Preliminary Task Evaluation

Evaluation

Overall

Today we filmed our preliminary task using the 180 degree rule as a basis. So we came up with the idea of a job interview as its very simplistic and can be easily manipulated to use the rule as well as adding extras such as panning, close ups, long shots and including an oval iris as well. This helped us become more aware of the filming errors we have to be aware of and a prime example would be making sure the handheld shots look as professional and aren't too shaky. Similarly it also allowed us to become more familiar with the editing programme 'Final Cut Express' and now we are much more prepared for when it comes down to editing our opening sequence. An example of something we could improve on would be the location we filmed as we were in our 6th form common room and so the background noise was fairly distinct and so next time we should film either at a different time (even though we had to film in lesson time) or change location. On the other hand, various positives were found throughout this preliminary task such as, clear characterisation, different camera shots used, we have a clear understanding of the 180 degree rule and we now feel more prepared for our opening sequence filming.

Filming

In my opinion I believe filming was quite successful and we managed to film it in around 45 minutes. However, we used the common room to film and therefore as other students were there, the background noise was very distracting. For future reference, we could of filmed in a more controlled environment to give our piece a sense of professionalism. Another issue was we did not write a script of what the actors needed to say and so it took us several takes until we got the speech correct. As a result we should write a script to make it easier and efficient.Additionally, we found filming very enjoyable and worked really well as a team making sure we got the filming done within the time limit.

Editing

We were quite successful in editing our clip relatively quickly as it took us around an hour. It was very time consuming to choose the specific clips we needed because we had various takes for each scene. We also had issues with correlating the sound with the clip as we kept changing the length of each separately. Lastly, changing the order of clips was also time consuming as we wanted to make it as natural looking as possible and so we ended up adding some transition effects such as dissolving and an oval iris. Overall I feel we did well editing however some elements were difficult to carry out.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I believe that a strength was we completed and edited the task quickly and efficiently as we stayed focused and worked well as a group for the duration of the lesson. We used the 180 degree rule, panning and action match editing correctly. A weakness could be that we had a limited time to do this and we could not leave school property so had a restriction of what locations we could use. Therefore, our location was less controlled than we would have liked.

Improving

If we were to repeat this task there are certain elements we could change to improve it overall. Firstly,  we could spend more time planning our preliminary task by writing an effective script so everyone knew what they were doing in advance. Secondly, we could choose a more advanced location which could fit our situation more effectively.