Third Day Filming

On the 15/12/10 we filmed the motorbike scene once again however this time we filmed it at night as we saw another group successfully film a car at night and so we thought that if we were to film our scene again but at night then it would add more effect and atmosphere to the film. the reason we had to film the motorbike scene again to begin with was because continuity had been disturbed due to the fact that in one clip the motorbike did not have a L plate (learner sticker) attacked to it and in the next shot it did. the reason the sticker had to be put back on was due to a change of location as it was illegal not to have the sticker on the motorbike when on a main road and so when moving the bike to another location we did not realise that we had not taken the L plate off.

We faced a few problems as first it was dark and therefore we had to find a reasonable amount of background light in order to film. another problem was that it was raining and therefore it became difficult to film, however, we had prepared for the eventuality that it would rain and so we had an umbrella on hand which ensured that the the camera or equipment did not get wet. the final problem occurred at 8pm as the camera rewound itself and in fear that we would lose any footage that we had filmed we decided to stop filming and upload the footage as soon as we could.

First day of editing

on our first day of editing we couldn't actually begin to put the film together as we haven't finished filming as we are doing such a complicated task. We deleted loads of footage that we didn't need anymore and watched intentively the footage we needed to use. we discovered some continuity errors such as the motorbike having the 'learner' sticker on one shot, then it being off in another shot. We also discovered that it doesn't look effective in the light and the motorbike needs to go slightly faster to create a powerful atmosphere. we are going to re-do the motorbike shots in the dark and the walking into the building scene which we plan on doing this Sunday.

Problem Encountered While Editing

When uploading and editing film clips we realised that some of the footage had become corrupt. By this i mean the footage had somehow combined itself with other footage and overlapped each other. the two shots that combined was the office scene and the motorbike scene. as the sounds also overlap you hear static when you play the media file.

second day of filming

On our first day of filming we planned to do the motorbike shots. We found a perfect location in Buckhurst hill 'Nighton Lane' in which was an isolated long American-style road, surrounding by foresty trees and some un-seen houses. I, Luke, Ben, and our stunt double for Vicki came. On the filming of the motorbike driving, the stunt double had to pose as Vicki therefore had to wear her costume (shoes, tights, skirt, top, blazer and coat.) Luke and Ben helped in judging camera shots and what would be appropriate while Vicki put in her input and filmed. We got a few good shots. when it came to pulling up to the building; Luke took over with the filming as i had to do my acting part in getting off the motorbike in which is when my character is first revealed. Our location for this was also in buckhurst hill 'Holly house' which had a great exterior which I believe looked good and like a gangster-buisness mans headquarters.

Motorbike shot

 I discovered this video while watching tv and thought that the cinematography of 'taio' landing and getting off the motorbike was cool. As we have already filmed our motorbike scene we have planned to re-film it as our original idea was to do it in the dark to create a better atmosphere in relation to our genre, however we was told wrong so we are going to re-do the shots regardless. I plan to imitate the above video with the camera shots and body language. 00:22-00:33 seconds.

Editing

We have now filmed most of our footage, but due to the adverse weather conditions and also the seasonal restrictions so we could not get our motorcycle or walking scene due to continuity issues. Also we have to choose the correct time to film as if it gets to late it gets to dark and the footage will not be visible.

But, even these restrictions haven't stopped us from filming the motorcycle scene and the office scene and we have begun the editing process. We have found it difficult because of the amount of footage we have it is hard to find the appropriate clips quickly and efficiently.

Problem Faced 09/12/10

A problem arose when trying to figure out what to blog next. when consulting my teacher we discovered, to our horror, that somehow, we had created more than one blog than the one that we were currently using, not only this, but our active blog that we used had the wrong Url and we could not change the Url because of the existing blog profiles that we had just discovered existing without us knowing.

The technician, My Teacher, and I, were trying to solve this problem, however we were unable to quickly as we did not know the account details (the Email or Password) in order to transfer our posts over from our account which had the incorrect Url or to delete the unused blogs and change the Url. We were unable to do either of these due to the fact that we had no recollection of ever creating these blogs and that we did not know the login details.

the problem was resolved as we simply changed the Url from what it was to www.trinity-media-309.blogspot.com and we will contact Blogger and inform them of the unused blogs for them to be deleted.

Problems Faced During Filming

During the Filming process the group and myself encountered a number of problems. these problems had to be dealt with in order for us to proceed, however, some were unavoidable.

Firstly organisation was needed in order to proceed as we had to prepare probs and costumes for our film and individual characters as well as prepare a storyoard, dialogue, and locations.

Next we faced the issue of time as we had very little time to film seeing as each group member had to put themselves out and make the effort to find a time that suited everyone. The main problem with this was the fact that we had different lessons at different times during the week as well as keeping on top of homework set by different subjects made the task quite strainious. in a real life situation a movie would take a much longer time to produce, time we did not have the luxury of. on some occasions we had hoped to film multiple scenes in one day however we ran out of time, this was mainly due to weather.

the most inconvenient problem was the weather, and luckily for us it was winter, and British weather being unpredictable caused the group a few problems, for starters, we were told we could not film if it was raining as it would interfere with the picture, luckily it did not rain, which came across as a supprise however it snowed, which was much worse seeing as this caused transport problems, as well as the school at one point to close. The snow prevented us from shooting one scene that required us to use a Motorbike, it would be unreasonable to force our friend to drive in such dangerous conditions. we lost filming time due to the weather, it was deemed impossible to film in the snow as it was difficult for group members to meet up, as well as trying to keep the continuity where there could not be snow in one shot and none in the other, and vice versa. we lost daylight quite quickly due to the weather as well as the winter season as it gets darker earlier and around three to five o'clock.

Age Certificates

When a film is released it has to be examined and classified, by this it will have to be moderated as to what the film contains and what age group the film would be suitable for. Government bodys may assess the film however in the UK the film may also be assessed by the BBFC, British Board of Film Classification. Government bodies or the BBFC pass or reject films, in the process of doing this a suitable age certificate must be placed on the film to ensure that the audience are of an appropriate age and the images viewed are not to cause discomfort or trauma or to show sexual content to a child. Films are moderated to ensure that the audience are entretained.

Our group have chosen to produce an opening sequence in the genre of a british gangster film. With there being some agressive behavious and some swearing as well as the general theme of the opening sequence our film should be classified as a 15

problems that we have encountered during the past few days

The last few days have been very unproductive within our group. This has mainly been caused by the sudden down pour of snow, this has meant that not only have some of our group not been able to make their way to school as well as areas that we plan to film, but it has also left us with trouble within filming. It is almost impossible to film within these weather conditions because of continuity, The weather is also way too cold for to be acting in whilst wearing the characters outfits as it has reached -2 degrees during the daytime and it is also a safety hazard to be driving a motorbike on icy roads especially when we have to film from a close distance.

sound.

For the beginning of the film it starts with a phone call between Ben and Luke, this is played over the title screens  and the shot of Vicki driving her bike, this later progresses into the actual shots of them actually speaking on the phone. This means that we have had to create an audio file for the first part of the conversation.  We debated whether to record this onto the computer via  a high quality microphone because this way we could get the best sound, we then realised that it will not fit with the rest of the audio throughout the film because it will sound different. Therefore we have recorded the start if the conversation on to the camera of which we will then upload and convert into an mp3 file.

There is some digetic sound within the film that can be heard. this includes...

• the motorbike
• the gun shot
• sounds of walking
• the door closing

We will also have to add in our own sound effects to the film. This will be for the gunshot, and also for the bike. As the bike only has a small engine we have decided that to help build the tone we will need to make it sound more intimidating.

We have also not decided whether to use a non digetic clip of music behind the film. We understand that it would be best to edit the film first so we will then know whether it will work or not, as well as what type of music to use.

First day of shooting pictures

London Boulevard

While creating our opening sequence a new film was advertised named "London Boulevard"and is of the same or similar genre as ours, being British Gangster. We chose to write about this because it will give us a better idea as to how the modern day Gangster genre is shown and portrayed. this helped us adopt the accents used to perhaps reiterate in our sequence. It also helped us on costume to reflect the genre; which we ha already done therefore this sequence only highlights what we are trying to perceive and reflect in the genre of a modern day gangster.

first day of shooting

We planned to film Ben's office scene as it seemed like the simpler task for the short time we had and limited places we could go at the time.
We had previously collaborated in writing the script collaborated with him and Luke in writing the script in accordance to the mobile phone call with Luke in another location and also cross cutting between the motorbike shots.
Vicki did the camera work in accordance with the script as well as Vicki directing Ben on how to perform; both physically and how he spoke e.g. the tone of his voice. this went well however we had to re-do a few of the shots due to minor imperfections e.g. the way he said a word; however doing this made the shot look more professional in the attention to detail.
We filmed the shots in Dr Doherty's office- we feel this was a perfect location as the interior had leather seating and a gangster-feel to it, it looked very professional however a problem we had was not being able to alter it, e.g. taking or moving things he had on his desk which were irrelevant to the mise en scene we anticipated.
Unfortunately, due to being limited in time as he needed his office for the rest of the afternoon, we need to finish the shot of Vicki coming into the room and shooting Ben which we had high expectations for and is a vital part in the sequence so we must get this done on the next shooting day we get.

Camera shots

1. Title credits 
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
6. .
7. Long high shot of luke walking
8. Shot of Luke walking medium shot
9. Shot of Vicki riding a motorbike long shot panned
10. Medium shot of vicky riding bike from behind
11. Close up of Luke on the phone
12. Ben replies on the phone in office *speech* medium shot
13. Cut to vicki on motor bike at different angle with speech as a voiceover however still diagetic sound of motorbike running through. 
14. Cut back to Luke on the phone looking shifty. Medium shot
15. Ben on phone close up
16. luke on the phone long shot
17. ellis point of view closing on to luke
18. close up of Luke's head being hit from behind 
19. medium shot of the mobile being dropped
20. close up of mobile being dropped
21. long shot of scene
22. Back to Ben medium Close up *Speech* End call.
23. Motorbike stops outside a building Medium shot 
24. Low angle shot of Vicki's Boot hitting the floor
25. Medium of Vicki taking helmet off and getting a gun outputting it in shorts
26. close up of Vicki's face
27. medium shot of Vicki walking 
28. Ben lights up a cigarette casually. close up
29. Low angle shot of vicky 
30. close up of ben
31. vicki walks into room, over shoulder shot, 
32. pans from feet to face
33. medium shot of vicki shooting ben.
34. Cuts to title of movie

Storyboard

Storyboard part 1

Storyboard part 2

Storyboard part 3

Beats

- We see a woman riding a motorbike

- The boss in his home/office at a desk on the phone to the man walking down the street

- An unknown Male attacks the Gangster walking down the street, not much can be seen of this

- The Boss wonders why the the man he is talking to has stopped talking on the phone.

- Woman pulls up outside a building

- Then then woman walks in and shoots him in the chest

- Name of movie appears

Influential Opening Sequences

Possible Location Idea

This is a sketch of a possible location in the opening scene of our film. The place that I sketched is in the Docklands area. This position has potential because good ideas came up in our group discussions and we can link themes and genres to this setting. The genre we have in mind for our film is "British Gangster" and so the area is renowned for business, with the huge buildings with the backdrop of the Thames and so we could link our film to business Gangsters, where the organisation or firm operate a corrupt and violent buiness and therefore are connected to the criminal underworld.

The ideas we have come up with so far is that the person with the briefcase is on the phone to another character and the camera will switch between these two characters  when the person with the briefcase walks passed the ally and is either shot or abducted  by the person in the shadows. The person on the receiving end of the call just hears the phone cut out and is left wondering and worried. Location changes to a warehouse where the abducted man is being interragated by a rival gang.

Creative Brainstorming

Pulp Fiction

The first image we see on screen as the film begins is the definition of the word ‘pulp’ which has been quoted from the American heritage dictionary. The definition reads “a magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper”. This practically defines that film as a messy, unfinished comic style movie which may link to the story not being in order throughout. The scene following introduces two very important characters, ‘pumpkin’ and ‘honeybun’. The scenario is set inside a tacky American diner with the couple both eating breakfast, whilst casually discussing their recent robbery attempts and how they could improve on their next crime, this is almost comical, especially when they take fourth their plan to rob the diner that they are in. Both of them stand up waving pistols around, shouting and swearing at the customers informing them of the robbery.


 Already from this short opening of the movie we understand that these are two of the main characters, they live in America, may not have much money as they are in a cheap diner, they are a criminals and that the film is going to be associated with gangsters. After this short prologue the scene breaks off and the title credits roll. This shows the title ‘PULP FICTION’ centred boldly in the screen with the actors names appearing in front of it, also accompanied by the lively soundtrack which is a rendition of the song 'Misirlou' . This really draws the audience in because not only is it a remake of a very old but famous song, but it is also very uplifted and successfully sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Opening Sequence Evaluation; Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Snatch

In the opening sequence of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it starts off with a radio voiceover which describes the events which have taken place. Even before the radio voice over is heard by the audience, a short summary of what is going to happen is read which explains the deaths of 5 young travellers who were murdered whilst travelling through rural Texas. Immediately, along with the title of the film, introduces the genre.

Furthermore, during the opening sequence, you see , quick clips of body parts kept in jars, it looks like a collection of human organs which was kept in a dark and eerie room. Along with the radio voiceover there is a ambient soundtrack which also causes more eeriness. The soundtrack builds throughout the opening sequence, which builds more and more tension.

Finally in this opening sequence, the shot turns all red which has connotations of danger and blood this shows the audience from the very beginning that blood could be spilt during this film.

Snatch

Immediately from this opening sequence you can tell this film is going to be very fast paced becuase of the fast soundtrack and quick transitions from character to character. Moreover, in this particular opening sequence, it introduces all the main characters as the titles flash over the action. In this opening sequence it moves on charater to character, so for example, one of the characters throws money, it cuts to another character in a different location and the money lands on the table.

This opening sequence easily identifies the time period, as you can tell from the mise-en-scene it is modern. Also the font of the titles is unique, the genre can also be indentified, as the opening sequence introduces the whole 'gang'. You can see that the fast paced music and the actions of the characters that this film is going to be action, fast paced thriller.

I believe that both of these opening sequences subvert the conventional opening sequence of a mainstream movie. Texas Chainsaw Massacre subverts this as it gives away the plot and storyline from the very beginning and the radio voiceover tells you details, but the movie shows you, so it almost travels back in time to show you the events. Moreover, it doesnt introduce the characters immediately but it introduces the setting, genre and the time period. Whereas, Snatch introduces the characters, time period, and genre effectively, it only gives you a vague look at the characters and the story. But, both of these opening sequence suceed in making the viewer want to watch on to see what happens.

Speed Evaluation (Opening Sequence)

In this essay; I will analyse the Opening sequence to this film; 'Speed', following the codes and conventions.

• Establish setting
• Introduce Main Characters (can vary from film to film)
• Establish genre
• Story line
• Establish time period
• Soundtrach will relate to genre

Titles And Credits

• Distinct 
• Appropriate
• Logo Size and Font
• Bold and Visual

The title sequence begins with the '20th Century Fox' opening in which I plan to use on our final task as it looks professional and worked well with my GCSE film. It then cuts to an three minute shot of a camera moving down with an elevator. The actual titles go well with the colour and contrast of the sequence of a slight blue effect as the titles are bold and blue, with a white and black type background which helps it to stand out. So it is bold and visual and appropriate to the setting. It is of a good size, especially when the actual film title comes on as it as fairly large and comes into you as if it is sucking you into the letter. I feel this whole aspect was very effective as it had all the typical titles used and stood out with the logo, size and font, making it bold and visual.

It does not follow the typical codes and conventions of a title sequence however. The setting isn't established well as it is just an eleavator  moving down or the time period. All the audience could gain from that is that has to be within the time period in which elevators are used, so it is modern. The non diagetic soundtrack is quite dramatic and sets a pace for the film. It vividly increases when the actual film title is displayed and then ranges. At the end it start to fade out in which the camera starts to pan towards the first and only character we see. Usually the title sequence would display the main characters used aswell; however this only displays one character, so we can only assume that he is important. We don't learn a lot from him as he is quite a plain looking man wearing only a suit and opens a door which has 'caution' on it. However this could show that he is daring. The genre of this film is hard to depict, I could only assume from the soundtrack used that it is perhaps an action film as it is fast paced aswell as the actual title of 'Speed' which perhaps gives it away.

The storyline also isn't established as we only watch an elevator move down and a character open a door. The opening title sequence should entice the audience to want to watch more, however this film does perhaps the opposite as it is long and boring.

I don't think this was a effective opening sequence at all as it doesn't do most of the conventions needed to make it enticing, exciting and successful.

Coventions of an Opening Sequence

-Titles
-Establishes Setting
-Introduces Characters
-Introduce Stroyline
-Introduce Genre

Self evaluation of prelim task

After careful analysis and observation over our own work; and peer assessment from our fellow classmates; some written and some through video blogs, I have devised a final analysis assessing my group's prelimanary task. Overall, I believe it was successful. There are some errors in which i will address however this has only taught us to think through things really carefully and closely analyse every shot that we do. Being the first time as a group working together on filming and editing, I feel that we worked well however had some distractions.

I feel we followed the brief well, we had some good continuity however there was a slight failure in one of the shots which i will address. We completed well the task of creating a piece of dialogue, consisting of two characters in which one walks in and exchanges conversation with the other character. The cinematography aspect of it was done excellently.

We used a wide range of proffessional-looking shots. We used them all in ways that would reflect continuity and so that the whole sequence looked proffessional. We used the shots of; extreme close up, close up, medium, long shot, extreme long shot, two shot, over the shoulder, high and low angle etc. We also followed the 180 rule well in the conversational part in which is vividly evident. Match on action and shot reverse shot was also used and very effective. Continuity editing enabled us to cut footage out in which was not needed as continuity was not well as they did not follow, however we did error in this on a part of the sequence.

We found as a group that the main imperfection of our piece that was apparent to the other groups assessing our work was the continuity. It was the part in which the door closes, then in another shot it closes again. I think a major fault in this was that Luke did not stay in the same position in the sequence of opening the door and everytime the camera was stopped he would move, then when it was going to be filmed again, he would attempt to be in the right position. Also the lighting changed from outside to inside, which made the scene confusing. We thought the idea of slamming the door again as Luke walks up to the desk was really good, however we didn't think through that we had already filmed the door being slammed. Background noise was also a problem, however this can't fully be helped by us as we are working in an environment where there are lots of surroundings which we are unable to control. So there would be clips in which had noise then others that didn't.

We didn't do much with the editing, we purely just pieced each shot together. As it was such a simple task we didn't feel the need to do a great deal of editing such as, green screen (which i had done in my GCSE task which worked brilliantly), changing the colour (which was also favourable in my GCSE task), background noises, diagetic and non diagetic. Also a soundtrack. Little effort was put into this.

We learnt a lot from this task which I certainly will take on board when completing our group task. These main points are to fully think through each shot and why it is effective, to have high quality and complex editing to give a proffessional look, have a interesting plot and to just work better as a team in not getting distracted as we did run out of time and had to rush.

self evaluation of preliminary task

after reviewing the video of our preliminary video as  well as retrieving feedback from fellow students via video and text, i now know how successful our work was and how well i worked individually. Overall, i believe i worked well and as a group we made a fairly successful piece considering it was our first attempt at anything like this as a group, although there are a few things that we possibly could of done better during the preparation and filming.

we firstly noticed that there was a slight lack of continuity. this was because of a door that did not stay in the same position throughout the film, instead it was more closed in some shots than it was in others. i also believe that some of the acting could of been performed slightly better, but this is something that can be easily worked on with our final film  until we are happy.
editing skills could also be made a little bit better because we was fairly limited in what we could do as none of us have great experience in movie editing. i think we may need to work out 1 or maybe 2 people to do the editing for the final film because that way, they will get more practice and therefore become more fluent with the editing process. or will also give the rest of the group more time to be doing other things such as filming

We also used humour in the film which we found worked well because it kept the audience interested. there was a very positive response to our light hearted, and almost comic video. In our main video we are more likely to keep it serious because not only was it slowing us down, but it is also very hard to make a film funny without making it seem too tacky.

Overall i think we did well because it was only a prelim task, but i do think our main film will have to dramatically improve to achieve a high grade .

Conventions: Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End

Conventions are different in this film opening as opposed to other film openings, which in a way is good as it is original and some what unique. Pirates Of The Caribbean At World’s End is different due to the fact that it is the third film in the series, which may change some of the conventions of a film opening.

The makers of the film assume that viewers have already seen the prequels to this film and so do don’t have to establish main characters as such, unless there is a new addition that will considerably affect the plot. The traditional main characters are not seen in this scene however the main villain is, so in a way this convention is upkept, in a small way. The opening sequence establishes a setting of a navy fortress which is controlled by then English and are hanging people who have been named guilty of piracy. You see a young boy step up to the gallows holding a silver piece who at this point could be considered to be the main focus of this scene. Comical humour is seen when the executioner gets him a stool to stand on so he can reach the noose.

Chants break out amongst the condemned pirates which then scare the guards resulting in them backing off. The main villain shows no compassion for the pirates and continues the execution. The child is hung and drops the silver coin he was holding, the camera then focusing on the slow motion spinning coin, as the background fades black with a distinctive mist with the title fading in over the falling coin. the films distinctive font type reflects the theme of pirates as well as the title of the film “Pirates Of The Caribbean“. The main title fades out then another title fades in as soon as the coin hit’s the floor, “At World’s End” which is symbolic as it emphasises the point that the coin is now motionless on the floor.

The genre of the film has already been set as well as other features of continuity such as main characters, setting, plot, however the plot for this particular film has yet to unravel as the previous film was left on a cliff hanger, so viewers who have seen te previous film will have a certain understanding of what the plot will be however they are unsure as to how it will develop.

Conventions: Back To The Future

Title sequence begins with white writing on a black background which is a good contrast to enable the writing to be visible and distinctive. the title sequence introduces the director, the renowned Steven Spielberg, which then leads to the main title which is in a bigger font, different style font which is a logo font, and is again on the black background, these factors make the title visible and distinct.

the title "Back To The Future" is introduced with the sound of ticking clocks which relates to the theme of time, which is the key concept of the film. the scene then opens to live action where the camera focuses on a number of different clocks with the background noise, the ambient, of ticking clocks, continuing, which again relates to the theme of the title, time, which you could assume reflects the plot of the film involving time. The opening credits are still appearing on screen over the live action of the camera sweeping slowly across the room which then aids in establishing setting, which is of a room or home. The credits list the actors who star in the film which helps, in a way, introduce the characters. the room has a lot of clocks in it which continues to add to the ambience, the background noise, where the camera then shows newspaper cuttings on the wall headlined as "Brown Mansion Destroyed" as well as black and white framed pictures who may later indicate are scientists or inventors as we see gadgets are triggered when the alarm clock goes off. The main feature that helps to establish plot is the radio and television. The clocks the radio and the television are examples of digetic sound which means that it is heard within the world of the film and so characters on screen can also hear it and not just the audience.

The radio establishes the setting as being located in an area called "Hill Valley" and the television turns on to the morning news where a news anchor reports that plutonium has been stolen from a nuclear power plant, and as the camera sweeps slowly towards the door you notice the gadgets are set off on a daily routine however we, the audience, may notice that the owner of the house is absent and has been for a while as you notice the toaster produces bread that is beyond burned and the electronic arm opens a can of dog food into an already overflowing bowl. The bowl is labelled "Einstein" after the scientist, and with this in mind and the previous pictures framed on the wall and the gadgets you may assume that the home belongs to a scientist/inventor which adds to the plot.

The main character enters via the door where we have a low shot of the door opening which reveals a person wearing trainers jeans and has a skateboard. the character puts the key back under the mat and enters closing the door behind him. he calls out for "doc" which then indicates that this is not his home however he knows the homeowner. he then rolls his skateboard across the floor where it bumps into a big yellow crate under the bed which was out of sight and labelled "Plutonium handle with care" again establishes the plot as the owner of the home was related to the plutonium theft mentioned on the news.

The character is then better introduced when we see him pressing a number of dials which appears to be an oversized amp which is connected to his guitar, this establishes the character as being "cool" because what we have already learned he skateboards, and can play the guitar. this is re-enforced when we see his whole body where he is dressed contempary to the time (1980's) and wearing the tinted aviator glasses. he plays a chord on the guitar which ends badly for the character as he is propelled across the room and into a shelf where its contents fall on top of him. The phone then rings and he hastily gets up and answers it. the phone call comes from a distressed "doc" who asks to meet the character, "Marty", if he could meet him because he has fallen upon a "breakthrough" (which now justifies that Doc is an inventor/scientist and so the character is established apart from the fact we don’t know what he looks like yet) and he needs Marty's assistance. the conversation develops to establish that the clicks in the house ring at 8:00 and are now 25 minutes behind where then Marty then exclaims that he is late for school and hangs up and gathers his belongings and heads for the door where an upbeat song is then heard which is non-digetic and it is for the purpose of the audience and the character in the film cannot hear it.

Conventions

• Establish setting
• Introduce Main Characters (can vary from film to film)
• Establish genre
• Story line
• Establish time period
• Soundtrach will relate to genre

Titles And Credits

• Distinct 
• Appropriate
• Logo Size and Font
• Bold and Visual

Self Evaluation of Prelim Task

In this essay i will review my groups preliminary task. We have received feedback from classmates through written means and also video blogs on what they thought of our piece. The overall reaction to our film was good. Also we enjoyed the job we did on our film as we included a range of shots and followed the brief.

The only major problem and negative feedback we received was the fact that contnuity was not followed as the detective in our task had to shut the door, the door must have been jammed as you saw him slam the door and it slightly reopened, but in the next scene the door was closed. In my opinion if we had a room with a conventional door then it would have shut with no problem.

Despite the continuity error, i felt this has gotten us fully prepared for when we make our opening sequence  as we did a good job with our cinematography also we found editing easy. For the entirity of our task we kept the camera steady and also followed the 180 degree rule and used match on action effectively and we used shot reverse shot.

Finally to improve our task i believe we could have found a solution to the door situation, possibly used a better setting to avoid something like that happening again.

Peer assessment.

This group did meet the brief well with the conversations but put and the brief they didn't meet was both people sitting down. When Luke walks through the door and we see him continuing the journey in the outside of the door. This worked well. They used shot reverse shot well with the dialogue and shots. The film flows very well, the editing fits in nicely and the  shots were good. The only one continuity error was that the door didn't suit and in the next shot the door was ina  different position. The camera is very smooth, no jumps or major clitches were seen. As we have only watched it on the projects, for what I observed the lighting was good. I was able to hear the dialogue and other noises made very well, it was clear and easy to understand. I saw a wide variety of shot types that were used very well. I counted atleast enough to have a good shot range.

Self-Evaluation Of Prelim Task

While looking back at our completed task we received feedback from other groups, some written, and some were video blogs. Personally reviewing our own work I feel as if we did a very good job, especially considering that it was our first attempt at filming and editing.

On reflection of the assignment I feel as if we followed the brief, as there were aspects of continuity and overall completing the task of creating a piece of dialogue, a conversation, where a person walks into a room, and exchanges dialogue with another person. We also followed the brief to create cinematography, using a range of shots and ensuring the camera was steady, as well as editing the film clips after, putting what we had learned into practice.

Our prelim film clip integrated shot reverse shot, the 180 rule, match on action, and a variety of shots such as extreme close up, long shot, medium shot, low angle shots. Continuity editing enabled us to cut out footage that we did not need and to combine the remaining footage to create a running film that ensured the clips flowed into one.

Continuity however was one of the areas we found problems when re-examining, as you may have seen on reviews, the door in one scene did not close and reopened slightly, and in the next scene, the door was closed. We cannot be fully blamed however, the door was unable to fully close and as a result of the detective, myself, slamming the door, it re-opened. We could have prevented it though; the door itself didn’t fully close so for future reference we would have to ensure that we get a working door or to ensure that the door closes (if necessary), and to overall to be more aware of the surroundings and to ensure that continuity is followed. Another flaw I had spotted in the continuity was background noises, as we were working in close proximity to another group and the fact that members of staff and other students were using the stairwell at the time and so you could say it was hard to avoid.

Never the less the prelim task was a success and we managed to piece together a short film where dialogue was exchanged between two characters that used a variety of shots and had continuity.

peer assessment

Evaluation

When looking at Vicki, Ellis, Ben and Luke’s group we thought it was quite dark and this made it harder to watch. The dialogue was also quite hard to understand at one pint when Luke was speaking. The dialogue also had quite an echo sound. Their video met the brief and there was a successful variety of shots, the camera was held well and it wasn’t shaky which made it easier to watch. There was a use of shot reverse shot which made the dialogue scene better. There was a bit of bad continuity though, at one point the door didn’t close and then when it filmed the door again it was closed, yet in the previous scene it had been left open. The light changed badly and this disturbed the continuity again.  The change between the shots did flow very well though.

Reviews

Completed Preliminary Task

The preliminary shooting task

As already stated for part of our media course-work we had to plan and conduct a preliminary shoot in which a character will walk into a room and exchange a short conversation with the other character. As a group we had already decided on the plot in which was about a Detective (performed by Luke Rowley) and a criminal (acted out by Ellis King); aswell as the setting; dialogue etc.

My individual involvement to the group is one I believe to be paramount. As i had already had previous experience in controlling a camera and how to effectively use different shots; this was nothing new to me and I felt at an advantage. I dealt with the camera in motion, decided on which camera angles would be suitable for the shot etc. I had Ben Burwood accompany me on this in relation to needing extra help in controlling the camera for difficult shots.

A few difficulties in sense of obstacles were intact for example; when shooting in the corridor/stairs people walking through and making noise, and naturally of course- our group getting distracted which we overcame and perfected our sequence.

My upmost priority was -as I am sure the rest of the group's was that continutiy was followed. In which the audience could easily understand the plot so that the rest of the story could unfold. Continuity is extremely important when shooting in that the whole sequence has to flow smoothly without any disorientating shots; for example, if Ellis and Luke suddenly switched positions without the audience seeing them do so. The Mise-en-Scene was also important in this as the setting, props, costume, lighting etc (everything shown on the screen) can't be vaguely diorientating for exmaple; Luke's suit suddenly changing colour. We also had to follow the 180 rule, match on action and shot reverse shot in which helped us ensure the film flowed and did not disorientate the audience.

The 180 rule ensured the camera was unable to cross and invisible like in which in our case was the centre of the table. We were able to move the camera from left to right to be able to perform things like shot reverse shot etc. Match on action ensured that when a camera changed position the action being filmed continued and fit in with the previous shot after the camera had been moved and the action had been continued after. This was evident in the shots where Luke walks from the hallway and into the 'interrigation' room.

When it came to editing we all done an equal amount of putting in ideas and dealing with the software. We had to make some decisions in what shots to use as we took a few of the same so that we had that choice available to get the best we could have done.We worked well together and our preliminary task I believe was a success.

Media Preliminary Task

Last lesson we began shooting our preliminary task. The task required us to show our knowledge of different shots, most specifically, shot reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule. Although, we were most tested on our grasp of continuity.

For the duration of our task, I made sure that continuity was with held throughout the task. This made me make sure everything was the same in each shot. For example, I would keep doors closed and also keep an eye on the actors movements and also more in depth things such as shirts being tucked in placement of the actors around the table. Moreover my task was to assist Vicky with the directing by helping with shots and also operation of the camera. Finally I assisted with the editing, although we all brought our skills to the table on our editing.

To conclude, on this preliminary task I felt the whole group worked well in unison and we came together and completed the task on hand competently.

Ben Burwood

Preliminary shooting task

Today and yester day our group had a go at filming and editing footage for our preliminary shooting task. After reading through everybody in our groups ideas for the dialogue we decided what was to be said and by who. As a group we decided that Luke was going to be the Cop and I was going to be the suspect, as acting is completely new to both of us it was a slight struggle doing things seriously as well as looking natural when acting. We also decided that Vicki was to be the one filming the short movie. Although she has filmed before it is still something she has not perfected, so this was not an easy task for her either. This meant that Ben was left to do maybe the hardest job of directing. He had to make sure the scene was perfect, the camera angles were right, what us actors did was good enough and just keep everything in order.

When filming, we also had to make sure that we applied the 180 rule throughout the film, if we did not do this then the film may of been harder for audience to follow and it would of also just made it alot harder to film and edit afterwards. we also had to make sure that the whole film had continuity, this meant that we had to make sure that things like the way we were dressed completely the same with the same scenery the whole way through otherwise it would not of made sense to the audience as well as making the film look very amature.

I think that our group was very successfull with this task because we managed to get everything done quite well and pretty much all in the given time. We are all very new to working together especially in a fillming task so it was a hard job to do, but we managed to keep it all very light hearted and add humour to our film. The one thing i think we need to work on is to keep things maybe a little more serious without fooling around so much so that we can finish things quicker .

After successfully filming all the footage that we needed as well as many extra shots just in case, we returned to the media suite to upload the shots to the computer and edit them into a very short film. This was a very simple task and just consisted of picking the right clips and putting them together. The only problem we encountered was that the camera fades in and out of every clip, so that took a bit of work to perfect the transitions.

Over all i think we was very successfull and we expect that people will enjoy watching watching our film.

The Prelim Shooting Task

Today we shot and recorded our preliminary shooting task that we had created as a group. In the short time that we had we created a script out of our individual ideas that we had previously put forward in our separate blogs, after that we put the ideas into motion and started to record clips that we would later edit and could use in order to create our short, and simple, film clip.

My individual involvement in the group was generally to act as the detective in our film, where I was to question, the criminal and fellow actor Ellis. During filming we, as a group, put possible ideas together and suggestions on how we could record a specific shot, or what could be changed, whether it be the dialogue, the shot, or even the actions that we performed. From then on we carried on our roles.

For me, acting was quite new, as you had to stay focused and make sure you didn’t get too much of “the giggles” which is safe to say, to some extent, we succeeded, though in all honestly there were times where lines were forgotten or you made a mistake or, technical errors, or you made a mistake in the sentence you said that generally made you laugh.

While filming we had to ensure that continuity was followed, which meant the audience, or viewers, could understand what was being shown to them so that the information or story could unfold. Continuity also ensures that viewers can understand what is going on in each shot and that they slide in with each other to flow without confusing or disorientating the audience with confusing shots where the camera seems to be in random positions. The 180 rule, match on action, and shot reverse shot, helped us in ensuring the film flowed as not to confuse our viewers.

Match on action ensured that when a camera changed position the action being portrayed continued or fit in with the previous shot after the camera had been moved and the action had been continued after. The 180 rule ensured that the camera was only able to be positioned on one side of the line of action which in our case, ran down the centre of the table as not to baffle viewers, where as shot reverse shot simply involved the camera changing who it was facing depending on what actor was speaking or what they where physically acting.

Foundation Portfolio Assignment: Prelim Task: Planning Your Shoot

Brief and Aim

As part of our AS level media coursework, we were asked to do a prelim tash in which involves us to conduct a short film which fulfils our brief.

Our brief was to compose a scene in which shows continuity editing and filming techniques to show a basic story of our choice.

 

LocationWe have decided to do our sequence within the school grounds in a way to suit the storyline. As our basic storyline is interegation in a room with a policeman and a criminal. As we want to make the whole sequence quite sordid and to have a tense atmosphere; a possibility is to use the school attic. I feel this is a good idea as it is probably our best chance to control the lighting to make the plot easier to understand/follow in creating suspense. However another idea what to use a plain room in which would look like a more stereotypical questioning room.

ShotsThe shots we have chosen to use are going to used ina w ay of such in which the audience can easily depict the status of the Criminal and Detective's lives in being able to automatically assume who is more superior through angle shots and facia expressions in which will help the audience understand that the Criminal is in the wrong; even though he refuses to admit it. We will use the following camera shots to produce our film and represent the continuity of it well. The types of shots we are thinking of using are as follows;

• Extreme Close ups
• Close ups
• Medium Shot
• Long shot
• Extreme Long shot
• Two shot
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Behind the back shot
• Shot reverse Shot
   
  
  Characters
  
  • Police/Cop/Detective
  • Criminal
  
  Dialogue
  
  Extreme Close-up of Detective's hand turning the door knob.
  (Enter Detective -slams door)
  
  Long shot of Criminal sitting in chair.
  
  Medium-Low angle shot of Detective walking into the room with camera reeling backwards.
  
  Long shot of detective slamming file on table
  (Slams folder onto the desk and slams fists onto the desk leaning towards the criminal)
  
  Detective: you're a hard man to find.
  
  (Quick pause) two shot *SHOT REVERSE SHOT*
  Long shot of Detective
  
  Detective: I know you did it punk! This was your job, DON’T DENY IT!
   
  Close up-High angle of criminal
  
  Criminal: You ain't got nothing on me.
  
  
  Medium two shot-slightly low looking up at the Detective as Detective gets angered and closes in on the Criminal and the fearless Criminal equally gets closer
  
  
  Detective: look buddy, you better start talking, you could be facing a lot of time; And trust me, where you’re going wont be no walk in the park.
  
  
  Close up of Criminal *purse lips, gulps, keeps his front up*
  
  
  -End scene-
  
  
  
  
  
  Victoria McGillicuddy

Preliminary Media Task

Location

When we film our preliminary task we hope to film it in interrogation type room which is available to us on the school premesis. So we wanted somewhere like a loft. This is because our preliminary task will be a detective questioning a criminal. We hope to keep the dialogue short and snappy as this is a short task.

Roles

We still need to confirm who is playing what character and who is controlling the camera. Two of us already have experience with working with shots and camera angles so it will be probably be us two operating the camera and directing the actors.

Dialogue

(Detective walks in the room and there is a criminal at the table and slaps his hands down on the table)
Detective: "your one tricky customer, but we've got our hands on you now, and you'll be behind bars for a long time.."
Criminal: "it wasn't me ive been framed"
Detective: "we found your fingerprints and DNA all over the crime scene"
Criminal: "it was a setup i swear"
Detective: "stop lying, we have numerous witnesses, your coming with me"
(Detective drags the criminal out of the room and the scene ends)

Shot List
-Shot reverse shot
-close up
-medium shot
-long shot
-low/high camera angle

Media Prelim task plan

Prelim Task Plan

Theme: The film will be featuring a detective who is interrogating a suspect inside a police station, it will be unclear what the crime is that he is being questioned about because that is not an important part of the video.

Characters

-Detective

-Suspect

Place: Our video will be filmed within school premises and we will try to find a room that can resemble an interrogation room. This is likely to be a classroom, office or maybe the common room. The content in the room will probably be changed slightly, and things such as lighting will also be altered in both filming and even video editing to fit theme of the film.

 Dialogue

(suspect sitting at a table)

(Detective enters the room and speaks in an angry/firm tone)

detective: i knew it wouldnt be long until you let yourself slip up again, you just cant help yourself can you!? Always causing havoc for innocent people who live an honest life.

suspect: sorry mate, but i think you got the wrong bloke, i've got no idea what you are talking about.

(detective throws photos onto the table)

detective: well thats funny, because these cctv images from the crime scene which were taken just after the inncedent clearly show a man who looks a lot like yourself in a bit of a hurry.

(detective leans over table as the suspect leans backwards)

detective: we know it was you son

suspect: i dont think you heard the first time mate... you got the wrong guy yeah?!

Shots used

a variety of shots will be used in the making of our video, such as... 

over the shoulder shot - to show the expression of a characters face whilst reassuring that the other character is still in  the scene.

long shot - this shot will be able to show both the characters in the scene as well as the setting around them

close ups - close ups will be used to either show the person speaking or the reaction on the face of the person being spoken too.

extreme close ups - same as close ups but closer and therefore shows more detail to the characters face.

high angle shot - just as effective as a long shot but gives a different view on the scene

medium shot - this will show a characters facial expression as well as the body posture.

storyboard plan

180 rule

The 180◦ rule may be the only technique we use in the film clip, though as the film is in the making, more ideas may flow and changes may be made. The 180◦ rule ensures that the camera angles are not too confusing for the audience as to cause disorientation. The cameras on the diagram show the possible shots that may be seen during the short film clip. The shots will range from long shots, to regular and extreme close ups, to behind the back shots. In doing this it becomes clear that the characters are facing each other as well as conversing, however due to the theme of the film, the detective will be questioning the criminal in a serious agitated way, determined to put the criminal behind bars.

first shoot plan

Foundation Portfolio Assignment: Prelim Task: Planning Your Shoot

Location: has to be within the school or close by, the set however will be chosen to fit the story line. The story line will represent a questioning room, found in a police headquarters. The short Film will have to be edited to make the scenery fit in with a stereotypical questioning room, possibly with use of props and background features while filming

Characters:

• Police/Cop/Detective
• Criminal

Dialogue:

(Closes door and approaches table)

Detective: you’re a hard man to find

(Slams folder onto the desk and slams fists onto the desk leaning towards the criminal)

Detective: I know you did it punk! It has your work written all over it. This was your job, DON’T DENY IT!

Criminal: No, you ain’t got nothing on me. Zilch. Nada. I wanna lawyer, get him on the phone (with attitude, calm)

Detective: (regaining his posture and pulls away from the table) Yeah yeah, we’ll do that but we should have a little chat first. Where were you last night between 10.00 and 12.00?

Criminal: (with attitude) I don’t have to tell you anything until my lawyer gets here, now be a sport n get me a coffee, your wasting your time here

Detective: (slightly angered) look buddy how about doing yourself a favour and fess up now, you could be facing a lot of time if you don’t fess up now or give me some information! And trust me, where you’re going wont be no walk in the park.

Shots: the shots that we are going to use are going to be used in a way in which you can see our actors facial expressions and emotions that they are trying to represent and act out. The sequence we are filming will hopefully build to the story and to overall entertain the audience. The different camera shots we will be using may include:

• Close Ups 
• Extreme Close Ups 
• Long shots 
• Medium shots 
• Low angle 
• Behind the back shots
• Long shots