Looking back a your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full products?
Planning
- Juno Preliminary Task- In the first task, the planning was incredibly limited with no script, limited storyboard and almost no research done for any aspects other than what the video looked like in the original form. Because of this the quality of the film was lowered and the time we spent filming was shorter than expected due to the fact that we had to sort a lot of things out on site as we also had no location planned out. This means that all the shots we formed were in different places at some points and so was inconsistent. We did however create a brief storyboard with timings to aid us when we were out in the field.
- Victorian Echo Preliminary Task- In my second task, I had learnt from the mistakes of my first Prelim task and put further effort into researching ideas and methods to assist us when we were filming. My group and I created the storyboard with extra detail and also wrote down many ideas as to what we wanted from our movie and 'mind-boarded' these together to create what we wanted. We also researched movie posters and editing techniques after filming to try and get the movie looking as good as possible. The script we wrote was however not as detailed as it could have been and only consisted of a few lines which were then improvised in the filming. Furthermore, the research we did on titles was inadequate at best and so the titles used on our movie were also lacking and could have looked better to raise our grade.
- In the actual task however, I expended great effort into researching many different techniques, ideas and tropes to create the movie that I truly wanted to create as director. This research included Titles research, editing techniques, how to create a good storyboard, shot list and many more. This was all to help me when it came to the actual creation, editing and writing up of the many elements of the opening scene. The first two tasks had taught me to plan efficiently and practically to ease everything later on and this is shown by the location planning that we did that meant we did not have to try and find locations on the day.
- Storyboard- As mentioned the storyboard was something that constantly improved throughout the different tasks as the first attempt to create it was hap-hazard but by the end it gave us timings and locations as well as hints as to what would happen in the scene. The storyboard gradually became more intricate and larger as time went on and consisted of multiple pages by the age all with lots of details about the different scenes.
- Shooting schedule - The shot list in the first prelim was created hastily and consisted of almost no information to assist us on the day of filming. In the second Prelim task, I expanded upon it but it did not include any information about location or who would be present. Then in the final task we included the locations we would shoot at as well as whether it was inside or outside, the character used and equipment that would be used. This proved to be a massive help during filming.
- Script- The original script for my Juno Preliminary Task was non-existent and so it was improvised on scene, making filming quite difficult. After this in the next task, I learnt from my mistake and began work on the script early on when we decided what we were doing. This however was still quickly made and consisted of only lines with no stage directions for the actors. Then in the opening scene, we finally created a good script with lines for both extras, main characters collecting them into one script with directions for characters that don't even have lines. This meant that we had excellent direction for everybody while filming.
Individual Planning
Middleman Shooting Schedule:
Shooting Schedule Middle Man
| DAY / DATE | SCENE | INTERIOR/EXTERIOR | SHOT NUMBER/ DESCRIPTION | LOCATION | CHARACTERS | PROPS/SPECIAL EQUIPMENT |
25/11/2015
|
1
|
Exterior
|
Shots 1-5
1 – Black screen
2- mid shot of feet
3- Face close up
4- title sequence shots
5- close up on injuries
|
Baddow road
|
Steve
|
Suit, headphones, Tripod
|
25/11/2015
|
2
|
Exterior
|
Shots 6-8
6- sees people running
7- peeks over crowd
8- standing around
|
Baddow road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
3
|
Exterior
|
Shot 9 – “Did you see his face?”
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras, Children
|
Suit, headphones, Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
4
|
Exterior
|
Shots 10-12
Shot 10- Checks face
Shot 11- Checks injured side
Shot 12- Shot of bloody hand
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Phone, Suit, headphones, Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
5
|
Exterior
|
Shots 13-14
Shot 13- Walks up to body
Shot 14- shakes body
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Suit, headphones, Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
6
|
Exterior
|
Shots 15-16
15- tries to communicate
16-Shakes crowd member
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Suit, , Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
7
|
Exterior
|
Shots 17-18
17- Close up on Steve- Voiceovers
18- Steve thinking
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Suit, Tripod
|
/11/2015
|
8
|
Exterior
|
Shots 19-22
19- Face Zoom
20- Black screen (Heartbeat)
21- Eye
22- High angle
|
Baddow Road
|
Steve, Extras
|
Victorian Echo Prelim Task Script:
This script is for the conversation scene:
Joe: You have lost the child
Ella *screaming* NO i cant have lost it
Joe: Sorry there is nothing we can do but we are here to support you all the way
Ella: I want my child now! *throws chair*
But as you can see this is not enough detail compared to what we did for our opening scene script, what is below.
Opening Scene Script:
I became very familiar with the camera in the first two tasks and so when it came to the final task, I was confident while filming and used many features available on the camera like the gamma. This helped me when we had to have multiple shooting sessions and the settings had to be the same as well but also having the multiple shoot days meant that we could improve some shots that had incorrect lighting or we wanted to collect extra shots. This was an improvement over only the one shoot projects that we did first.
Furthermore, the use of a tripod effectively meant that the shots were much better and research of filming techniques assisted us on the day of filming to try and come up with some unique ideas to better our film.
Editing- Post-Production
This was one of the biggest areas of improvement as when I started I did not have a clue about editing and editing software. The first project was quickly thrown together without deadlines and contained no Foley, warping or titles. This was repeated in the second task with only a few titles that looked out of place in some cases. Then in the final task, I put in serious research into techniques and styles to get the opening scene looking perfect. This meant that by the end of the project, I could confidently use the program and was quickly able to finish of everything and the subtle inequalities within the movie and the sound effects.
