Amelia's Evaluation

Preliminary Task Evaluation.

For our preliminary task we had to make a one minute film which includes shot reverse shot, match on action and 180 degree rule.

We created a film about a hostage situation, and we had to decide on the locations and the plot as a group. For the location we used an old isolated room and the learning centre. We used cross cutting between scenes to add more intensity within the characters.

When we were filming the match on action scenes we had a few problems because they didn’t match completely, we also had trouble with the camera at one point because it went jolty on one clip. With the 180 degree rule we found that we broke this a few times, we resolved this by cutting down the clips to try and make them fit in. To vary our shots we used different camera angles to make it more interesting.

For this task we used I-movie to put our film together and edit clips, I learnt how to add sound to a film and different effects. I think we could have improved our film by being slightly more organised as a group.

Emma's Evaluation :)

Through this task I have learnt a lot about the cameras and editing software. Before starting this course I had never used either ‘I movie’ or ‘Garage Band’ before. I discovered that I really enjoyed the editing process as well as the filming, which was kind of unexpected. I have learnt that for our next piece, we will definitely need to spend more time planning and refining what we are going to do, as well as sticking to it. We needed to have done a lot more research and should have looked at other films for inspiration for our piece. We found that although we had a good twenty minutes of footage, it wasn’t really what we needed. Some of the shots weren’t thought out enough and could have been a lot better.
In one part the camera jumped and cut out part of the take, so we tried to match it to another take but the cut was obvious. In the scene when our male actor Craig was dialling the phone (*1), the camera did something funny to him, so our initial reaction was to shoot that scene again. We then realised that we wouldn’t have enough time to do all of that again, so were going to get an extreme close up of just his hand, dialling the phone and add that in. Unfortunately, we’d left it a bit too late and had to leave our film as it was and continue on with other things.
In another shot (*2) we’d lost the printed copy of the ransom message, and were running out of time to finish our filming, so had to use one of our story board pages. Next time, we need to be more careful and make sure we know where all our props are at all times. Another obvious mistake was when we moved location, condensing space and forgot to make Craig take the paper (*3 & 4). I really like the framing of one shot in particular (*5) and think it gives an interesting take on what’s happening.
During filming, I was filming and directing. The actors we chose, although coming through for us in the end, wasted a lot of valuable time by laughing, joking around and not paying attention. They also didn’t know their lines as they hadn’t had a copy of the script before hand, the whole casting process was rushed and needed more thinking through. Next time, we will think about our options and maybe advertise in the drama department and hold auditions so that the people we end up using are fully aware of the importance and are completely dedicated.
There was an issue with the sound at one point, as I was away for a lesson and Lorna and Amelia put on a soundtrack that I didn’t think really suited the piece. I felt that that would spoil the mood of the piece, making it somewhat laughable, so during one of my free periods and one lunch break I decided to re-do it. I used the knowledge that I’d gathered from my film studies classes and used ‘Garage Band’ to remove most of the original sound and add in ambient noise, footsteps, clicking, doors and an eerie soundtrack. I was really pleased with what I’d done so submitted it for the group.

AS Media Studies Preliminary Task Evaluation - Lorna Wilson

AS Media Studies Preliminary Task Evaluation
For the preliminary task we had to create a one minute film which demonstrates Match on Action, Shot/ Reverse Shot and The 180 degree rule. My group and I based our film on a hostage situation. The first things we discussed were:
• Locations
We decided on using the Learning Centre for the establishing shot and a secluded room and hallway in the old building to hold the hostage.
• Props
Duct Tape and a phone
• Actors/characters
Two actors who played a Hostage and the Kidnapper.
• Plot
Kidnapper creates and prints a ransom note then proceeds to the room where the hostage is kept and makes her read it out down the phone.
• Camera techniques
Cross cutting between the two locations.

I was assigned the task of storyboard artist, and after discussion with my group I went on to draw on the storyboard and choose relevant camera work. Equipment we used to produce our film was a Video camera and Tripod.

We took a couple takes of each shot to enable a good choice in footage when editing. For many of the shot’s we tried filming at different angles and shot sizes. This was especially important when filming the match on action as it took quite s few attempts in creating a plausible scene.
After shooting our film and watching our footage back we realised there were a few mistakes in the match on action and 180 degree rule. Also in one on the shots the digital signal had dropped out leaving a partially blocked image. In order to sort this we planned to film a close up of the phone to replace it but unfortunately didn’t get round to it, so in order to keep the continuity we had to keep it in. With our match on action scene, the continuity wasn’t completely accurate; because of the order in which we filmed the ransom note wasn’t present in filming the actor coming out the door, when he was holding the note when entering through the door. We also had trouble with the 180 degree rule when shooting the shot/reverse shot as we went over the line in the conversation scene. We tried to solve this problem by using different shots and then cutting down as well as changing there orders, however this didn’t completely work.

Through this task I have learnt a lot about the process of making a film, and taking it from an idea to the screen. I've been able to practise camera skills and learn how to edit videos on I-movie, as well as how to add sound and effects. For the main practical task I'd improve the work by filming the sequence in order as to keep the continuity throughout. I'd also make sure there's time left after filming and viewing the footage to re-shoot in case of any mistakes.

The Hostage

Editing evaluation.

During the editing we came across a few problems with the film length, we tried cutting down each clip to get it to a minute long but we had quite a lot of dialogue so it was harder to do. In one of the shots the digital signal dropped out leaving a blocked image, we planned to resolve this problem by doing a close up shot of our actor dialling on the phone. However, we couldn't do this as our actor was unavailable. We have choosen a particular sound track to match the atmosphere of the characters, especially the male one as it emphasises his bad intentions. In the establishing shot we used the "typing" title style because the main part of the plot was our kidnapper typing the ransom note on the computer. For the credits we used the scrolling effect because this is the most common method for a lot of films, we also wanted to keep it simple.

Location, cast and props.

We decided to use the learning centre as the establishing shot for the kidnapper, we isolated him in a corner to show suspicion. We used cross cutting to bring together the two characters, starting with Craig, then a variety of shots of Mel struggeling. We also used part of the old building as our main location to create a daunting atmosphere. We made the room chaotic to create the look of an abandoned space. We chose a male actor for our kidnapper to make it seem more imtimidating and a female for the hostage to show vulnerablity. For our plot we didn't need many props, we only used an old phone, a chair and tape to create a simple hostage scene.

Dialogue

Shots 10 &11: Hostage: *moving around, trying to break free*
Kidnapper: (panics) "Quit moving, Just do exactly as I say, and nobody need's
to get hurt."
Shot 13: Hostage: "What are you doing? What's that? What are you planning?" (scared)

Kidnapper: " Read this."

Shot 14: Hostage: "But..."
Kidnapper: "Do it." (angry)
Shot 15: Hostage: (reading from paper held by Kidnapper) "My name is Melissa Goodwin, I'm 17 years old. The date is the 14th of September 2009. I'm currently being held hostage at an unknown location. My kidnapper is holding a £500,000 ransom on me. The money is being demanded for 48 hours time. If the deadline is not met. I'll be dead."

During filming we used this script as an outline and the actors improvised, making the situation look more natural. Parts of the ransom note were also changed,to provide more information. The only problem the occurred was that the dialogue took up a lot of the sequence, and as a result made us go over the time limit of one minute.