Preliminary Task Analysis

1. What planning did you do? How was this useful, and how did you change from your plans?

We did a lot of planning for this task such as a storyboard to make it easier to see where the characters have to be in certain scenes and to make sure that you have the right shots to go with the action. Then a recce took place to see what the location was like so that we could plan exactly where the action was going to take place and the objects to avoid or use. Also, we created a floor plan to see where the cameras will have to go and what shots they are taking from different angles. It was much easier having a floor plan because you could see exactly where everything was going to be i.e. cameras, characters and props. In practise, our plans had to change from the floor plan we had drawn up, because of the extraneous variables such as noise from people that sometimes got into the shots which happened during the rehearsal. First, we did a character rehearsal where we could go over the action with the actors and see exactly where they were going to be and what they were going to do or say at certain times so that when we came to edit it, all of the shots would be the same especially during the conversation (180 degree rule). We then did some blocking out, which is a camera rehearsal that does all of the shots and angles without the actors just to make sure that they are certain of the angles that are going to be used.

2. What camera skills have you developed? How confident are you with using the cameras, and has this confidence changed during the project? Give details of specific camera skills/techniques you have developed/improved, and include areas where you lack confidence and need to improve.

I have developed many camera skills such as how to shoot people and actions by using a variety of different shots such as close ups, extreme close ups, long shots, low angle and high angles. I have also developed various techniques such match on action and the 180 degree rule so that it’s easier to know where the characters are going to be; which is really important when you are filming a conversation. Before the preliminary task I wasn’t very confident with using the cameras because I didn’t know all of the important techniques to make the shoot look realistic. However, after doing it I am now more confident with using the cameras because I know how to prepare before shooting and the different names and types of camera angles. I have improved on using a variety of different shots on one scene so that it gives the scene a better and more dramatic effect such as close ups of the actors to show emotion. A skill that I think I need to improve is holding the camera steady which could be overcome by using a tripod and a dolly.

3. What editing skills have you developed? How confident are you with using the editing program? Give details of specific editing skills/techniques you have developed/improved, and include areas where you lack confidence/need to improve.

The editing skills I have developed consist of now being able to export and use in and out points which help to select the clips that you need so you can put them together. I am quite confident with the editing program because I know how to pick the certain clips that I want and put them together easily. However, I need to improve on using smooth transitions to prevent it from jumping too quickly or slowly from one scene or clip to the next. I could do this by making sure that the timing is correct and that I am not cutting out any important clips.