Prelim Task questions

1) What camera and editing techniques and codes did you use in your film and how do they influence the audience’s understanding of the film? (e.g. camera angles and shot types etc; Match on action, Shot/ reverse shot , 180 degree rule )

For the opening of the film we used a long shot to establish the surroundings, using the vanishing point of the road, and the line of the trees as a mark of the third, with Dan to the left. This was followed by a medium side shot of Dan from the side establishes him - his dress, age, style and the bicycle. After this a tracking shot and then a high angle pan and close ups of Dan locking up the bike all establishing to the audience his journey and surroundings – school. We used a long shot of Dan walking into common room to establish the surroundings influencing the understanding of the audience. The dialogue was shot to match the action using the 180 degree rule, Dan and Andy having the same left/right relationship to each other shooting over the shoulder, the closer a camera is placed to the axis, the more emotionally involved the audience will be having the camera placed on the characters shoulder - over the shoulder shot meant the audience where more evolved and made the situation clear to understand.


2) How did you use new technologies in your construction, planning and evaluation (e.g. digital cameras; non-linear editing software; YouTube and blog) and what skills do you have at using this technology? (Strengths and weaknesses. e.g. steady/ shakey camera; variety of shot types; smooth/ clumsy transitions; independence when using technologies.)


The functioning of the camera was easy to pick up. With the aid of a tripod are shots could be done steadily and on even ground with guide the sprit level. When shooting our first shot and using the zoom it was unsteady and jumping with some practice repeating the shot I gradually mangered to make the zoom smoother. After this practice I found zooming easier and found that my zoom was steadier and less jumpy. When shooting the tracking shot of Dan on the bicycle I found it hard at first to keep up with him this was due to the small maneuvering space. To resolve this we decided to slow the action down and I held the camera in front of me to help make keeping up with Dan easier and keep him in shot, from the result of this the shot was done more successfully.
In are film we used a varity of shot types, using the tripod we shot long and mid shots, this was done easily and successfully, and with handheld filming we shot a tracking, panning and over the shoulder shots, with out the aid of the tripod it was harder to keep the camera steady and with some practice mangered to make are shots steadier. When filming the dialogue it was hard to hear the dialogue due to loud background noise. We repeated the shot loudening the speech but this didn’t improve as the background noise was too heavy. To resolve this we decided to use clip on microphones’, I found the microphones’ easy to use, they plugged straight into the camera and on the person speaking. Reshooting using the microphones the dialogue was vastly clearer and louder and from aid of the microphones greatly improved from before.
When editing our film it was the first time I had used the software. With some guidance I found the programme fairly easy to use, the programme is laid out simply and I found it easy to identify the tools. We cut our film - repeat takes added transitions to smooth some of our footage and added music. I found cutting the film fairly easy to do and using the razor tool and by making the timeline bigger with the slider easy to find the exact moments to cut. We used a transition to cut a long piece of footage which we felt was too long and also used one to smooth out a skip in the footage. When then found a music track which we felt fitted with film, this was then saved to a memory stick and added to the footage. The music was then cut so it wouldn’t go over the dialogue. Then we added sound effect to our footage. From looking on free sound we found a good bicycle bell sound effect and added it to our film, the site was easy to use and had many good sound effects.


3) How successfully does your final product meet the brief?


The final product includes film of Dan crossing the common room walking over to Andy pulling out a chair and exchanging a couple of lines with him. This dialogue was shot to match the action using the 180 degree rule, Dan and Andy having the same left/right relationship to each other shooting over the shoulder