Friday, 27 November 2009

Main Production Summary

For half of our As Level we have to produce a two minute video for the opening scene of a film.
The genre we decided to choose was a thriller, which i personally feel is a good choice as i enjoy this type of film.
My group is made up of three people, me, Megan and Rachael. We decided to alternate the roles of director so that each of us could get a feel for the camera and understand how to create a decent shot.
As a group we decided to name the film 'Trapped' because it fits with the storyline and genre. Our intended audience could range from 16 onwards. Although there is no intended scary parts in the first two minutes, there is a psychological message involved in the movie that older people would find easier to understand.

The plot of the film focusses on a girl who lives a normal teenage life in London. The happy young girl partying with her friends walks home alone one night. Walking down dark roads and alleys she is followed by a man who then kidnaps her. As the story unravels, the audience are given a chance to understand what happens to the girl. By witnessing a series of events and harsh realities of being held captive, the film gives a hard hitting insight of the vulnerability
involved in the lives of young women today.

Priliminary Exercise Video

Here is a copy of our video

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Preliminary Excercise Evaluation

Me and my group produced a short film that included all the basic aspects of filming and editing, including shot reverse shot, match on action and the use of camerawork, mise en scene and sound.
The film had to involve someone opening a door then walking through it and four lines of dialogue between two people. My group consisted of four people including me, Rachael, Rob and Sophie. I took part in the acting with Rob, while Rachael did the filming.

We encountered a few problems when filming as people kept walking down the corridors and through the doors, so it was hard to get an empty shot of just the character. Despite this, the camerawork was steady and all shots were clear and focussed onto the particular character. When exchanging dialogue, there was an issue with the way i was seated, and the over the shoulder shot made Rob looked inferior. To prevent this from happening we could of used a smaller chair for me to sit on.

Throughout the filming we used mostly medium long shots. Apart from when I was walking down the corridor, which was a long shot. We also used close ups, especially on the door opening scene, to emphasise match on action.
We did have difficulty filming some parts mainly because we didn’t have enough room to fit the whole of the frame into a shot. This aside, when editing we didn’t come across many problems with our shots and they came out the way we planned.

The transition stages of our shots run quite smoothly. We use cuts to show the next scenes, and shot reverse shot when the dialogue begins. Although when I walk into the room, the camera could have been higher as all you can see it my legs - this is something to consider when next filming.

Personally I think the shot reverse shot is the best part of the film as it is realistic and runs smoothly throughout. I do think that the dialogue could have been thought through a little bit more specifically, and some parts of the sound is quite quiet.
The lighting was sufficient the whole way through, but the setting could have been better. This was all down to the organisation from our group.

In conclusion, I think our group worked well together. During the editing we came across no major problems, the filming and acting also told the story we wanted it to. Overall, I am happy with the end result, although there were a few things that could have been improved.