The task was to film a short sequence involving two people. We had a certain storyboard; so we had to follow the script and the shots used.
We filmed in the media editing studio above the school theatre. There were advantages and disadvantages of this location. The room was quite old and dilapidated, which went along with the crime theme of our film. It was a blank canvas, which was a benefit because we had allot to work with and could experiment and not be limited to the background. However, it was quite a small space so it was hard to keep the lights out of the shot. There were other problems with the lights. We had limited lighting and because there was a white background, there was a large shadow on the wall behind the main focus. This was bad because it would show the audience that there was lighting in the room and would also distract from the scene.
I had quite an active role in the filing of the task. I was in a group of three and I filmed the sequence. T-k was the director, so when she said 'stand by', I replied with 'Standing by'. Then, 'roll camera', 'camera rolling'. I helped set up the tripod and adjust it to suit the angle of filming. I set up the camera, made sure the aspect ratio, shutter speed, exposure, decibels and light were correct on the camera and then finally bubbled the tripod. I then did a sound check to make sure the microphone was picking up sound for the film. I filmed the entire sequence and followed the commands of the director. I also thought of some ideas for different shots to make the piece of film more exciting, for example a low angle shot of the sequence. This would be to make the actor who requested the other to steal a brief case to look more threatening and powerful.
We wanted the lighting to match with the set, so we did not want too much harsh lighting. We wanted it to be slightly low key. We used We used two side lights with a downwards angle, this was two light the set so the actors could be seen clearly but also to make the scene seem slightly mysterious. I think the lighting was effective in the task because, the lighting supported the scene. The lighting probably could have been improved because we noticed a slight shadow on the back wall caused by the lighting, but because of the set and lighting available we could not remove this.
We set the camera up as a group and I think we did it in a correct way. We set up the tripod by unclasping the brackets and pulling the tripod upwards so it was at medium height. We then fixed the camera on the tripod by sliding the camera onto the top of the tripod and making sure it was secure, and then turned on the camera. Finally we made sure that the information on the video camera screen was correct. We understood that we had to look for the aspect ratio which was 16:9 and was correct for the shoot. We then looked out for the shutter speed which was 50, which was correct. The exposure was 1.6, which is too bright and would make the mise-en-scene appear white. Therefore I changed this to 2.4 and made sure I kept this constant throughout so it didn't appear as though the lighting had changed. I made sure the decibels was 0 and there was a light bulb which meant that it was shot with artificial light. We also made sure that there was sound being picked up from the camera by doing a sound check.
We made certain that the tripod was level in each shot. We did this by bubbling the tripod, this involves moving the camera on the tripod until the small circle is in the middle of the large circle. We checked the tripod after every cut and bubbled it again if it was necessary. We checked the shot was framed correctly in every shot by having a practise run before the actual shot. Where the actor stood in the frame, we marked it on the floor. If the actor did not stand in this place we did other takes of the same shot until it looked more correctly framed. We also made sure the lighting equipment, our shadows and any other unwanted obstacles were in the shot.
We chose appropriate angles for the shots, which reinforced the subject of the task. We had to follow the certain shots that were on the storyboard. However we used other shots to make the task more exciting. We shot the scene in a low angle shot of the demanding bully type character. This made her seem more powerful and high status. To do this I laid on the floor and held the camera upwards and made sure the character was correctly positioned in the frame. We then shot the other character with a high angle shot, this made her seem powerless and very low status. To do this, I adjusted the tripod so it was at maximum height and then pushed it together, so the tripod was easy to carry. I then held the tripod up and shot the camera on a downwards angle. We used over the shoulder shots of each character, using different distances. This was so you could see the expressions clearly of each character. We shot a long shot from the front, this was for the establishing shot of the scene. We then used close ups on the door opening and closing and the briefcase being picked up and put down. This was to emphasise the entrance and exit of the characters and to show that the briefcase is the center of the scene.
We conformed to the 180 degree rule. This rule is very important. If you imagine a line across the frame, you have to stay to one side of the line and if you cross the line it makes the shot look as if the characters are the opposite way round. We were effective in sticking to this rule and checked if we were crossing the line before we did a take.
I have learned allot during the filming of the preliminary task. I learned the appropriate terminology and I feel my confidence in filming has increased dramatically. I knew how different shots make people look a certain way but this task has made me understand this clearer because it has put these theories into context for me.
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