Introduction to the Preliminary

Task

Introduction

Our group consists of Rachael Lau, Judy Willetts, and Heather Gornall and we are all studying AS Media Studies.

For this course we are studying how to film and edit film openings and we learn about the film industry. Our brief was to construct a two minute film opening which features original ideas and knowledge about the course, including filming with different camera shots and editing skills.

Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task the brief was:

Continuity task involving filming and editing.

- A character opens a door, crosses room and sits down with whom they exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.

- You should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule.

For this task we worked together as a three and shared the roles so that everybody had a turn with the camera.

Rachael’s job was to film the whole task, making sure we included match on action, a short reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule.

Alongside helping to film, Judy was the main actress in the short film in which she exchanged a number of lines of dialogue with Heather.

Alongside helping to film, Heather had the job of the second actress, in which she had to be sat down at the other side of the room and exchange a number of lines of dialogue with Judy.

Match On ActionMatch On Action is when you cut the start or the end of a shot to make it seem like it continues uninterrupted. We used this with most of our shots for example shots 1 and 2.Here Judy is entering a room through the door. After filming from behind we filmed a shot from the other side of the door so it seems like she is coming through the door without stopping.

Shot Reverse ShotShot Reverse Shot is when you edit a number of shots together that alternate the actors. You’d most likely use it for conversations like her, where Judy is talking with Heather.We have used this rule when they are talking because it helps show the reactions of the other person when the first is talking.

180 Degree RuleThe 180 degree rule is when the camera stays in one place in either side of the axis where the acting is happening. Here, the camera stays in the same axes whilst filming instead of going into the other. If that were to happen it would look like the actors have suddenly switched places.

Continuity editing and New technology

What have you learnt about new technology from the process of constructing your film for the Preliminary task?

During our preliminary task we had used a digital camera to film the scenes while exploring the use of Match on Action, Shot/ reverse shot and 180 degree rule. We have learnt that using these techniques with the digital camera allows us to produce a short scene that is natural and easy to see for the audience. Using the digital camera was not difficult however, we had to film in chronological order therefore we had to re-take some scene many times before we were satisfied with the results.

 

We had also used the Adobe Premiere to edit our film, by doing so we had learned how to use Adobe Premiere. We were able to put the scenes in the correct order and cut unwanted scenes without making the scenes seem unnatural. In addition, we had experimented with the use of titles; however we did struggle as we were not able to slow down the speed of which the titles appear on screen. Therefore, we had to seek help from a teacher which enabled us to learn how to do so in the near future.

 

In this task we was able to learn how to use the digital camera and Adobe Premiere with ease, this will greatly help us in the future when we product our film opening.

Strengths and Weaknesses of ur Preliminary task

Strengths and weaknesses of our Preliminary task Strengths•We was able to film the scenes in chronological order•The film was clear and easy to watch•We were able to achieve all the main tasks without difficulty •We had successfully add our own unique elements to the scene to make it more appealing to watchWeakness•We had to film the scene several times to be able to achieve what we wanted•The camera was unsteady while filming•There was a couple of times that we lost timing which result in editing it out