Filming Day Two

Today, we decided to film the scenes where the actors were not required. This included the drone shots, which we needed help filming (by an outside source who owned the drone) and the kill scene during the night.

The drone shots were simple to do and the weather was good enough to conduct them. We told the drone pilot what we wanted and could see the shots he was taking on the screen. We were able to get some good shots of the thick woodland from different angles and one where the drone itself was moving. Each of these were shot in 4K and should be perfect for our final product.

When night fell the group went out to film the kill scene. We decided to use ourselves in the roles so that the identity of the killer was not revealed at the start of the movie. Filming the kill scene has been (and probably will continue to be) the hardest part of our filming so far. The weather was not great so the ground was extremely muddy. Also, we struggled to get enough lighting to shoot the scenes for a while, before we decided to use phone torches and the camera light itself to shoot the scene. This makes it look really artificial, however, this can be rectified during the editing phase using colour correction. It was also very cold, so the amount of filming time was greatly reduced. However, we got the shots that we needed across the main camera and a go-pro. We also got shots of the killer themselves and used some fake blood to try and show our genre very clearly. This went ok, but the shots are not perfect so we may re-film some or use editing to make them look better. However, we got a good amount of footage to work with and if do need to do re-shoots in the near-future we will.

Since we didn't have a lot to shoot, time was managed very well and as a result we, as a group, felt very accomplished with what we had filmed during the day.

Filming Day One

Today we conducted our first filming day. The original plan was to film all of the outdoor woodland scenes today, in Thorndon Country Park and do the indoor (mostly flashback) scenes tomorrow. All of the actors turned up on time and we walked up to the park and filmed a couple of scenes, including; Brain doing work at the bench, Basket-Case taking her pills in the woodland thicket and Jock, Princess and Criminal's scene in the clearing. All of these scenes went well but took longer than expected, meaning that we ran out of time by the end of filming the third scene. So, in a change of plan we decided to film the Basket-Case and Jock flashback tonight and continue filming on other days. Even though the day had ended we had still filmed everything that we needed to, and as a result have some footage to work with.

Our Film's Certification

For our finished film we need to identify a certification that we will suggest to the BBFC. The BBFC analyses a film and certifies it, depending on what is presented in the film. Our film would be a suggested rating of 15, but way be altered to an 18 during the certification process. Whilst our film contains minimal swearing, it does contain a lot of blood and gore (since it is a Horror movie) and also has sexual references and prescription drug use, so the line between 15 and 18 is going to be a blurred one. However, we hope that it will be certified as a 15 because this will allow our target audience to be reached clearly, leading to maximum profit when the film is released.

Role Review

So, before we start our filming we need to review the group's roles during filming. In order for our filming to be successful, each person has to pay close attention to their target area and point out any problems. So, here are the final roles;

Director (Camera-Work) : Leon Bunn

Assistant Director (Shot co-ordination) : Michael Barrett

Prop Assistant (Checking Continuity, Safety, e.t.c) : Connor McMillan

Sound Choreographer (Background Noise Cancellation, Mic Manipulation) : Tom Kelly 

Production Diary 09/12/16

Our Production Storyboard

Drawn Frames For Storyboards

During the storyboarding phase of our planning we have drawn out some storyboards as a group and will later annotate them with everything that we want to have in that particular frame (sound, lighting, costume) alongside a rough drawing of a set plan (where the characters, camera and lights will be). Here are seven key frames from our movie that I have drawn out for use on our storyboards.

Top Left - This is the drone shots that will be shown after the disruption at the beginning of our two minutes. The shot is of a tree line and a setting sun.
Top Right - This frame will be a close up of the broken watch that the killer has stamped on
Bottom Left - This frame is of the whole group standing around a fire, where the flashbacks will occur, showing what has happened that lead them to this point
Bottom Right - This storyboard frame is supposed to represent the four different flashbacks shown in our opening 2 minutes; the Basket-Case taking drugs, the Criminal packing a knife, the Princess using the Jock and Criminal and the Jock being given a roll of money by the Brain.

Top Left- A Close Up of the Killer holding a bloody hammer after the first blow on their victim

Top Right - Disrupted Birds taking flight after a scream is heard

Bottom Left - Low Angle of the killer raising the hammer to murder their victim 

Mise-En-Scene in Necro5is

Representation Of Locations and Characters in Necro5is

Pitch / Story-Arc Video Review

This is a video, filmed by our Media teacher Ms Mayhew, that details our story-arc. Once we have finished going through it we are asked a couple of questions about both the story itself and the filming process (like some of the shots we are going to take and what effect that will create). The aim of this task was to see if we are confident with our current ideas and the way we are going to document them in our opening two minutes and in my personal opinion I think it went well.

Our Production Story Arc

Drone Test Footage

This video is a compilation of some of the shots that we got whilst testing out the drone. The drone is a DJI Phantom 4. It was interesting to see exactly how the drone worked and the extremely cool footage it could capture. In our final production we will be using some of the shots we captured on this day in our opening credit sequence, just because of how good they looked. Capturing footage with the drone was a new exprience and is one we can hopefully take further in future productions.

Test Footage

The test footage aspect of our planning is supposed to show what camera angles and techniques we can use in our final product, and to see if we can pull off all of the shots that we want during our final production. We went out today to get some footage, using my Iphone 6S. We tried a variety of shots and movement, all of which are shown below.

This is a close up of the subjects face. The aim of a close up is to show the emotion, through facial expressions, or to emphasise something they are saying or doing. Close-ups can also be used to show off a certain prop in vivid detail, because it has an importance to the story and/or scene.

This is a high angle shot, where the camera is placed above the subject and pointed down. It connotes the idea of power, as the camera is on a higher level than the subject. It could also present the idea of the subject being vulnerable or scared, as they are being loomed over.

This is a low angle shot, where the camera is placed on a lower point to the subject and is angled upwards.This makes the subject look very large, strong and powerful; due to the way that it stands tall above the camera and by extension the audience. High angles can also be used to represent someone on the ground.

This is a long shot, where the camera is placed quite a way away from the subject, so that they are shown in their entirety. For this example, we can see the characters whole body as he walks away. It is a way of focusing on the subject but also showing the whole of their surroundings.

This is an over-the-shoulder shot, where the camera is seemingly placed on the character's shoulder and is looking down past the side of their face. This shows what the character is doing with their hands as the focus point, in this case he is turning on his phone. It can also be used during a shot-reverse-shot dialogue between two characters.

This is a POV shot, where the camera is seemingly placed on the character's head and the view is what they see from their own eyes. I also incorporated shaky cam into this, which is something that is also used frequently when doing POV. The use of a POV shot could convey the ideas of fear, as though a character is running away from something.

This is a Mid-Shot, where the subject is framed so half of their body is shown. This can show the audience their costume, facial expressions or body language. It is the most common type of shot as it doesn't have any connotations, so where it can be used is almost limitless. However, it is a pretty simple and 'boring' shot, so using other ones is much more effective.

This is a worms-eye view, where the camera is placed on the floor and is angled up at the subject, making them look massive and towering. This shot gives off a very uneasy feeling, as you cannot see the whole of the subject and they are looming over you ominously. It can also be used as a sort of POV from someone who is laying on the ground.

This is an Extreme Long Shot, where the subject is extremely far away from the camera. It aims to make the subject look small, or to set the scene for what is about to happen. It will usually show an exterior/outside shot, as you don't tend to be extremely far away from a subject whilst in a building.


This is a canted angle, where the camera is placed on a slant in relation to the subject. The aim of this angle is to create an aura of disorientation, as you wouldn't normally be looking at something from this disjointed angle. It can also be used to portray unease or intoxication, due to the way the camera is tilted unlike a real-life, 'normal' viewpoint.


This is a zoom shot, where the camera is stationary but the lens is zoomed inwards, magnifying the subject, or outwards, making them look smaller. This can be used as a transition, or as a quick camera shot that draws attention to the subject in a disjointed way. Zooming can also be done at different paces, slowly or fastly, each with their own connotations.

This is a tracking shot, where the camera follows a moving subject. These shots will often be filmed on a dolly, a camera mount that moves. They are used to add motion to a scene and to prevent the subject from leaving the frame as they walk out of it. A tracking shot can be used in any situation, for example high paced action or a really tense scene.

This is a bird's-eye-view, taken from a drone. It is where the camera is situated high above the subjects and aimed down towards the ground, as though it is a bird looking down. They will often be taken using cranes or drones. They are often used during an establishing shot, or as a way of showing that the characters are in the sky, like in an aeroplane.

Opening 2 Minutes Script

**Scene 2 will be the drone shots, hence why it has been removed here**

Final Film Name : Necro5is

After brainstorming film names as a group and consulting our teaching as to which she thought were effective we have come to a decision on our final film name; Necro5is.

We chose the name Necro5is because of its connotations and the way that it links to the plot of our film. Firstly, we took inspiration from the title of Se7en, which includes a number in the name that links to the movie itself (as it is based on the seven deadly sins). We decided to implement this idea into our film, using the number 5 due to the fact that there are 5 main characters in our film. In order to find a good name, we looked at synonyms for the word death, since that is a key theme presented in our movie. We found the word Necrosis, which has the definition of; the death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue, due to injury or failure of the blood supply. This idea is applicable to our film because since we are doing a slasher, the majority of deaths in this film will be related to injury and blood loss, causing Necrosis. Whilst the links to our movie are a little far-fetched, I think the ambiguity of the name will make it effective.

Film Name Ideas

Coming up with a name for our film has been one of the hardest tasks in the whole of the Production Planning stage. What we decided to do, as a group, was to construct a spider diagram of all of the ideas that we had. When choosing a name we wanted it to be catchy and short, preferably one or two words. Also, we wanted a sense of ambiguity to be included alongside the name, so that from the very start of hearing about the film, the audience is interested. However, the name has to link with our movie and the plot it would follow (even if this is in a very far-fetched way).The spider-diagram below is colour coded with the purple text being the ideas for names and the blue text being very simple reasoning behind the name, its definition and/or its connotations. The red circle represents which idea the group is most likely to go with at this point; that being Necrosis. However, another name that we considered was Mortality, but it seemed to be too simple to be effective. Despite this, we may decide that whilst Necrosis is our favourite, the meaning behind it may be too unobvious for our target audience, so we may change it. this decision will be highlighted in my Final Film Name post.

Risk Assessment

Final Location Scouting and Explanation (Thorndon Country Park)

In this video, myself and Michael Barrett discuss our chosen locations for each scene of our opening 2 minutes that will be filmed in the woodland and our reasoning behind each decision. The locations are all within Thorndon Country Park (the other locations being focused on in another video). The reason behind this decision is that the park offers a variety of different environments, from thick woodland to open fields and is also extremely close to where all the cast and crew live.

Production Diary 11/11/16

Costume In Our Film Opening

Here is our group's costume mood board. It depicts some of our brainstormed ideas for our five main characters and the killer. Going through some of those ideas, firstly we have the attractive woman character who will wear a dress (perhaps in a red colour to add more connotation to the scenes she is in) and will have straight hair. Her character is stylish and attractive, which is why she is the obvious love interest for the males. The other female character, that of which is emotionally unstable, will have more messy hair and will dress like an 'emo' with black clothes and ripped jeans. There are 3 male characters, each of which will wear clothing that will reflect their personalities. The first is the more chavvy character, that will wear either tracksuit or skate clothing. The second character is the more posh intellectual one, who will wear either smart casual, a full suit or a shirt and waistcoat. Also they will wear glasses. Finally is the more 'normal' character who will just wear casual clothing that fits their age group. The things we brainstormed for the killer was a mask that is easily memorable, but not copied from another film or form of media and maybe a 'hillbilly' outfit, however due to where our film is set this may not be appropriate.

Lighting In Our Film Opening

Final Casting Decision

For our production, we have auditioned multiple people for the five different roles that our opening two minutes will contain. After looking over the auditions and analysing who fits which part best we have come to a conclusion for our Final casting. That conclusion is;

Debbie Millyard as The Princess
Charlotte Johnson as The Basket-Case
Luke Adams as The Brain
Joe Butcher as The Criminal
and Harry Taylor as The Jock

These are our cast members that will appear in our finished product. We have also decided on filming dates with all the cast and crew, which will be in the latter part of December.

Auditions For Jock

For the role of Jock we auditioned two people; Harry Taylor and Joe Butcher. Same as the other auditions, they had to learn the line and then perform it to the camera. I think the casting of Jock was the hardest for us as we didn't have a lot of selection and the line itself wasn't a good showcase of the character, as we didn't add any stage directions, however, the line itself does summarise the Jock's insecurities. For this part we were looking for someone who is comfortable in front of a camera and can act in a way similar to the Jock himself, insecure about the way they have to act 'cool' in front of people.



The casting element itself was quite easy as we had already chosen to cast Joe Butcher as the criminal character, which fit him much better. However, he still put on a good performance for this audition. Harry had to once again read from the script but this may be due to the rushed nature of his audition. Despite this he was able to show the insecurities of his character due to the long emotional pauses he takes whilst reading the lines. This is why we chose to cast Harry Taylor as the Jock.

Auditions For Princess

For the role of Princess we once again auditioned three people; Debbie Milliard, Charlotte Johnson and Cailin Brisbourne. They had to learn the already selected line, that of which would convey what it will be like to play this particular character. The things we were looking for were that; the applicant could add emotion and their own flare to the lines, could simulate the sarcastic nature of the  Princess character and were comfortable in front of a camera.



For the part of Princess we decided to cast Debbie Millyard. We made this decision because her audition was extremely impressive, due to the fact that she is a drama student. She was also excited to be a part of our project, which is a very key factor to have and was easily negotiated into coming to the 3 filming days. Whilst Charlotte was also good, she did audition for another role which we thought she was more suited to. Cailin wasn't able to commit to the filming days even if she had been cast due to being in another group, so Debbie was the most suitable person to cast.

Auditions For Criminal

For the role of Criminal we auditioned three people; Joe Butcher, Harry Taylor and Michael Barrett. Each candidate was given a line to re-enact that would resemble their characters stereotypes. For this part we used a stage direction asking for the candidate to be suppressing anger and included a swear word in order to convey that the Criminal is both easily agitated and does not pay attention to any rules. Also, his drinking problem is highlighted as he uses the words 'need' and 'drink'. What we were looking for from the candidates was that they could fake the emotion of anger on film, did not struggle with any lines and were comfortable in front of a camera.




Once we had seen all three candidates for the part we made the decision to cast Joe Butcher. This is because he seemed very comfortable in the role and was able to convey the feeling of deep-seated anger to us and the camera. On the other hand, Michael Barrett was not professional enough and was not able to complete the audition without laughing whilst Harry Taylor was good at acting but had to read his lines from the paper, which painted Joe as the model candidate.

Auditions For Brain

The casting stage for the part of the Brain was one of the hardest ones to find people to audition for. The basis of the character of Brain is that he is a very intellectual individual that doesn't really partake in the 'normal' acts that people his age take; like drinking, smoking and having a relationship. We wanted to reflect this in the way our cast member would look and act and as a result people didn't want to audition for the part. However, we eventually found two candidates; Luke Adams and Tom Ryan. During their audition they were tasked with learning the line (which included intellectually challenging words to reflect the speech of Brain himself). In our candidates we were looking for someone that could learn these lines and dramatise them in a way that is suitable for the character.



For the part of Brain we decided to cast Luke Adams. This is because the other candidate, Tom Ryan, failed to take the audition seriously and struggled to learn the line, an obstacle that due to time restrictions we are not able to work around. Alongside this, Luke put on a convincing performance and even when he made errors in the lines he carried on without a pause, which is very good for our production.

Auditions For Basket-Case

For the part of Basket-Case we auditioned three people; Charlotte Johnson, Debbie Millyard and Claudia Messenger. The aim of the audition was to learn the line and 'act' it out, with large amounts of emotion. This is because the character of Basket-Case is very emotionally unstable and as a result will be showing severe outbreaks of anger and sadness in the movie. The line itself conveys this perfectly, alongside the character's backstory for our film. What we wanted to see from the applicants was comfort in front of the camera, the ability to learn and reenact a line and the dramatic talent to show what the character's mental state is like.



After the auditions we decided that we would cast Charlotte Johnson for the role of Basket-Case. This is because her audition was outstanding and she met all the criteria for the character. Her audition was emotive and she added her own flair with the sharp intakes of breath before certain words. This took our group aback, so the decision to cast her was an easy one. Along with this, Debbie Millyard had already been cast in the role of the Princess and Claudia Messenger has commitments with another group so couldn't have taken the part anyway.

Script For Auditions

Above is our script for our auditions. As shown, there are 5 different lines, each one attached to a each character. We asked for our applicants to read from their line, and to pay attention to the stage directions shown in bold. Most of the script was written ourselves, but the Basket Case one is a monologue used widely to audition character types similar to that of what we were looking for. The lines used are aimed to represent the characters they are attached to and the stereotypes they will show in our film. For example, the Basket-case is very emotionally unstable (shown from the 'close to tears' stage direction). We did this because our applicants need to get used to how the characters will speak and act, in order for our film to be as professional as possible.

A Note On Character Titles

At this point in time, our group has not decided on names for each of our characters. As a result, in order for them to be referenced in our work, we have given each character a code-name based on their personalities and character archetypes. As one of our favourite films (and one of the two that we studied for GCSE) is the Breakfast Club, we haved used the names focused on in this as our 'code-names'.

Those names are, the Brain, the Princess, the Basket-Case, the Criminal and the Jock. Each one of these characters stereotypes will be detailed in later posts and there will be a separate post when the characters are given their actual names.

Production Diary 05/11/16

As of this moment in time, we have made steady progress in the planning phase for our film. We have produced 5 logos for our production company and as a result have also agreed on a final one. To take this further, we have also animated the final logo for use in our opening 2 minutes. We have also finalised the story development for our film, deciding exactly what we want to happen in the opening 2 minutes. Finally, we have produced equipment, prop and crew lists that will have to be used during our filming to make sure everything runs smoothly and we can capture all of the required footage.

Over the coming weeks, before my next production diary, we need to cast the characters in our film and produce a monologue for them to read from and then summarise our selection. Then we need to do some location scouting and spinning off this, we need to produce a risk assessment in order to iron out any problems. Finally, we need to think up some ideas for our film's name.

Crew List

Props List

Equipment List

Opening Scene Final Plot

Horror Film Opening Pitch - Conor

">

Horror Film Opening Pitch - Tom

Horror Film Opening Pitch : Michael

My Pitch

Plot:
A group of teenagers get lost in a woods when they approach an old house, thinking that the house is abandoned they attempt to enter. On entry they encounter a man running down the stairs and out of a window on the other side of the house to them. Before proceeding to find out what the man was running from the jock goes forward first to check if the house was safe. Finding nothing the group go upstairs, finding a locked room which they soon discover what the man was running from.

Characters:
Stereotypical teenage group:

-        Jock

-        Princess

-        Geek

-        Weird one (basket case)

-        Criminal

Mysterious guy: much older-looking man from the teenagers.

Structure:

-        The teens see the house from a distance in the woods.

-        Approaching making jokes about the house, what’s possibly inside.

-        Getting up to the house, more cautious.

-        Entering the house, the man runs out, tone changes.

-        Jock goes ahead leaving the group near the door that they entered.

-        Jock comes back finding nothing.

-        The group go upstairs again, making jokes but all clearly nervous.

-        Geek notices locked door.

-        Criminal knocks door through and we see shock on all other character’s faces.

Horror Film Opening Pitch : Leon

Final Production Company Logo Design

This is our Final Production Company Logo Design, created by Michael Barrett. We chose to use a red and black background because, whilst simple, the colouring is both effective and also provides links to the type of movies our company will make, which are horror. The design itself is set on a black background, in order to make the text and the eyeball pop-out when the logo is being viewed. The text is bold but also holds a sort of deterioration effect, as though it is cracked and rotting away. This adds texture and connotations to the words that the audience can reflect upon. The key part of the logo is the red eyeball, which is set to the left of the words Moral Panic. This eyeball aims to show that the audience is watching the movie/trailer/tv program that we have created and also that we are watching them as a company. This aims to be unsettling, as though the audience is always being watched by an unknown entity. We will animate the logo so that the red text will flash and the eye will blink, showing that it is alive and not just an eyeball. This animation will make our production company logo more interesting and suitable for a moving image format.

Production Company Logo Animation

This is our Production Company Logo, after it has been animated for usage at the very start of our film opening. It shows the already created logo, but with the incorporated blinking eye that was detailed in my last post about the logo. We also added music, that of which is Royalty Free and will be detailed in our Soundtrack post. This whole clip is what we will be using in our final product. This clip will jump into the start of our film, where a character is being chased through the woods.

Production Company Logo Generation

Final Institution Name

Our final institution name is; Moral Panic Productions.

The idea for this name came from the definition of the 'Moral Panic' part of the name itself, meaning an instance of public anxiety that is directly linked to something that goes against the morals of society. In essence, this is a fear created from something that goes against someone's morals. For example, if someone committed murder, they would be seen as immoral in the eyes of society, and would inspire fear in people that someone could do such an act. This definition links to our company's ethics as we are creating movies under the horror genre, but at the same time to not entice anyone to follow the ethic's shown in our films, hence why we will refer to ourselves as Moral Panic. However, it could also be seen as a simple connotation of fear, which is the way in which the audience will feel when they watch our movies. Along with this, the name itself is original and ambiguous, meaning that it sounds far more professional.

Despite this company name being our group's favourite from the start, we have also been supported on this decision by our Target Audience (with 38% of votes), that of which we handed questionnaires to, along with our focus group who said that it was the most appropriate name out of the ones we pitched to them. This means that our target audience along with the group that will be our source of key analysis in our production have supported our decision and made it practically unanimous.

Production Diary : 28/10/2016

So, this is my first production diary. At this stage we have completed our outreach steps, this includes our questionnaires given to the target audience (along with the production of results for each of these) and our interview with our focus group. We have decided on a company name; Moral Panic Productions and have decided on an initial pitch for our film opening. From now onwards we need to finish our more practical side of planning, such as casting, storyboards and decisions on props and locations. Hopefully this will be done in the next couple of weeks.

Focus Group Interview

Here is our first interview with our focus group, that of which consists of; Yoli Wallbanks, Jordan Diver, Alex Conolan and Todd Fletcher. During this interview we talked about which of the institution names they most prefered, which pitch they would most like to see come to fruition and we got some information on preferred locations and from this where we could apply this locally. This interview has been very beneficial for our planning stage of our production and has made some of our decisions very clear.

Results wise, from this Focus Group Interview we found out that the preferred institution name was Moral Panic Productions, followed by Phobia Films. The reasoning behind the Moral Panic Productions name was that it contained alliteration and also fit the genre (which was stated as Thriller in the video but we informed the focus group that it was horror before hand so it was just a mistake of speech). The pitch that seemed most appealing to the focus group was my pitch, shown below in the blog, because they stated it was the most interesting and most capable of actually being created. Thorndon Country Park was the location that is the best choice to apply because it is the most fitting geographically due to the thickness of the woodland.

Conventions Of A Horror Movie Questionnaire Results

Institutional Aspects of A Horror Film Questionnaire Results

Target Audience Description

Our target audience consists of people of both genders (male and female) between the ages of 16 - 25. Since our movie will be rated a 15, the slightly younger ages (14-15) will be our secondary audience alongside the slightly older ages (25+). This is because there is always going to be a variation in the age demographics of the people watching movies, no matter how the film is marketed. Our film will contain a mix  of genders (male and female) in order to appeal to the largest audience possible. Since our targeted age is 16-25 years, the majority of our casting will also be of that age range, so that the audience can associate and relate to the characters. Our demographic does not aim at people with children or in a married relationship (due to the fairly low ages of our targeted group). Similarly, it will not focus on a specific religious group or a particular ethnicity so that our reach can be as broad as possible and no prejudices will be created that are linked to our film.

Our audience's category is C2DE, which focuses on the 'lower' side of the income groups but we will also include C1 categorised people in our targeted audience because there will be some level of intellectuality throughout our film. The location of our targeted audience will be in well populated, high income countries; like the USA and the United Kingdom. To whittle this down further, we will aim it at people in more Urban areas so that when a rural theme / setting is shown it is more unfamiliar for those watching it.

Our target audience's purchase/consumption history can be varied in a multitude of ways but they will have had to have enjoyed or purchased a horror movie before because otherwise they will not feel comfortable heading in to a new genre that is widely seen as 'scary'. #

The main role of our target audience is not only to attend the movie but also to help with the marketing or the film (using aspects like Social Media and word of mouth).

Institutional Production Name Ideas

Preliminary Task Evaluation

During the planning stage of our Preliminary Task we wrote a short but detailed script that showed exactly what we wanted to be said and acted by the characters in the scene, scouted locations around the school before deciding on the one we wanted to use and researched the three camera techniques that we needed to use in order to pass the requirements for the Preliminary Task. All of this research and planning is shown in the posts below. This planning allowed us to go into the preliminary task almost fully prepared and gave us a large amount of insight into how our eventual product is going to need to be planned.

During the production stage we made sure to include the three key camera techniques detailed in the brief. The rest of the shots were improvised in order to create an interesting piece that showed off our currently possessed skills. For the Match on Action we made sure to take lots of clips of certain things, like Character 1 opening the door, so that we would be able to show different angles on a singular subject matter and follow the actions that the character is taking.We used a 180 degree angle for most of the scene in order to show how the two characters are facing each-other. Finally we used shot reverse shot during the dialogue in order to not focus on one subject for two long which may bore the viewer.  

The editing stage was rather simple as we already had experience with the software we used (Adobe Premiere Pro). However, we did find that whilst editing we could have used some extra shots that had not been taken; so during our final product we need to film extra shots that may be included, just so they are available to us. 

Preliminary Task Finished Video

Script For Preliminary Task

[Character 1 approaches the door hesitant to open it; he slowly reaches and unlocks the door. Then standing peering into the room before stepping in, walking across the room and sitting on a chair positioned opposite character 2 with a small table between them]

Character 2: *clears throat suggestively* have you got what’s mine?

Character 1: [placing a brief case on the table between them] it’s all there, just like you asked.

Character 2: [opens brief case cautiously. Examining the contents]

Character 1: What?

Character 2: [closes case and places it on the ground next to his chair]

Character 1: [nervously] what about my end of the deal?

Character 2: I’ve got mine, you’ll get yours.

[Cuts to black screen]

Preliminary Task Research

For the video preliminary task we have been asked to film and edit a video piece with 3 key aspects; character 1 must open a door, cross a room and then take a seat opposite character 2 and have a conversation with them. The aim of this task is to show a ‘starting point’ of our media skills- how good we work as a group, our skills when using a camera and our ability to edit together a simple piece of film. The video itself must demonstrate three video techniques; match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. My understanding of these techniques will be shown below;

Match On Action

Match on Action is an editing technique where one shot is cut in by another shot, whilst still following the actions of the subject matter in the first shot. This is used to further the idea of continuity editing – where the viewer of a media text can see that the action on the screen flows continually. Match on Action presents a continuous sense of what is happening on the screen in front of us.

The 180 Degree Rule

The 180⁰ rule is a camera technique where two characters or objects positions are reflected over each other in the same left/right relationship to one another. For example, having two people facing each other on opposite sides of a table, one of the left of the shot and the other on the right. The actions on scene take place in the same 180⁰ angle.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is an editing technique used most often during a conversation. It switches from the two subjects faces during a conversation, in order to represent a natural flow – even though the lines are filmed at different times.