Question 7:
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Our preliminary task required us to film a few scenes of someone walking down a hallway, opening a door and entering a room, sitting down and talking to another character using dialogue from a script, then getting up and leaving the room. Before we did this we were required to go through two stages, which was Research and Planning and Construction and Evaluation.
We had to create a storyboard on how we were going to film, basically a brief plan of our actions and how we were going to film them, we were also required to write a description of each scene along with the predicted camera shots e.g. pan and zoom.
This task also had another motive which was to introduce us to the more professional side of filming and editing and to get us familiar with the equipment, such as setting up a camera on a tripod and using the boom mic.
The camera shots we learnt about during this task includes shot reverse shot, match on action, the 180 degree rule, which is the line between characters which the camera man cannot cross as the perspectives of the audience would be wrong, and more common shots such as close ups and panning the camera, examples of these from our task are shown to the left.
We had to create a storyboard on how we were going to film, basically a brief plan of our actions and how we were going to film them, we were also required to write a description of each scene along with the predicted camera shots e.g. pan and zoom.
This task also had another motive which was to introduce us to the more professional side of filming and editing and to get us familiar with the equipment, such as setting up a camera on a tripod and using the boom mic.
The camera shots we learnt about during this task includes shot reverse shot, match on action, the 180 degree rule, which is the line between characters which the camera man cannot cross as the perspectives of the audience would be wrong, and more common shots such as close ups and panning the camera, examples of these from our task are shown to the left.
These helped with our main production because we learnt how to do the shots properly and not make many mistakes, although it was still rather difficult to get the shots right.
The script used in our task was:
Person A: Hi I've lost my memory stick, I thought I left it in IT but it is not there.
Person B: What does it look like? I think I've seen one around here before.
Person A: It's silver.
Person B: No, I haven't seen it. Sorry.
This task was not very difficult because of previous experience with a video camera, although some of the shots were difficult to get right on my own, as the angle or perspective would be wrong, but with tasks like these, practise makes perfect.
What I learnt from this task was how to control the camera, how to mount it up on a tripod, how to operate the boom mic, basic editing, story boarding and scripts.
I was taught how to control the camera and mount it up on a tripod by Mr. Corby who was our guide through this task, he showed me the different adjustments of the tripod to make it taller or shorter in order to capture a specific angle and how to make the panning motion and other movements smoother when using a tripod.
The operation of the boom mic was relatively easy, as the boom extends out to quite a long length which gives extra stability and the ability to hold the microphone over the character from a distance, this was quite hard to do at first because the mic would get caught in the camera's image, but with practise it became easier.
Basic editing was quite difficult at first, because of the amounts of options available made the software quite confusing but the basic movements of editing such as cutting out a take and dragging it into the production was quite easy, simple to do and accurate, this was all that we learnt from the task in terms of editing so far.
This then became a little more complex as we went into our main project I started to learn the more intricate side of editing, such as transitions i.e camera flashes and how to put them into your production and make them seem realistic.
The story boarding was simple to do, what we had to do was to draw a picture in the box provided of what the scene will contain, we then had to describe the scene and list the camera shots we were going to use, we had to do this for each scene.
Scripting was a little difficult when we learnt how to do it properly as the layout intended for scripts is different to that of regular word documents, but like many other things this became simple to do over time as we got used to the layout.
The script we used for our Preliminary task was only small and very simple and easy to learn quickly for our camera takes.
The script used in our task was:
Person A: Hi I've lost my memory stick, I thought I left it in IT but it is not there.
Person B: What does it look like? I think I've seen one around here before.
Person A: It's silver.
Person B: No, I haven't seen it. Sorry.
This task was not very difficult because of previous experience with a video camera, although some of the shots were difficult to get right on my own, as the angle or perspective would be wrong, but with tasks like these, practise makes perfect.
What I learnt from this task was how to control the camera, how to mount it up on a tripod, how to operate the boom mic, basic editing, story boarding and scripts.
I was taught how to control the camera and mount it up on a tripod by Mr. Corby who was our guide through this task, he showed me the different adjustments of the tripod to make it taller or shorter in order to capture a specific angle and how to make the panning motion and other movements smoother when using a tripod.
The operation of the boom mic was relatively easy, as the boom extends out to quite a long length which gives extra stability and the ability to hold the microphone over the character from a distance, this was quite hard to do at first because the mic would get caught in the camera's image, but with practise it became easier.
Basic editing was quite difficult at first, because of the amounts of options available made the software quite confusing but the basic movements of editing such as cutting out a take and dragging it into the production was quite easy, simple to do and accurate, this was all that we learnt from the task in terms of editing so far.
This then became a little more complex as we went into our main project I started to learn the more intricate side of editing, such as transitions i.e camera flashes and how to put them into your production and make them seem realistic.
The story boarding was simple to do, what we had to do was to draw a picture in the box provided of what the scene will contain, we then had to describe the scene and list the camera shots we were going to use, we had to do this for each scene.
Scripting was a little difficult when we learnt how to do it properly as the layout intended for scripts is different to that of regular word documents, but like many other things this became simple to do over time as we got used to the layout.
The script we used for our Preliminary task was only small and very simple and easy to learn quickly for our camera takes.
Evaluation looking like a solid level 4 at the moment. Well done, but aim for a high A. Take a look at your emails – I’ve sent out some exemplar work for you to look at. This needs a little more emphasis on the main task and how you'd grown since the prelim task in all areas (R&P, Filming, editing, etc.). Include the film and stills from it here too (and throughout your blog).
ReplyDelete...and the main task?
ReplyDelete