1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
My group, 2C, consisted of myself, Philippa Dodi and Sam Szczurek. We brainstormed ideas as a group and came up with the plot for our sequence together. We then split up the tasks to save time, so Philippa drew the storyboard with help from the rest of the group, then I wrote out the shot list while Sam typed up the script. When in production, Sam and Philippa took the acting roles, so I filmed and directed the shots with both of them in, Sam filmed the shots with just Philippa in and Philippa filmed the shots with just Sam in. In post-production, the three of us took turns editing the sequence while the other two helped.
2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try and take into account?
When planning our sequence, we tried to keep things simple and not try to make it too complicated or elaborate. We used the processes of storyboarding, scripting and brainstorming to develop our ideas. This happened during our group's one hour planning session.
Here is our storyboard (click to enlarge):
Here is our shot list (click to enlarge):
Once we came up with the idea and script for our sequence, we found our location and acted it out to make sure it was feasible and to decide where the camera and actors will be positioned. We made sure to take these theories into account:
- Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium - There is an equilibrium with Sam perfectly happy, sitting in his chair, then Philippa comes in and disrupts the equilibrium.
- Principles of Continuity - We followed the 180 degree rule throughout our sequence. We actually filmed a shot that broke the rule, and once in the sequence it didn't flow properly and looked confusing so we decided to remove it. We also used match on action, in particular between the two shots of Philippa sitting down, meaning we edited the two together to make it look like one flowing movement. We also incorporated shot/reverse/shot to film the conversation between the two characters, editing together multiple OTS shots to make the conversation flow.
3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
We used a video camera with a microphone and headphones to check the sound was exactly as we wanted it to be. The microphone allowed us to pick up sound more clearly, especially for the long distant shots. We put the camera on the tripod the whole time, to ensure the shots weren't shaky and that they were level. We then captured and edited our sequence using Adobe Premiere.
4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
The first thing we had to take into account was location, as we had to film in school and we needed a classroom set up to go with our story idea, so we sorted out locations within our class so that our group had the space we wanted. Another important factor was time, as we only had one hour to shoot, so we kept the script short and simple, and didn't put in too many camera positions or complicated shots. We again had the one hour time limit when editing, so we made sure to work efficiently and help each other out so we didn't run out of time. We also didn't try to edit anything too fancily, and kept it simple.
5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I think our sequence was very successful at demonstrating continuity techniques, even though it wasn't particularly original and we didn't take many risks, but that didn't really matter as the point of this task was to show we know the principles of continuity. I think the sequence flows quite well, and nothing looks wrong or confusing to the viewer. This is because we deleted two shots from our sequence during the editing process, as one of them broke the 180 degree rule and one of them didn't quite fit with the match-on-action we wanted, so leaving them in would have made the sequence look wrong. At around 16 seconds in, the sequence does look a bit jolty, as Sam's head moves down then up again quite quickly, so with more time we would have made sure that every shot matched perfectly. I think the OTS shots work very well as shot/reverse/shots, as the conversation looks natural and there aren't really any bits that cut too quickly, and the match-on-action shots when Philippa sits down fit together very well. It probably would have been beneficial if our group had one more member, as the cameraman also had to direct, use the clapperboard and work on sound, which was a little difficult at times, so another person to use the headphones would have been helpful. We also could have made the sequence a bit longer to show a few more continuity techniques.
6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
From this task I have learnt all of the principles of continuity for filming, and have learnt how to use them in practice. I have learnt to always apply these rules, and to think carefully about whether everything makes sense or not, as we could have saved time filming if we hadn't shot those two clips that we later removed because they didn't work. I have also learnt how the camera microphone works, and how to work with sound on set using the headphones.
This learning will be very helpful when shooting and planning my next coursework task, as I will be able to apply all the principles of continuity I have learnt, and also try to incorporate some of the theories I have learnt, such as Todorov's theory of equilibrium. I think I will also be more productive working in a group for the next task, as we now all know how to use the equipment and how to properly start off and end a shot when filming. Using Adobe Premiere to edit the sequence was also a helpful refresh of everything I learnt about how to use it in year 10, so I will be able to start using it properly straight away in the next task, as everything is now fresh in my mind.
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