Preliminary Task Evaluation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrmahtRXnaQ&safe=active

Hello-AGAIN, Mr/Ms Examiner-Person!

Preliminary Task

The first item on our project checklist was to film and edit our preliminary task. We weren't getting marked for it but it was mandatory and we would loose marks off of our overall project if it wasn't done and completed in time (hence why this is the first blog that I'm writing). 

Filming the actual footage was fairly easy, just a matter of picking locations and following a script already written. Carolina was our chosen 'A' and Sam was our chosen 'B' (I was fairly certain about staying behind the camera for filming this one). We stuck to our editing tip from Sir of waiting 5 seconds before and after we've completed our shot  and it really helped when it came to editing because we had extended time to shorten shots and make changes. Once we'd completed our filming, we took our footage back to the huts and plugged the camera into the computer - Macs, I've come to find, are a NIGHTMARE to use and I'm still trying to adapt (Windows girl at heart <3). 

Editing went well as we had a sheet to guide us and we'd had prior practise when filming our Red-Riding-Hood film sequence. We were succinct and attentive to the changes we wanted to make and when done, presented our work to Mr Roberts. 

Our feedback was fairly positive. Mr Roberts complimented our reverse shots, arguing that they were smooth and looked natural on camera. Naturally we were chuffed, but on referring back to our sheet, we learned we'd neglected to do a over-the-shoulder shot on step 4 so we re-filmed and added it to the footage. 

What we were criticised for was our mistake of crossing the 180' degree line twice during our task. We didn't understand where we'd go wrong and I didn't follow what the 180' line was about but we asked Sir and he explained that you have to film on one side of the line at a time otherwise the characters in different shots look like they are facing in the other direction and it throws the whole shot off. 

We didn't make the improvement on the task purely because we weren't being marked for it and it was evidence we can refer back to later when filming so that we don't make the same mistakes when it counts.






Another thing we realised we need to work on is our use of light because, in retrospect, a lot of our shots were dark and obscure the image - and since we want to mimic the bright and cheery feel of the Legally Blonde opening sequence in our own piece, light is a technique we are going to have to improve on.

In conclusion, I found that we followed the task fairly well and found it really useful because we learnt what aspects of filming and editing we need to improve on e.g. use of light and crossing of 180' degree line, and now that we've been made aware of it, we can focus on making sure we don't make a repeat of it later. We've also refreshed our memories regarding using the software and I now feel more confident about moving onto the next step in our project!

Pheebs OUT! ;)