Preliminary Task Evaluation

What is the purpose of the preliminary task?

The preliminary task was set to enable us to present our understanding of continuity of editing in short clips. It was also set to allow us to present an understanding of the process used to produce a successful film. This is inclusive of filming, editing and choreographing an interesting film that meets the objectives set. The objectives for this task being: to include match-on-action; consider 180 degree rule; eye-line match and dialogue.

What difficulties did you face?

Difficulties that we faced included lack of equipment. In some of the shots, I believe that it would have been beneficial to have used a tripod or Steadicam to have steadied the shots, making them less shaky. Additionally, the mise en scene wasn't as well considered as it could've been. The site that we filmed on had lots of camera equipment lying around which, for obvious reasons, lessened the effect of a school room setting. In future, details such as this will be considered before we begin filming.

Additionally, the editing process was made difficult as some of the shots that we filmed weren't continuous to the overall narrative. For example, there was one scene that we filmed where the actor put their hood up. Then in the next shot, they can be seen with their hood down. This doesn't follow the linear narrative that we were trying to achieve. A clearer directory could have been used to ensure that no difficulties where made when editing as a result of this. We tried to overcome this by making those clips shorter and so less noticeable. 

How did you plan out the shots?

Firstly, we made brief notes of our initial ideas. Whilst doing this, I considered how we would include the objectives of: match-on-match, 180 degree rule, eye-line match, someone going through a door and dialogue. Subsequently, we then planned out the shots using a story board. This meant that we could all see a visual representation of how the shots may look. Doing this allowed us to make alterations according to how we thought different shots would look. In this, we drew where the focal point (the main character) would be in each shot, alongside the rest of the mise en scene. Later, we were able to use this to refer back to to ensure that the film was continuous and made sense. We tried to stick to around 12 shots which would make up the entirety of the film section we'd be focusing on.

As a group, we discussed how we could make the film more emotive by using different filming and editing techniques. We brainstormed types of filters we could use to make the shots appear sombre and sources where we could find un-copyrighted sound material to over lay on the film. We discussed how both could be used in correspondence with the film content to make the film more emotive.

What did you learn about continuity editing?

Continuity editing provides the audience with the impression that the action unfolds consistently. The film has to be logical and coherent to emphasise smooth transition times. We found that editing to create a continuous narrative was difficult if the filming process wasn't directed properly to ensure that there were enough clips to produce a clear and concise film. Additionally, we found that not using editing techniques such as fading, made the film very jumpy. In future, we may consider spending more time focusing on the transitions between shots. 

Also, the sound that we overlaid, played throughout the film which emphasised the continuation of time and boasted the idea that the film was not shot in separate take, but instead - together. Perhaps we could have faded the music in and out as the character put in and took out his earphones. This would have given the audience a better understanding of his viewpoint. 

What did you learn about the demands of filming a sequence?

We learnt that filming a sequence requires a clear story board and ideas. This has to then be brought together by a strong directory. All members of a filming crew have to be aware of the objectives otherwise it can be difficult to create a successful piece of film.