Natasha Ball Preliminary Task Write Up

Preliminary Task Write Up Our preliminary task was that we were set off on the challenge of filming a short clip of two characters having a conversation this was our project and was right at the top of our checklist as we in a way revolved our project around it. We also had to include a character walking and preferably a close up of their shoes and lastly we had to shoot the character opening a door. These were all aspects that we had looked at in class in previous clips like coffee and cigarettes for the conversation.

Planning/rehearsal To prepare for filming our preliminary task we had to do quite a good amount of planning before we were allowed to go out and film our pieces. This was so we knew what we were doing and also where we were going to film it, so what area of the school we were going to film it in. It was also to ensure we knew where the cameras were going to be placed. For this we created a floor plan to quickly map out the area we were going to film in so we could figure out where we were going to place the cameras accurately with this in mind we also had to think about the 180 degree rule when having a conversation because we wanted to stick to the rule and make our piece flow nicely. When we were rehearsing we go one person to stand where we were planning to film and then the other 2 people stood behind the camera to make sure that when filming we had plenty of head room and also nose room this was to ensure that everyone was in the frame. When the other 2 people stood by the camera we also found the right angle and position for the camera and ran through the scene not recording but with the cinematographer looking at the screen to check if everything was in the right place. We were encouraged to do all the pieces of planning like making a storyboard so we could see what scenes were going to be shot and where we needed to be for the scene to be shot. We were also encouraged to make a floorplan to position our cameras and the type of shot we needed to use and also the angle of our shot/ I think planning was useful because it made us think about the choices we were making and what effect that would create in the short piece.

I think it would be useful to plan the editing before we edited the piece so we knew what to crop or cut or even not use because the camera work was bad.

Techniques In our project we used a variety of techniques to improve our piece and in class we watched clips like 'house of cards' and also 'Coffee and Cigarettes'. Coffee and cigarettes demonstrated the use of the 180 degree rule in a conversation which then displayed to us what the 1800 degree rule was and how to use it without breaking the rule and having our piece not flow very nicely. We used the rule of thirds to attempt to demonstrate hierarchy between Mister Kipps and Sam and also to display the hostility between the two characters. We also shot a wide amount of different camera angles like over the shoulder angles, mid shots and long shots. The long shots was to show the emptiness and the harshness of the surroundings. We also made sure the characters had head room so that they were in frame and the audience could see the background and also the same for lead room it gives the audience a sense of the background. We also tried to use focus pull on the scene with our shoes but found this quite difficult trying to get it to the right speed. We tried to use this to show hierarchy between the characters and also to show that 'Sam' is always in the background of important matters and that no one really wants or notices him there. In editing we faded to black at the end and we colour corrected it so that the whole piece was in black and white.

We thought that this made the piece look slightly darker and also give it a certain edge and also the feeling of a certain bleakness of the surroundings.

Learning Points In this project I learnt how to film certain scenes and also how much planning is involved in making a short piece and being cautious about why we use different techniques and what effect on the audience they have.