The purpose of our preliminary task was primarily to practice obeying continuity theory (180-degree rule, 30-degree rule, match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot) as well as practice in pre-production, production and post-production. In our film opening, we had to consider continuity theory alongside all the other considerations that come with a film opening such as style and narrative.
Pre-production
Preliminary Task
Pre-production for our preliminary task was relatively limited compared to our film opening. We had to decide on a genre of film to create a scene from. We also had to consider the audience for the film and create a basic storyboard to make sure we had a variety of shots and that continuity was kept throughout the sequence.
Film Opening
Pre-production was a very big part of our film opening. It was broken down into two sections - research and planning. Our research included finding films with similar aspects to our own idea such as genre, style, narrative and similar characters, settings and events. We also researched different audiences for these films, helping us identify our own target audience. We put this research together into a pitch about our film opening, backed up by our research, which we pitched to our teachers and class. The handout which we gave to the class and spoke about is shown below.
Once our sequence was edited and approved (originally the break up scene was not going to be in our sequence) we created a storyboard so that we could visually see our opening and colour-coded each shot according to framing so that we could see if we had shot variety.
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| An early version of our storyboard |
We then created a shoot board which we took on set to organise our time and shots:
What have I learnt?
As the pre-production stage of our preliminary tasks was much more basic than for our film opening, a lot of the research and planning stage was learnt as I went along. I have learnt to effectively plan a shoot with appropriate time set out for each shot with the use of a shoot board, and how to make sure our sequence has compositional variety and creativity through the use of a storyboard. I have also learned how important it is to research each creative decision we make about our film opening and how it will be received by the audience, using other similar films to back up our conclusions.
Production
Preliminary Task
Due to time restrictions, we only had about 45 minutes to get our shoot done. This meant that we had to be very efficient when shooting, which was good practice for our main shoots, when we had much more footage to shoot and to a higher standard. We were therefore:
- Forced to think about practicality issues that may arise in our real shoot (e.g. weather)
- Able to get some extra practice with the camera
- Able to polish up our acting skills
- Able to practice using our shoot board effectively to handle our very limited time
Film Opening
Our shooting time was much longer and we had 3 weekends to do it. This meant that we had more flexibility in our shoot board timetable. The preliminary task helped us understand the importance of continuity:
180-degree rule
If you place an imaginary line between the two people exchanging dialogue, the camera cannot cross over from one side of this line to the other.
Prelim:
Film Opening:
30-degree rule
The camera must turn through an angle of at least 30-degrees from one shot to another.
Prelim:
Film Opening:
Match-on-action
Two shots that have been shot from different angles are edited together to make the action in each shot look seamless.
Prelim:
Film Opening:
Shot-reverse-shot
The camera cuts from one person speaking to the other person speaking and them back to the first, with the camera moving very little in position, only in angle
Prelim:
Film Opening:
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| Gavin filming some outdoor shots |
What have I learnt?
Through dedicating the preliminary task greatly to the consideration of continuity, I was careful to keep this near the front of my mind when shooting or directing shots. Despite all our efforts, the final ice-cream-crush shot has break of continuity as part of the ice-cream is still on the cone in one shot, and suddenly not on the cone in the next shot. Nevertheless, I learned of the importance of continuity and how drastically it can affect the final outcome of the work.
Post-production
Preliminary Task
Film Opening
Editing our preliminary task meant that basic cutting together was much faster, meaning that we could focus on our titles. Through the activity of editing a (relatively) long piece of work, I feel much more versatile around Premiere Pro and can confidently cut together a sequence effectively.
What have I learnt?
