Preliminary: First Attempt (Bad)
For our preliminary task we were asked to create a short film which featured the Do's and Don'ts of Media, for example continuity and more importantly the 180 degree rule.
Continuity
Shooting a movie over a period of days, weeks or even months can be a very difficult task - especially when it comes to maintaining continuity. When everything in the shot, scene and movie is consistent, then you've succeeded in maintaining continuity. For example, if an actor picks up a cup with her right hand, the cup has to be in her right hand in the next shot.
Shooting a movie over a period of days, weeks or even months can be a very difficult task - especially when it comes to maintaining continuity. When everything in the shot, scene and movie is consistent, then you've succeeded in maintaining continuity. For example, if an actor picks up a cup with her right hand, the cup has to be in her right hand in the next shot.
The 180 Degree Rule
This rule effectively creates an invisible line that you must stay within when filming any kind of conversation. For example, you’re looking at a scene from the side and you can see the whole scene. If you look at one character, they are on the left hand side of the scene facing right. The other character is on the right side of the scene facing left. When you break the 180 degree line of filming, it looks as though the two characters are both facing the same way!
This rule effectively creates an invisible line that you must stay within when filming any kind of conversation. For example, you’re looking at a scene from the side and you can see the whole scene. If you look at one character, they are on the left hand side of the scene facing right. The other character is on the right side of the scene facing left. When you break the 180 degree line of filming, it looks as though the two characters are both facing the same way!
This can be seen with our first attempt at the Prelim:
As we had not produced a video before, we did not take into account the 180 degree rule and the other do's and don'ts of media (such as continuity). This lead us to create a poor video overall with scenes that featured random unwanted scenes and used shots from angles that made the scene as a whole look unrealistic.
At the beginning of the shot, one of our group members, Tyler can be seen walking out of a set of doors before several unorganised and accidental shots can be seen on screen. Before creating this task we did not have an idea of sequence within a film nor editing techniques and so produced an unpolished and almost messy video.
Additionally, several different errors were made when filming the footage. Camera settings were not adjusted correctly and so the footage looks grainy as well as the white balance being incorrect. Due to this, certain shots looked too bright and were often over or under exposed - making them look unprofessional and uneasy on the eye. We also did not use a shotgun microphone or tripod and so footage was not steady and can made the audience feel nauseous when watching. As we did not use a shotgun microphone instead of the integrated microphone in the camera audio was often overwhelming and we were unable to focus on the details of the two actors speaking.
At the beginning of the shot, one of our group members, Tyler can be seen walking out of a set of doors before several unorganised and accidental shots can be seen on screen. Before creating this task we did not have an idea of sequence within a film nor editing techniques and so produced an unpolished and almost messy video.
Additionally, several different errors were made when filming the footage. Camera settings were not adjusted correctly and so the footage looks grainy as well as the white balance being incorrect. Due to this, certain shots looked too bright and were often over or under exposed - making them look unprofessional and uneasy on the eye. We also did not use a shotgun microphone or tripod and so footage was not steady and can made the audience feel nauseous when watching. As we did not use a shotgun microphone instead of the integrated microphone in the camera audio was often overwhelming and we were unable to focus on the details of the two actors speaking.
Preliminary: Second Attempt (Good)
After reviewing our mistakes that we made with the first attempt we went back and re-shot the footage as well as changing up the narrative slightly in order to make the video easier to follow. We focused on several areas to improve in this: continuity, audio, video and post-production.
To start with we made the most of the noisy situation that we were given when filming by using a shotgun microphone. This allowed us to focus the audio on what was directly in-front of the camera (in this case the actors) and so the dialogue was much louder and clearer than before. After tackling the audio aspect of filming we moved on to fix what was wrong with the footage itself in our first attempt. To start with we obtained a tripod at which we could attach the camera to. This made the footage a lot more stable and also made achieving certain shots easier for us when filming. After this we ensured that settings on the camera were correct for the task given and so resorted to using the intelligent auto feature of the camera. This automatically adjusted everything for us and produced much better results than what we had before. Finally in post production we ensured that all clips flowed and that there were no mistakes when editing everything.
To start with we made the most of the noisy situation that we were given when filming by using a shotgun microphone. This allowed us to focus the audio on what was directly in-front of the camera (in this case the actors) and so the dialogue was much louder and clearer than before. After tackling the audio aspect of filming we moved on to fix what was wrong with the footage itself in our first attempt. To start with we obtained a tripod at which we could attach the camera to. This made the footage a lot more stable and also made achieving certain shots easier for us when filming. After this we ensured that settings on the camera were correct for the task given and so resorted to using the intelligent auto feature of the camera. This automatically adjusted everything for us and produced much better results than what we had before. Finally in post production we ensured that all clips flowed and that there were no mistakes when editing everything.