One of the key themes we gathered from the preliminary task was the time available to us and how quickly it goes. During the preliminary task I think we under estimated how long it would take to set up all the cameras and to actually film the acting. Prior to the filming we had a clear plan for how long it would take but this didn't take into account the cameras needing charging, setting up the cameras so that it fitted with the 180 degree rule and providing a match on action. In addition we didn't take into account the mistakes, acting wise, that were going to occur and as you can see from earlier on in the blog there were many mistakes that we didn't account for. However I think this was highly beneficial. These mistakes made in the preliminary task pushed us to be more organised, plan when would meet up and how long it would take to film. This became most apparent for the detective scene. The scene itself only took up 55 seconds of the film introduction and yet we gave ourselves 2 hours in the building for us to set everything up, take into account the mistakes made by the actors and then pack everything away. By the end of the filming session it had taken us 1 hour and 50 minutes to film that small section. I think that without the mistakes made in the first task we would have been less experienced and mature when it came to time management. In this evaluation I will be analysing how our use of camera and editing progressed from the preliminary stage to our final product.
One of the most beneficial aspects we took out of the preliminary task was that of the 180 degree rule. Prior to the preliminary task we had no idea that this was a rule. However most conventional film use this in their films. It provides the audience with a smooth transition between shot and makes it appear more believable. Whilst the aim of our main task film introduction was to trick the audience into thinking the antagonist and the victim had some sort of relationship we gathered that 180 degree was important for making a high quality product and instead we used the handheld camera technique to create a sinister mood. In addition we combined the themes of representation and realism in our main task to create a sound foundation for our film introduction. For the scene in which the antagonist is stroking the arm of the victim we can see initially an over the shoulder shot of the victm and then a two shot of the victim and the antagonist, looking down on the bed. Despite our group having a basic knowledge of representation and how mise en scene is important in productions we didn't initially see the importance, for a sense of a realism with you being in the scene, when it came to match on action and thanks to the preliminary task we were able to achieve both. The high angle should looking down at the victim highlighted how inferior she is compared to the antagonist and then in the detective scene this is subverted as the detective, played by Candice Feddis, is at eye level with both the camera and the antagonist. During this scene we had to make sure that we were keeping the camera stationery and still to keep the audience ingaged in our film opening. In addition, keeping up with the theme that it should be simple and easy for the audience to connect with, one of the issues from the preliminary task that we noticed was the pace of it. We tried to slow down the main task by adding in fade to blacks and slower music. This allowed the audience to keep up with the action rather than it being quite staggered.
In addition the progression made by our group in the editing side of things was very much evident. In the preliminary task it became apparent that our editing skills were very basic. Occasional gaps in the sound or lack of cutting down meant the quality of our finished product was relatively poor. However we managed to improve dramatically when it came to the main task. Whilst in the preliminary only Candice Feddis had some knowledge on how to work iMovie, over time the whole group became comfortable with how to work iMovie and that meant more and more ideas were brought to the table on how we could improve our film introduction. As our confidence grew and grew so did the originality of our film. Initially we were sceptical about using music as it appeared hard to implement it into the editing from the preliminary task but soon we gathered it would add a lot to the film, as the audience feeback showed that progression of a thriller should come from sound and visuals as apposed from dialogue. Eventually Katie Finch, a keen pianist, decided to play the piece for our film introduction. Not only did this add to the originality to our film introduction, increasing our USP, but it also made our group feel more attached to the film as it felt our own. To make it easier to watch and to edit as well we thought it be best if we had one long shot of the antagonist walking up the stairs and then him going to the bathroom. Whilst we did this we also slowed down the music in the background so it wouldn't drown out the scene and deter attention away from the action. This is something we struggled with in the preliminary task. In one scene the male actor said 'your such a coward' intentionally in two shots for it to be made into one sentence. However to make it seem smooth in correlation with the rest of the short film the effect didn't work and the whole scene seemed a bit jagged.
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| The group working on the editing of the detective scene. |
The audio file for Katie's music can be seen here...
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