Preliminary Exercise – Evaluation

This is our finished film, ‘The Fall of Brad’.
Cameraman: Connor Ellis
Tina: Grace Olsson
Brad: Lauren Key

After we finished the film, we showed it to the rest of the class and to our teachers for their comments and constructive criticism.
Our main comments were on the bad sound (which we sadly couldn’t do anything about), and our stupid mistake of filming against a bright window.
We all thought we’d successfully demonstrated the three techniques, but we were told that there ought to be more emphasis on the match on action and that it would’ve been better to include a close up shot, rather than filming it how we did.

Personally, my favourite comment was “I like your hat”… (Thanks Jess)

What went wrong?

• Our planning. We forgot to check which rooms were going to be available for us to film in, which led to us wasting a lot of valuable filming time searching the school for a free room. It also meant the room was not ideal; it was too big, didn’t match the storyboard, and the lighting was awful.
  We had a terrible continuity mistake, although no one noticed when we showed it to the class. We accidentally left a phone on the table after we’d used it to check our storyboards!
  We also didn’t write a prop list, which meant we forgot our only prop, a cup of coffee. Our script instructs that ‘Brad’ walks in with a coffee for Tina. We found a bottle in a display, which had previously been used as a ‘message in a bottle’, so we had to change the line to “I got you a beer”. Since we were clearly filming in school, this was probably inappropriate.
• The cast. Due to last-minute disputes, we had to alter our cast. This resulted in me swapping my role as Tina for a role as Brad, Grace swapping the camera for an acting role as Tina, and Connor becoming our cameraman. This last-minute confusion left us feeling a bit stressed, so we probably didn’t cooperate as well as we could have. Grace and I are certainly not natural actresses, and I think this came across in our scene.
• The lighting. We successfully filmed the first part of our scene, and we were feeling more positive about everything. However, as we moved the camera to film from a different angle, we realised we were filming against a window, which created a silhouette behind Brad… Our lack of planning had limited the amount of time we had, which meant we didn’t have time to do another take or find a new room. The lighting now changes dramatically between shots, which means our shot changes do not flow and they appear disjointed.
  
• The camera movement. Our cameraman attempted to move the camera by hand (00:13), but it appears to jerk, rather than be one fluid movement.
• The quality. The camera was Standard Definition rather than High Definition, which gives the film a very amateur feel.
• The sound. We used the microphone within the camera rather than a separate sound recorder, because none were available, which means the sound is inconsistent and not very good quality. It also picked up background noise, and since we were in a very echoey room, this made the dialogue hard to hear.

On a more positive note, what went right?

• The editing. The editing process was very quick and efficient, and appeared to flow seamlessly between shots. Our match on action shots were fluid and well edited.
• Being able to criticise ourselves. I generally don’t take criticism very well, but during our preliminary exercise, criticism is what helped me to improve and to learn. Every bad comment means a mistake I’ll (hopefully) never make again.
• We met the three techniques… This was the main aim of the preliminary exercise, and despite a comment that our match on action was ‘more like continuity’, I still feel I can understand and apply all three techniques.

How did we meet the three techniques (match on action, 180 degree rule, shot/reverse shot)?

1. I believe we demonstrated match on action twice during our thirty second scene; once as Brad walks through the door, and also when Tina knocks the glass off the table as she gets up to leave. I think these were edited well and flowed seamlessly between shots. Although the glass falling over was initially an accident, we decided to include it in all our other takes and make it part of the scene, to avoid continuity.
     
2. We stuck to the 180 degree rule throughout. The cameraman remains on Brad’s right hand side when he opens the door, and stays within 180 degrees for the rest of the scene, to stop it seeming disjointed.
3. We successfully used the shot/reverse shot technique to show reactions and to show when different characters are speaking. We did this by filming from different angles and editing it afterwards.
   

How will I improve next time?

The most important thing for me to take away from this preliminary exercise is that planning is key! Not only will it help to reduce stress and increase our confidence, it will also make the process flow much quicker. After all the thought and time we put into our storyboards, we didn’t properly stick to them, so next time I will pay more attention to my planning.
In the future I will also want to secure the use of a microphone for filming, as the quality of our sound was truly awful. I’d also like to use a better camera, if possible.
I will definitely ensure that I never film against a bright window; this was undoubtedly our worst mistake in this exercise, because it was not only obvious, it was also easily avoidable.
In a way, I’m glad we made so many mistakes in the preliminary exercise. I hope to learn from these mistakes and do much better in the future!

Preliminary Exercise – Shot List

To make the most of the time we have, we have planned a shot list, so we know which order to film in, and which shots to use.

1. Mid shot. This will be used to show Brad walking up to the room.
2. Establishing shot (tracking shot). An establishing shot will then be used to set the scene, show the location, and show both the characters. It will track to show Brad walk in and sit down.
3. Establishing shot. 
4. Over the shoulder shot. The next three shots are shown as shot/reverse shot, showing each character’s reaction.
5. Over the shoulder shot.
6. Over the shoulder shot (tracking shot).
7. Over the shoulder shot, goes to a close up of Brad’s face.
8. Reaction shot.
9. Extreme close up. This will show Brad’s reaction to the news.
10. Mid shot.
11. Wide shot. In this shot, Tina gets up and walks away.
12. Mid shot. The scene will end with Brad crying on the table.

Shots four to seven are shown as shot/reverse shot.
Match on action is shown when the character walks into the room.
We will demonstrate the 180-degree rule throughout.

Continuity Editing Techniques – Match On Action, 180° Rule, Shot / Reverse Shot

During our preliminary exercise we must be able to demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. This post is an explanation of each of those techniques.

 

 

The 180-degree rule is used to ensure the shots make sense…

The green arc is the only place the camera can be in. It can be in any position within the 180 degrees, but when it enters the red section, the footage would appear to be backwards. The shots done within the green arc would have the man in orange on the left and the man in blue on the left. If the camera crossed over to the other side of the room, the scene would appear to be backwards. In a shot of a single person (if shot/reverse shot was used), it would seem as though both characters were facing the same way. The 180 degree rule makes the editing seamless and helps with continuity.

Match on action is the filming of one action in two shots. For example, opening a door; if the camera was behind a character opening a door, and the next shot showed him walking through it from the front, the positioning of the door would have to be perfect so the shot didn’t ‘jump’. To help explain, I’ve enlisted the help of some ‘Friends’…

Shot / reverse shot is best described using two people. This technique is often used for long conversations between a pair. Usually, the person talking is the one in the shot, but this can also be used for reaction shots.

Person A is shown in the shot. This then skips to show person B in the conversation as they deliver their line. Then back to person A, then person B, then person A, and so on.