Evaluation of Your Preliminary Production Task

When I was given the task to make a preliminary production I learnt numerous things whilst producing it and I now feel more confident when working in groups to be able to accomplish the task at hand. We had to fulfil certain requirements though such as involving a reverse shot, match on action and the 180° rule. I have learnt during this task how to work a camcorder efficiently and I have tested out different camera shots and angles to find out the best for each situation during the filming. When filming I have learnt to make sure to keep the camera balanced at all points and make sure it is on an even surface to avoid badly framed footage when filming. I have also learnt how to edit the footage using Pinnacle Studies editing program on the computer to create a finished version of the film. This allowed me to cut and manipulate shots up to 1/24 of a second which allowed me to string the different clips together more smoothly. I then added a title to the footage so the audience know what they’re watching and to make it seem more professional. Then I added transitions to the some of the clips to help indicate an end of a scene or to show that some time has passed since the last shot. Finally, I deleted and enhanced some sound on the footage, to help cut out the laughing and make some quiet bits louder but also overlapped footage so that the scene still played but with the sound from another clip, this is known as an L cut. When editing I have also learnt that you must try to keep each clip from being too long as it begins to drag on a bit and bore the audience. I also learnt how to keep the story quick and concise to help keep everyone interested in it.

Some of the important shots which were used are the establishing/extreme long shot which allowed the audience to see the environment and setting which the film takes place, a match on action shot which are different shots put together and seem continuous and then a reverse shot which shows two characters facing opposite ways which gives the sense that they are talking to each other, although they may be in totally different locations (e.g. A phone call).

The things that went well and were a positive attribute during the task were the discussions and the communication between each other to create a script for us to go by, the roles which were set for each of the members and the location which we chose to have as the setting. This allowed us to quickly get into filming and give us more time to record. Things began to slip up though when we actually started filming as we didn’t take a lot of footage and then we began to stop working as much and started messing around slightly because we got a little giddy and started laughing whenever we were recording which wasted some time as well as getting the shots right and the occasional laughing from being filmed. From this we/I learnt that the cameras microphone can pick up all sort of noise fairly easy, thus it needs to be in a controlled environment preferably so that wind noise and other noises will be cancelled out.

Working as a group allowed us to combine ideas together to then choose the most fitting and best piece and combine bits of each idea, creating an overall better production. It also allowed us to have someone manning the camcorder whilst the other 2 acted out the script and then alternated who recorded what part, so it was a whole team effort. As I said before though, the least productive aspects were getting distracted, messing around and laughing at the camera. Although random students wandering around also caused a disturbance to the production. These problems could be sorted if we chose a different time slot to have less chance of students getting involved and also perhaps a quieter area where there will be no outside distractions.

I have learnt a lot of things which will help me improve my AS Coursework production such as the different camera angles and settings used to give certain atmospheric effects, such as being outside in the sun to have a happy feeling. The editing is also another thing I have learnt as now I can edit shots to make a finished film without any continuity errors and how to keep the audience more entertained within the film (keeping the editing sharp with short amount of time before switching shots).

During the process, I was very pleased about learning how to edit my videos to make them seem much better and more entertaining for audiences and myself by experimenting with the different settings (such as a pond outside and then a dark corridor inside the building) and finding out the best configuration for certain shots. I thought the production was enjoyable also and I liked the fact that everyone got involved and worked so easily together during it. I was also a nice change of pace to be given the freedom in lessons to do what we want, which doesn’t happen often. I am pleased about how well I think I did in my role as the ‘cameraman’ as I think I got most of the required shots and clips to make a good production, especially as I didn’t think I would do too well working the camera.

Untitled from Kieran Brooks on Vimeo.

My name is Kieran Brooks and I do A-level Media Studies at BRGS sixth from. This is my blog to show evidence of my research, planning, shooting and editing of my opening to a 2 minute thriller.