Planning - Preliminary Task - Ms Begum

Preliminary Task

Intro:

The Preliminary task is learning how to operate and use a camera. I gained experience and had a first feel on how to operate a camera. I captured different cinematography, Including angles, sizes and movements. This had helped me gain significant experience before shooting my actual film. the preliminary task was significant to do because it gave us an idea about who in our group was and wasn't comfortable behind the camera. Another factor which makes the preliminary task important is that it make us familiar with the editing stage in which we edited our footage.



What took place in our footage:

 We chose to base the preliminary task on a student in school who was trying to get away and hide from a bully.  In a group we discussed how the actor should feel and how he should act throughout the preliminary and we agreed on the actor which was being Kay feeling frightened and wanted to get away as far as possible. In which it also included dialogue in which he was talking to himself and questioning what he should do. We also acknowledged that there would be a variety of editing techniques in which we could add to the footage.

What we learned:

The preliminary task had taught us a number of essentials that we had to consider for our own footage. The first thing was that we were familiar with after the preliminary task was the different shots and effects that they had. As shown in the example, we had used a high angle shot to portray the actor as being defenceless and weak. In which we understood that this would imply that character as being the victim in the scene. Another shot we put into practise was the Poing Of View shot. This was where the victim character was walking in the corridor with steady steps anxious about being spotted. Therefore we learnt that the Point Of View shot could be conventional to use in our thriller specific opening. 

Another factor that we had learned from the preliminary task was that we should always film extra footage. This was because that the more footage we had increases the chances of having a better end product. Moreover in the editing stage some irrelevant parts in scenes get edited and deleted so we should be completely sure that the amount of footage is enough to use.

Difficulties:

There were some aspects of the preliminary task that we found challenging. A factor that we found difficult was the relationship between the character that’s acting and camera operator. At times the camera operator would start the scene too late or early, or the character would respond too late or too early which resulted in taking the scene again. However, after couple of times this did not occur as the relationship between the operator and the actor improved.

Next factor that we found challenging was the external factors such as people that were not part of the footage crossing the scene. We had to be patient and had to concentrate on timing while taking the shots, this was because we done the preliminary task in school. This problem would not have much relevance to our actual footage because when we take our actual footage it would be planned and we would make sure that these external factors would not have an impact on it.

After we took the footage:

After filming we had to edit our shots. We had used the ‘Final cut pro’ programme to do so. As this was our first feel on editing, as a group we had face some problems such as getting used to using the programme as well as the mac. However, out of our group the role of the editor was shared between me and Kay because were able to use the programme. Moreover, we also determined the camera operator as being Jessica because she was the best skilled member of the group during filming the footage.

Conclusion:

This task has been essential in creating my actual thriller because of a number of reasons. Most importantly it made me aware of what we had to do and the steps we had to go through to make our footage successful. Furthermore it made me aware of the cinematography techniques that we could use to make a conventional thriller such as the high angle shots and the Point Of View shots. We were also able to determined the role of who the editor and the camera operator would be within our group. The task also enhanced our group work and the relationship between all the members in our group because it made us aware of our strengths and weaknesses within the group