AS media preliminary task

Prelim evaluation blog

·       Our task was to create a short piece of film to practice practical skills.

·       We had to include, match on action walking through a door, a pan, walking across a room, sitting at a table, dialogue and shot reverse shot.

Research and planning

We did not need to do much research before filming our piece as we already knew the location and what props we had available. To plan our piece we made a storyboard explaining our plot and which camera shots we were going to use. Also, we considered what conventions we wanted to use, for example the use of a mask for the idea of an unknown person as the villain, so we had to plan for this to make sure we a mask ready for filming.

Our concept was based around the idea that we wanted a chase scene to enable us to use more camera angles and conventions of the horror genre. From this point our concept grew into the plot line we finally made our short film from.

Filming

During filming we did not need to change many shots from the original storyboard, except during the conversation we added in a two shot while the character without the mask said her line in order to demonstrate the 180° rule.

We also planned to have two pans of the same room so that the villain could be sat at a table on the second pan. However during filming we found that one pan worked better so when the long shot of the villain came after it there was more of a jump scare.

The main problem we came across while filming was that the tripod we were using was fairly stiff so panning smoothly was difficult which left us with a slightly shaky pan across the room. We also had a problem with lighting because when filming the two pans the blinds were open and we were using natural light. This caused a problem because when we went to film the second pan the sun had gone behind a cloud so the lighting was different. This is why we changed to one pan and a long shot.

 

Post production

During editing we looked at the footage we had and decided the best way to order and put together our clips.

The chase scene we had filmed seemed very long so to shorten it we added flashes of black screen so we could cut out some of the running. This idea came from looking at trailers of successful films in our chosen genre of horror, this particular idea was used in the trailer for Texas Chainsaw Massacre as camera flashes and we liked the feeling of suspense the flashes provided. In our preliminary task we used it to reflect the heartbeat of the victim, which we added in from a track on YouTube during editing.

We used the black flashes again to cover the change in natural light between the pan and the long shot but this time the flashes sped up over the end of the pan before one long flash and a loud crash of non-diegetic sound as the shot changed to the villain sitting at the table. This gave the idea of a light bulb going out, so on reflection we should have added in the sound of a blinking light over the top.

In our final piece the match on action linked between shots smoothly. To achieve this we cut down the two shots until we decided the end of the first shot looked the same as the beginning of the second by looking at both clips next to each other on final cut.

We also added the title over one of the shots. However on receiving feedback from an audience they said the text was not appropriate for the genre we had chosen. To improve this we could have used a better font and a different colour to reflect the rest of our piece.

Audience feedback

When showing our preliminary task to an audience we received lots of feedback. They liked our use of conventions by including the heartbeat, breathing and blinking lights. The class also said we used a wide range of camera angles. They also said that to improve we should have made sure the breathing sound matched the breathing on camera. Also, our audience said we could have put sound over the close up of the ruler coming out of the villains pocket because there was no dialogue and all you could hear was other people in the school in the background. Additionally, they mentioned that the actors needed to stay in character when on camera as there is a medium shot of the victim smiling which does not fit the situation. As far as post production feedback goes our audience said the typography was not appropriate for the style of our preliminary video also it was difficult to read due to the colour of the text and the colour of the background.

Personal comments

When watching it with the class I noticed there was parts of clips that should have been cut off. For example there was a moment just after the match on action where the victim is closing the door and it bounces back slightly so there is a shot of the victims legs as the door shuts and she is standing behind it. We needed to see the door shut for continuity but we should have re filmed that shot so it is obvious that the victim is pushing the door shut.



Final video

Finally, here is our completed preliminary task. I feel we have learnt a lot from this experience as a group so we can improve upon this for our final piece.