Our group consisted of me, Ali, Alice and Rose, and we used Rose's DSLR to film with. Planning took much more time than the actual filming, and I think this was due to how much we had thought about the shots beforehand.
The film we produced does no represent a particular social group, although it could be inferred that it is representative of some teenagers/young people but this could just be due to the age/physical appearance of our actors (Alice and Ali). If so, this gives the audience a negative picture, as the subject included is not seen as something acceptable. I think this was achieved through the juxtaposition of the religious imagery vs the deal that was going on (as shown below, the orange glow of the lighting in the cathedral helped to establish this as when we filmed Alice and Ali's conversation there was a harsher light coming from outside which could be seen through the big window at the back of the pews (which was diegetic).
Something we found hard was trying to address a particular audience, as we did not think about anyone outside of our class (who we would show it to), creating an element of suspense aided us in attracting a wider audience as it puts people on edge, and grips them. The story isn't too complex or too hard to follow so I think this also helped, as attention isn't lost. The quality of the camera made the piece much more visually interesting so again, this was another way in which we could attract people, the film at times is colourful and the shots are quite diverse, this could appeal to people that perhaps appreciate the aesthetic of a film more.
We had to overcome several problems to do with technology, in both the filming of the piece and during the editing and final cut. The first was the unavailability of a tripod, this meant that we had to delete lots of shots when watching everything back because they were so shaky, and using makeshift tripods (like chairs and stalls on the pews).. This proved extremely fustrating. Another obstacle we encountered was when we were editing and reopening the programme each time a lot of the media was 'offline.' This then meant that we had to keep importing the same clip. Our piece was also meant to be accompanied by music, but we were unable to access the internet on our computer so used a memory stick several times (which didn't always read/show up on the computer), and for some reason did not play despite us finding several mp3s. This is a problem which we will have to fix, and somehow upload the music and then reupload the video to Youtube.
I feel as if I have learnt quite a lot of things from this process, the foremost being that filming requires quite a lot of patience as well as waiting around (when filming in public). I feel very proud of my group, it took some time to plan, and the filming was not easy, and the editing was far from it-the problems we encountered definitely tested us. There was some disagreement about the shot types, and we had to come to agreements quite a few times which just slowed the whole process down. When watching the film back I find it annoying that there is no music, a problem which I am determined to fix somehow. I find the conversation quite unprofessional, probably because I know that we all laughed during filming and there are lots of amusing clips which we had to edit and cut due to someone laughing in the background or Rose (who was filming) shouting 'go' or waving her hand. I don't think this is a problem to those viewing it who were not there during filming.
Next time, I would create a much more detailed story board, but some of the problems which we had to deal with were beyond our control so I hope that we won't have to deal with them during the filming of the thriller. When we film our next piece I think we should come up with a better initial idea/concept, but I know we will have more times so I am not concerned by this. One aspect of the planning process that helped us during filming was definitely deciding the location early on, as well as who was going to be acting. I think creating a more detailed storyboard would have helped us/been useful during filming, this is something we will do when planning our thriller.
Something I was disappointed with when looking back on it after editing was that it looked like more of a documentary than a conversation, perhaps because me and Rose got distracted with how beautiful the location was and got carried away with establishing shots. Next time we will have to be stricter and rewatch several times before publishing the final cut.
We knew most of the shot types we were expected to include in our piece, and were quite confident about the names of them and what they looked like, although we sometimes referred back to a sheet we had been given previously. The quality of our work could be improved by depending less on shots of the cathedral to fill time, and to elongate the dialogue. The only dilemma with this would be that there wouldn't be much else to say so would just look embarrassing and even more unprofessional.
The planning of these shots before filming would have been useful, and is something we should probably have done before because it again, would have sped up the whole filming and editing process. I don't think we had a definitive dramatic moment, so this is something we can all learn from and remember to include next time. The importance of continuity is something we all valued, so made sure we stuck to this strictly, which included filming everything on the same day within the space of 3 or so hours, as well as filming shots in rough order, so natural lighting did not look mixed up, as we filmed up until sunset. One shot I think is particularly effective is when Ali walks up the pews, and the camera is on the ground. (See below).
This low angle shot not only centres Ali as the subject but also makes him look bigger, which could make the audience think he has the upper hand of the conversation (which we later find out he doesn't at all). Another shot I think was successful was the extreme close up of Ali, probably because of his facial expression, he looks quite unsure, this is also before the deal so could show his dependency on Alice.
I think we used a large array of kinds of shots, which (I think) looked effective in the final cut. The location was big and and the architecture detailed so was actually quite difficult to shorten the piece to 2 minutes because there were lots of objects to shoot- candles burning, stain glass windows, marble statues, effigies etc. For the thriller, I think we will have to try and focus on the actual film and what will fit rather than trying to capture the beauty of the setting too much-although this is something I think is fundamentally important and improves the visuals.
The 180 degree rule (as shown here) is something we had to stick to throughout the film, with the person filming staying in front of the two actors, especially during the dialogue. We used this rule throughout, but moved the positioning of the camera man ever so slightly so that both actors weren't in shot all the time, paying particular attention to when they took turns to speak.
As you can see, when focusing on one person, the other is only slightly in shot. This makes it easier for the audience to concentrate, and the shot is much less crowded this way, something we tried to avoid.
To edit, we used 'Premiere Pro', a programme only one of the group had used before. Alice (who had used it before) showed us the basics before we all had a go at editing. What I personally found the hardest was getting to grips with how the programme worked i.e. how to import clips, but I think once I had been told it became easy. The only major problems we had were trying to get the music onto the clip (after deleting the background sound) and the media being 'offline' every time we logged onto the computer. This was a difficulty I do not directly associate with the programme, but rather with the computer. My editing skills have definitely improved, before they were virtually non existent as I have had no experience with editing film clips. Next time I edit, I will use a soundtrack, which will help add to the mood of the film, and will also make sure to add several more underscores, as in this film they are only included during the opening of a gate and during the dialogue, and it is easy to identify such a lack of sound. When we come to edit our thrillers, I think we will all find the process much quicker as we have all had a go at it and know how the programme works, I feel much more confident about it when reflecting on it. Something I would do next time would be to remember to render the entire work area as it compresses it and would make it quicker and easier to upload to Youtube. The editing process didn't come without problems but I quite enjoyed it, despite the problems that accompanied it..
As I have mentioned before, we used a variety of shot types, some of them we had never tried out before. I think there were failures as well as successes in the shots we did use for the final cut, but this just be to personal taste rather than the quality of the individual shot.
Wide shot of Ali - we wanted the doors to be in the centre so that there was symmetry in the direction both Ali and Alice walked.
When looking closely at the stills of shots, you can see the angle has shifted slightly, and is therefore not completely the same or symmetrical. This was due to us not being able to borrow a tripod, something we will now make sure we have for the filming of our thriller.
I initially thought this was quite a nice wide shot of Alice, but we wanted the door to completely frame her walking through, and you can't see the top of the doorway so doesn't look as clean.
This long shot of Ali is one of my favourite shots of the whole film. The lighting is just right, and the pews and door create a great centre so the focus is completely on him. The diegetic lighting from the stained glass windows, and the light from the lamps (diegetic if you look very carefully) gives off a hair light. The only problem with this shot would be the man sitting watching in the background, people in shots are a sometimes unavoidable problem when shooting in public.
The time of day in which we were shooting ( approximately 2-4.30 pm) meant that the sun wasn't too strong and there wasn't much danger of shots being underexposed, but if we had shot any later they would have become underexposed (which they almost did towards the end of shooting). The setting also proved difficult to get the right lighting for some shots, because there isn't that much electricity there or alternate lighting source other than candles or windows, especially in the more enclosed parts of the cathedral. Perhaps filming slightly earlier in the day for some shots, and then waiting to film others would have created a better effect, but could also interfere with the continuity of the piece as a whole. Something else we could have tried was bringing our own artificial lighting to use which would have acted as a stronger light source, and also a more directional backlight, but again this would have proved tricky- hard to carry on the bus and also would draw attention to ourselves even more and could involve the relocation of lights. I would also be slightly concerned about the altering of light temperatures if we were to do this, as it would interfere with the natural light already present.
In conclusion, from this task I have not only learnt how to edit but have also become more confident when editing. The filming of the task proved quite tricky, but it was also something I enjoyed thoroughly. From this I have also taken advice on what to do/not to do next time we film, whether this be in the planning, filming or editing of our thriller.
Well done for thoroughly evaluating your film. You refer to specific shots and include screen shots so we know what you're writing about. Targets: 1. One of the problems with your film was it seemed like a documentary - you need to write about this in your evaluation. 2. Work on the structure of your evaluation - as discussed in class.
ReplyDelete