Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task
The preliminary task I have just completed was a very useful way of learning how to operate the camera, edit on the computer and to work as a team. The preliminary task was to film someone enter a room, sit down and have a conversation using filming techniques.
The filming techniques we learnt were how to use the 180 degree rule, the over the shoulder shot used for conversations, a camera following someone, and using continuity where one action moves into another, for example filming someone walking through a door showing both sides of the door. We also learnt to zoom, how to use tri-pods and make use of the room we were in. The 180-degree shot is best understood by imaginably drawing a line down the centre of the frame and keeping the camera on one side of the line but able to move it up, down, left and right but cannot cross the line as that changes the audience’s perspective of the shot. The match-on-action is where an action is continued into the next for example in this task an exterior shot of the character opening the door which moves to an interior shot of them entering the room. The shot/reverse shot is normally where one character is sitting down and looking at the other character that is off screen. The shot then switches to them, looking back at the original character. This is how most conversations are filmed.
We learnt to use the editing tool on the Mac computer called Final Cut Express. Whilst using Final Cut express, I came across a sound adjustment tool; this was very useful in making an unwanted sound of a plane in my film much more quiet than before.
During the preliminary task we started to learn from our mistakes, such as practical issues. The whole preliminary task including the filming and the editing was very time consuming. Sometimes rooms were not available, therefore in the future we need to make sure we had a room booked so we did lose any valuable time. Other issues were unwanted sounds. We need to make sure that the surrounding areas are quiet before filming, as sometimes there were children’s voices in the background.
For the storyboard we wrote a basic script and planned it out on an A3 piece of paper showing each shot; this was extremely helpful for when we started to film. There were some issues with filming the shots as when we came to edit we found that I was standing in Holly’s shot, we must make sure that there is nobody in the shot that isn’t needed. Also occasionally there was a reflection of the person filming in a glass window or door, we would need to make sure the person filming stood at an angle where they would not be seen in a reflection. Another issue was the heights of people; I originally used Kayleigh to knock at the door and Shereen to answer but because Kayleigh is considerably taller than Shereen, Kayleigh blocked her out. We decided to switch them around so Shereen was to knock at the door and Kayleigh to answer, this worked much better.
For our films most of us used props, such as an X Factor ticket and a clock. The clock was filmed hand held so it came out a bit shaky; I should have used the tri-pod, as sometimes the handheld camera movement was too obvious.
Overall the preliminary task was a great way to learn how to use filming techniques, learn from our mistakes and understand how to use Final Cut Express on the Mac computer. We had a camera operator come visit us one lesson and he gave us tips on how to improve our film techniques. First of all we showed him our preliminary videos and he told us what we did wrong for example having too much room above peoples heads, this was very helpful. It would be great if he could come and visit again to give us advice with our actual first 2 minutes of a film.