PRELIM EVALUATION

In this task I worked with Thelma. Throughout the whole task we worked together and shared everything between the two of us. When it came to making the storyboard, we did not have time in lesson to finish it, so we were told by the teacher to exchange phone numbers and meet up during the weekend and finish the task together, however this was not possible because I was going away for the weekend, so we arranged to meet up during our free lessons and finish the storyboard. That is what we id and the storyboard was successfully completed, however we could of made some amendments and next time I would take more time on the storyboard because although ours was completed we could of still made it better, because when it actually came to the filming we realised that we should of changed a party of the storyboard.
We used a storyboard to plan our sequence. We thought of each shot separately and we discussed what shots we should use to actually produce the sequence. Once we made the storyboard we realised that we had to make a shooting schedule because we would waste too much time by shooting one shot at a specific setting, then going to the next setting to shoot the other shot and then going back to the setting we were at the beginning to shoot another shot, so with the shooting schedule we decided that we would shoot the first and third shots one after the other, and we would shoot the second shot after doing the first and third shot so that we don’t waste time, then when it comes to editing we could put the shots in order.
For the shooting of the prelim task we used a XH A1 camera to shoot our prelim task. Before we got the chance to shoot our prelim task we were taught by a teacher how to use the camera, she taught us that first we get the tripod out and we fix it to shoulder length, then we get the camera out and we link it with the tripod, then we make sure that the spirit level is correct, so that the ball is inside the circle, this was so that the camera was at a good angle and that when we were filming we would have a straight shot and not wonky ones. We then placed the battery inside the camera, and then we turned the camera on, after that we put the tape into the camera, we then record. By using the cameras I learnt that you have to be very careful with them and I also learnt a lot of functions, such as, it has 3 different places on the camera where you could zoom in and out. It also has 2 places where you could turn it on and off, and many more.
When planning and shooting we had many factors to take in to account, such as timing, if everyone could come at a certain time to shoot the prelim task, we had to search for the location Recce and if it would be ok for us to shoot in that specific area. Once we had the confirmation from the teacher that we were allowed to shoot outside, we realised that because we were shooting outside, people in the school would be walking around the school and therefore they would ruin our shots because we could not shoot with other people there. so we decided to shoot after school where the students would have gone home, even though it was after school there were after school clubs and students were still walking through the school and we had to keep stopping the tape and re-shoot, if I had the chance to do the task again then I would choose another location where we would not get interrupted by other people. When we were shooting we realised that we had a lack of continuity because we had a shot of Rachel with her hand on her face, then we had a shot of Sharon speaking and by the time we had taken the camera back to Rachel her hand was no longer on her face, so this was a lack of continuity and when we realised we had to have another take of the shot.
Overall, our sequence was successful because once we had made all the retakes the film came out well, however if I had the chance to do it again then I would change the location because we are in a school and people move around all over the school and therefore they disrupt our filming.
From completing the prelim task I have learnt that to be a film producer an actress is not as easy as it looks, I have learnt that for everything to go well then you have to work well with your group and manage your time correctly. I have also learnt that you will have to teach your cast everything before it comes to the actual shooting day, so rehearsals, so that when it comes to the shooting day they know what to do and everything goes to plan. Another thing that I have learnt is that although there are some parts that could be done better and although film making is frustrating, when it actually goes well, it could be fun. Our sequence was successful, however we had a jump cut and that was a problem for us, but we made the shot shorter and it made it look natural.
I found that the editing was difficult because it took us a long time and we had many problems. One problem was that the volume didn't work, but then our teacher told us that it would work if we used headphones then it would work, and it did. Another problem was the jump shot at the end of the sequence, we realised that because we had a jump shot first, we went straight to a long shot, and this looked bad. So we trimmed the shot and then this flowed from one shot to another.