Preliminary Task

In Wednesday's lesson it was our group's turn to shoot and edit our prelim. Though short, the process highlighted to me how crucial storyboarding will be when creating our two minute film opening particularly when changing location. As well as this, timing will be crucial as we hope to involve a number of people in a party scene for our film opening therefore utilising the time wisely, not only for our sake, will be beneficial.

The concept of continuity, paying attention to the mise en scene of every shot will be something we need to become accustomed to in order to produce the best work possible. There were a number of times in filming our prelim that the setup of chairs was altered or positioning of myself or Julia was slightly off meaning re filming that specific shot. We did however manage to incorporate shot reverse shot, match on action and follow the 180 degrees rule.

As well as our first time filming as a group, it was our first chance to edit and get accustomed to using iMovie. Following editing and exporting we did notice a sound error at the 10 second point in the clip. If we had observed the sound levels on iMovie we would have been able to spot the sudden rise in sound however this is something we can take away and consider when creating our film opening. Using a MP3 file in the background allowed us to play around with sound levels not only in the clips but overlapping sound.

Preliminary Task - Techniques

The preliminary task requires us to include match on action, the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot

Match on action

Match on action is an editing technique where one shot cuts to another, portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. This technique provides a sense of continuity and creates a "visual bridge".

The 180 degree rule

The 180 degree rule means that all filming takes place within the 180 degrees angle in front of the camera which ensures the background remains the same. This allows the audience
to have a greater sense of location in terms of what may be off camera.

 

Shot Reverse shot

 

This technique is used when filming conversations, filming one character then switching the shot to one of the other character in the duologue. Shot reverse shot often ties in with the 180 degree rule to create continuity in the scene by not distorting the location of characters.