Preliminary Task: Evaluation

For our Preliminary Task, we were asked to film and edit a 12 shot clip. Our objective was to film Character 1 walking into a room and having a small conversation with Character 2 who was waiting for them. Our main shot we had to include was Shot-Reverse-Shot along with having to include the 180 Degree Rule and Match on Action. Whilst filming and editing, we needed to make sure we had enough shots taken as we wanted all the footage to match and flow.

Before filming, our group had to create initial ideas that we could film for the given Task. Once we had a stimulus for our footage, we then went on to create a 12 Shot Story Board to plan out each of our Camera Shots. This also included planning for Staging, Dialogue, Camera Movement, Camera Angles and any Character/Prop information. This helped us breakdown our actions and make sure we get the correct footage to then edit.

When it came to filming our group worked well however, we had an issue with our Characters not turning up to filming. Therefore, we had to ask two other students (which have been put onto the Casting List) to come and be our Actor/Actress' who were great and worked well for our stimulus. Every member of the group took part in the filming and all followed the Story Board; making sure each shot and angle were correct and also filmed a couple of times each to make sure we had enough clips to edit. Overall, the footage we got was done well and looked great for editing.

When it came to editing the footage, I realised Character 1 had changed his lines each time we filmed. This made it much harder to edit the clips together however, after listening to the footage I managed to put the clips together so the dialogue made sense to the audience and the conversation flowed well. I used the programme 'Premier Pro' to edit the footage together which worked well. Also, I was shown how to change the volume on the program; helping me change what was said over the video and also make the dialogue make sense. All shots and angles were filmed well and our group assured that the clips had stuck to the 180 Degree Rule.

I feel our group had met the set brief well, as our footage is shown to be continuous and presents exactly what was asked of us for the Task. The clip includes the conversation between two Characters and shows all shots and angles needed. All footage met our Story Board well, as we wanted to assure that the conversation was clear and all angles were clear to the audience. I would say that our weaknesses as a group were casting people who we knew would be dedicated and making sure the audio also matched the video and the dialogue topic. An improvement I would of made to the Task was to create an easier stimulus for the Task, as the footage did get a little complicated to get right, which we realised with the dialogue when it came to editing. This is something we can improve when it comes to the Main Task.