Evaluation Post.

AS Media Preliminary Film

For my preliminary film myself and my group created a 30 second video clip about someone being late for an interview. At the beginning of the film we incorporated a establishing long shot of the location to help set the scene for the audience. The next clip is of a character running and tripping down the corridor because they are late for their interview. The camera then cuts to the interviewer in a different room. Finally the camera cuts back to the interviewee entering the room- with some dialogue


Evaluation- planning our film.
When we were planning our film there were many things we had to consider. We first needed to consider we camera shots we would use which would be suitable for the film and at the same time would show off our skills. Before filming as a group we created a storyboard which had camera angles, shots, dialogue and what we wanted the shots to look like. The next thing we needed to do was to decide how long each shot would be so we the film would be between 20 and 30 seconds long.
Another way we planned and prepared ourselves was the lesson before filming we went round to the set of each shot and filmed a practise shot on a camera phone in order to see if we were in the right atmosphere to continue shooting for the real film and to see if we kept to the 180 degree rule as well.


The filming process.
The filming for our preliminary film was taken over the course of a couple days. At the beginning of the film we did an establishing long shot to set the scene and give the audience a view of the atmosphere in which the film is set. We then had one of the main characters running and tripping down the corridor due to lateness. We filmed this shot on a tripod as if the audience was there with the character watching them run past them. We added incidental music in this scene because it made the audience feel like this scene was quite dramatic and gave a tense atmosphere. The next scene was the second character in the other room looking bored. However in this scene we did not include the incidental music because it made this shot feel more tense. The second character then looks at her watch which the audience could connote boredom. The first character looks at her watch too, this creates an action match and shows involvement for the audience even thought they are in separate scenes.
The next shot was of the first character running and in the shot we only included the feet which was filmed in worms eye view. This shot gives the audience a different perspective when watching the film. It also builds climax. The camera cuts to the first character opening the door handle, and is take using a an over the shoulder shot, this can make the audience feel like they are following the character in their quest. The camera cuts back to them entering the room from  the other side as if they are in the room witnessing the interview in progress.
When dialogue is brought into the film the camera stays on one character when they are talking and then cuts back to the other character when they respond- whilst keeping to the 180 degree rule. This makes sure that the audience knows who the character is speaking to and helps them see where they are so there is no confusion.


Technical problems we faced whilst filming.
We did have a few technical problems during filming. Firstly we did have some issues when trying to use some of the camera equipment but in future we will familiarise ourselves more with the equipment so we can work more swiftly without having these issues again.
Secondly when we filmed the establishing longshot after we put our clips together we noticed that the camera was in a different position than to the next shot in the film. To prevent this happening again we will film the longshot and they next scene on the same day to avoid this happening again. Another problem for our group was wardrobe. Due to the fact that we filmed the first few shots on a separate to the others the characters had two different outfits on. To make sure that this doesn't happen again we will make sure that we either film all the shots in one day or if filming does go over two days we will make sure to wear the same costumes as before.
Lastly due to our preliminary film being shot in school we did have to suffer through background noise from classrooms or staff or school members walking past when we are trying to film. To stop this happening again we would check before hand who would be around and try and work around it.


Skills and programs that we used.
Once we had filmed all of our shots we began the creating and editing process to put our film together. The program that we used for this was called Final Cut Express. Whilst using this program it was expected of us to crop our clips, using transitions and using audio editing skills i.e. adding music and sound effects. When it came to adding the incidental music to our film we had to mute the sound from the clips where we wanted this music otherwise there would have been two different sounds coming form the clip which would have downgraded our film quality. When it came to uploading our film we used YouTube which didn't involve any skills except creating a YouTube account.


Working in a group


Positives
- We did not require any actors for the film.
- We are all very creative and each of us had good ideas on how we wanted each shot to be filmed.
- We were able to multitask- each person in the group was able to do separate things in order to get everything done quicker.
- The filming and editing process was overall quicker.
- If a team member was stuck other teammates were there to help.


Negatives
-There could be disagreements about the way things are being done.
- People in groups tend to mess around and get things done slower.
- Different people have different ideas.
- If a team member was not there, the work may not have been completed i.e. the video clips were on the computer username.
- There could be one person who is doing the work whereas the other members are not contributing.
- More people in a group could mean that the uploading process can take considerably longer.