Preliminary Task: Self Assessment (Maisie Walker)

Preliminary Self Assessment

Maisie Walker

 

I believe our film had consistent editing throughout the film due to the fact that it did not jump to anything without recognition. In addition, most of the film flowed and it was clear to the audience what was going on. On the other hand the narrative was quite unclear but that was not anything to do with the editing. The slow motion edited into the film gave it a sense of importance as it marked the moment and indicated to the viewer that the character was about to the enter the room. Secondly, in my opinion, the black and white worked quite well as it indicated the mood of the characters (scared, dull and on edge). On the contrary, this could have been improved because the film switched from black and white to normal colour without anything in between therefore it did not flow as well as we would have hoped.

 

We did not follow the brief exactly, this was because we thought it would be more creative to work around the brief and do something similar. Ours consisted of running through a door and falling to the floor, the other character then helps their friend out and they exchange dialogue on the floor. We chose this because Georgia's character (Scarlett) and my character (Jane) are weak and misunderstood therefore putting the characters on the floor would indicate their vulnerability. I thought this was a good idea as the audience were mostly looking over the characters feeling a sense of dominance over the characters. In addition, we didn't follow the brief exactly as it limited how much we could have done with the movie. On the other hand, not following the brief caused us to go off task slightly and we wasted a lot of time showing Scarlett running through the school instead of introducing the technical side of it which were the camera shots and angles.

We have used a match on action within our preliminary film when Scarlett hands the note to Jane to read. This gives the viewer a chance to see what the character before is doing and what the other character is doing after. If we followed the brief exactly, we would have used a match on action if Scarlett walked through the door as you would be able to see Scarlett from behind and then see her as she enters the room. I believe the way we used the match on action was effective as it makes a big deal about the note and sets the viewer up for when Jane opens the letter. It builds suspension and puts the viewer on edge.  A match on action involves showing an action from a character before a cut and then after the cut, the action is picked up from where they left off. For example, if a character throws a ball, it can be edited to introduce two different views of the action. The first shot being the characters throwing the ball and then the second shot of the ball halfway through the air. Match on action shots can only be maintained if continuity is maintained. This means that it only flows if both shots are exactly perfect from where the first shot had left off. For example, when throwing the ball, the characters hand should be in the same position as when they threw it to when the ball is in the air or it wont be effective and will not flow.

We have not used a shot reverse shot within our preliminary film. The only place we could have used it would be when Scarlett and Jane were having their conversation however we did not use it there as we used the 180 degree rule instead. The conversation was very short therefore what I would improve for next time would be making the conversation longer and having less running at the beginning to make the narrative clearer. A shot reverse shot involves two characters for example, in a conversation. The camera starts facing one character whilst they are talking, secondly, the camera then cuts to the second character when they talk. The camera then cuts again to the first character who was originally speaking to show all of the characters speaking. This is effective as it gives the viewer a chance to see each characters facial expressions and body language whilst they are speaking. Next time I will add in the shot reverse shot as it is a vital chance within a conversation to indicate characters expressions.

We have used the 180 degree rule within our preliminary film when Scarlett and Jane are having a conversation on the floor about the letter that Scarlett has received. This is effective as it shows the whole conversation. This particular camera shot shows both character facial expressions in relation to the dialogue and it gives the viewer a chance to see both characters reactions to the conversation instead of just one. I believe this would be better than shot reverse shot as sometimes, if not done properly, it can look rushed and too quick which would not look as a good as a the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule of shooting keeps the camera on one side of the action throughout the scene. The camera must not cross over the axis of the action, if the camera shoots across the axis it may show the viewer that the actors' positions in the scene have been switched.  Throughout the scene the camera does a semi circle motion round the characters constantly staying on one side of the action.

I played the roles of acting, editing and filming. These consisted of editing the film and making sure that all of the camera shots flowed together maintaining continuity. I feel that I did well for editing due to the fact that there were no major parts in the film where it did not make sense therefore I managed to maintain continuity. On the other hand, some parts were quite rushed and the camera cut too quickly therefore it did not flow as well I would have wanted it too. In addition, the black and white parts of the film did not flow when I went straight to the normal colours again therefore that would be something I should work on for next time. My role of acting was not large as the preliminary film was not long however, I thought my performance was very good and I maintained the performance to a good standard throughout. The only thing I should have filmed again would be the part when I smiled slightly when the camera was close to my face. This would be another improvement for next time to make sure that if the performance isn't at its best to film again so it looks realistic. Finally, my role for filming was quite small as well as I shared it with Jack and Josh and I was mainly in the film as an actor. I believe I worked well with the filming as I made sure each shot was to a good standard before moving on, I also gave my input for a lot of the shots. I mainly filmed the parts where Georgia was running through the school, this consisted of using a tripod that was mainly placed on the floor to capture the lower part of Georgia's body keeping her identity a secret until the ending of the preliminary.

I believe I worked hard for the preliminary and I had a large contribution to the group as I constantly gave my input when necessary for help and ideas on how to make the film better. I also completed a lot of the editing for the film, even though there were improvements, it was quite smooth and it flowed well. I also helped a lot for the filming which is also a large aspect to the film. I have learnt that creating a film isn't as easy as it looks and there is a lot of work involved. Additionally, when publishing the film, we had trouble as we took all of our videos off of a removable storage device therefore when it came to publishing the movie, it did not work. This set us behind a few lessons. Even though it was quite a large problem and we had to edit the film again, I have learn from next time to transport all of the files to the computer first before editing. I have also learn that taking too long to start the film can be tedious and may cause the audience to loose interest. This is important as we need the audiences full attention throughout the real task. As a result of this, next time I am going to try and make sure that the film doesn't take so long to start and the narrative is easy to understand. Time management is a key element when creating a film as it can set you back if you do not work to a certain time frame/schedule, because of this, I am going to make sure I allocate time for each task for the main task to make sure my group and I are always on time and not falling behind.