees). I think our group could have been more organised in terms of planning everything out. However, we did start brainstorming our ideas down to paper and linking them together to picture it more efficiently. In addition, we did start to draw out a storyboard, but it was never finished to an extend that we followed off of it; we finally had it done in the last week before filming. When we had a clear visual idea of what our theme/genre would be, we started making a script for the 2 people who will have dialogue in the scene.

Our storyboard was not of any help to us when filming for the first time, as it was uncompleted and didn't have any note of what kind of shot would be used in the frame. However, when it was completed we made sure we noted down all the details next to the illustrations such as the type of shot (long shot) to make it clearer to us as a group; as we had to re-film some scenes, i think it helped us effectively. In addition, in our group, we were very keen on how to use the camera and we also tried using the tripod to give us a more stable shots. 

Personally, I learnt how to attach the microphone onto the camera and also how you add the gorilla tripod with the camera, enabling us to shoot in a vary of angles from above or below. For a given example, when we filmed a character walking up the stairs, we used a low angle shot using the gorilla stand to make the shot steady. On the other hand, on some days, some members of the group were absent so we had to reschedule when we needed to film or plan any additional changes. However, we could have used time more effectively when a problem came our way instead of stalling and dragging time away.We also faced the problem of not having the storyboard completed, as we needed it to guide us when filming the scenes. I think to overcome this problem in the future task, I will make a copy of my own storyboard for me to refer to, rather then relying on a member. Initially, I think as a group it took us time to get to grips with using the apple macs and the software on there. Our only concern was converting the movie files into Apple Pro Res files, but in the end we overcome this problem and knew how to do it. I learnt how to use the tools on Final Cut Pro to cut and delete footage using the razor tool and add transitions if needed. Additionally, I learnt that the editing process, takes a long period of time to make it right and perfect to an extent.

Overall, I am happy with the finished product and I give it a rating of 8 on a scale out of 10. In particular, I think the shot that was most effective was the shot/reverse shot, where we had the dialogue between the two characters because it shows both perspectives from each character clearly and we didn't cross the 180 degree in the final cut. If we had the opportunity to do this task again, I would want to do a different theme, where we could include transitions for suspense; however this was only the preliminary task and we had to keep it simple. I would also think of getting to grips with using the tripod so I can ensure the shots are steady and effective; which makes it look more professional. Moreover, I think our group worked well together, except for when we had absent people which often delayed us in terms of moving forward with the task. In the team, I shared the role of filming the task with another member and we brought out our ideas of what type of shots to use e.g. a low angle shot when the person walks up the stairs and how we would position the characters when they share dialogue.