Preliminary Task Evaluation

Aim: The aim of the Preliminary task is to demonstrate that we know how to use the 180-degree rule, a shot/ reverse shot combination and eye line match. In order to show this we did a shot sequence that included someone walking into a room, sitting down and having a conversation with another person, and showing the other peoples reactions to what is being said to them, and their actual response.

What did you learn about the cameras and editing software during the preliminary task?

During the making of our piece we worked out how to edit, this will help us when we make our final piece, as it made our final product look professional. An example of this is when we included a conversation between Simon and Beatrix for our preliminary task. We filmed the conversation from one angle and then another. We did this to capture the reactions of the two, and also film them speaking to each other and the other one listening. Also we also filmed Simon opening the door and the door closing to show that he has been walking to the meeting place. We learnt that filming in just one shot looks very basic and slack, so had to experiment with other angles to see which one fitted the best and most successfully.

The editing software was difficult to get used to at first, but once we mastered it, it was just a matter of what sequence were going to look the most impressive. We learnt that we had to cut bits of unnecessary film out that we didn’t need and which didn’t go with the timeline in order to make the preliminary task look better.

In the filming and editing of your project, what worked well and what could have been improved?

During the process of filming, we managed to get some decent shots of Simon and Beatrix, such as close ups. An example of this would be the close up of Simon’s shoes, when he was walking down the corridor. We inserted this because the opening shot was Simon walking down the far end of the corridor. If we had just filmed it walking down the corridor it would have looked poor quality filming and second-rate. So to speed the process up, we filmed a close up of Simon’s feet so we weren’t just filming him walking down the corridor which took around 15 seconds, we just had a 3-4 second shot of him walking then a close up of his feet, and back to him arriving at his destination, which cut the whole process down to about 9-10 seconds.

However, we could have improved the actual project why trying a wider variety of shots, as maybe we could have found a better way to capture some of Simon’s movements, such as him opening the door, capturing him entering the room from the door from a different prospective.