Filming Evaluation Questions

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with Emma, Ben and Jamie. Emma and I did most of the camera shots and Ben Jamie were acting and being filmed. Also we all contributed to the different angles and how we should do the shots.


2. How did you plan your short filmed piece? Did you use any other films for your inspiration?
We started by planning out on a piece of paper in the format of a story board with the different shots that we wanted to do. We also thought of a bit of a storyline, so we could structure it better. We used james bond as our inspiration to our story .

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
The technology that we used was a video camera, tripod, mac computers for editing. We used the tripod so we could get a high shot looking down. On the tripod we extended it to its highest point. As we wanted to create a CCTV camera like effect wacthing the scene. Also by doing a high shot it emphasises the intensity of the scene that they were trying to keep things secret. In editing we cut out alot as we took alot of shots so we could then choose which were the best shots to use when editing. We found this to be quite helpful as we werent stuck for choice. We attemped quite a few times to add music to it by making up some on Garage band. But we felt that none of the music worked with what we had a made. So instead we just used the natural sound.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning we had to take into consider the spacing also being able to fit all the shots in. Also we needed to make sure that because there was only two people being filmed that everybody got a chance to have a turn at something. When shooting we needed to take into consideration lighting, this was key as lighting can set an atmosphere. Another important issue that fortuanatley we didnt come across was that we didnt have any back ground noise from any students. Another thing to consider was the 180 degree rule when filming an over the shoulder shot that we didnt cross paths on the other side of filming. When editing we needed to make sure that the shots were smooth almost that you couldnt recongize the different angle change. Also short and dont drag on.

5. Which film conventions does the piece follow? e.g. music, match on action, 180 degree rule, camera work etc
We included 180 degree rule a Close up , extreme close up, mid shot , High Angle shot, long shot.

6. Which does it break?
I dont think we broke any.

7. How did you consider mise en scene? e.g. lighting, camera work, setting, costume, props etc
When we were looking for a place to set it we wanted an empty classroom. We found one down the English corrider. I thought it was perfect as we had the long corridor for him to walk down first and then enter the room. I liked the corridor as its quite an old and dawnting this helped to build the antisipation. The lighing was an advantage as we were able to just have to lights on. So we set up the table under the lights as it gave an iterigation atmosphere. For costume we had Jamie do up all his buttons up on his shirt and comb over his hair whilst wearing glasses. We did this as it portrayed the stereotypical version of an intelligent person with status. There was only one prop used which was the camera bag which we used to be the bag that had the secret in.


8. How did you consider narrative? Is there a sense of a storyline? Can any theorists be applied e.g. Barthes, Todorov, Propp, Levi Strauss
You could include "Barthes" theory.
Actoin code: An extreme close up of the door knob twisting. Which indicates that the next action is the door opening.
Enigma code: When is walking down the corridor is raisies the questions of where is he going? , they also see that he is holding a bag. So another question could be what is in the bag?
Symbolic code: the grey area in this is the bag its getting from one side of the story to the next.
It is hard to inlude propp but if u were to put one charcater as the hero it would be Ben's character and Jamie as the villian. You would not be able to expand on this as there is not any more characters.

9. How successful was your filmed piece? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I think that our filled piece worked well, as i think we achieved what we wanted to with the shots. For example we icluded a shot that was the character walking over the camera. I felt that this was successful. I felt that our group worked really well as a team. I also think the range of shots we had were successful as there wasnt any of the same shot repeated. If we were to improve it we would have spent more time and care on creating a music piece and including it in parts of the film.

10. What have you learnt about producing a short piece of film? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

I have learnt that the there are more shots involved in a film than i thought. But because when you watch a film you dont relalise it. I think this has taught me that for when completing the rest of my foundation coursework that i will need to include many varied shots. To keep it interesting.

Taking the Photos

We planned to have an elegant model in a white draped dress doing a elegant dance poistion in front of a graffitie wall. So for this as it is a draft I took photos of emma i front of a graffitie wall. So we had an idea of our final photo. When taking the photos we had an idea of holding an umbrella up as if she was in the postion of the statue of liberty, this then relates to the city factor of the magazine. When taking the photos, we experimented with different heights to try and get different angles of the photo. Also we took the lighting into consideration as the lighting was coming in hitting the wall on the left hand side. I then took a photo of bricks with a bit of graffitie on for the the border.

Planning magazine front cover

I worked with emma and as we both have an interest in fashion we decided to do it on this. We have done more of an arty fashion. Therefore as its fashion we decided to do it for textiles. We liked the idea of the contrast between and elegant model with a rough graffity back ground, this was our idea for the photograph on the front page. We named it "City art" we thought this gave the effect of the contrast the connotations behind these two words. We thought that for the font if we had it quite a bold and blunt title this would stand out against the sketchyness of the photos. For the contents page we kept it quite simple with two arty photos and the contents down the side. I also thought of having a border of an effect of bricks as i thought this would add to the effect of sketchy.

Practical

I found that this lesson of practical was very productive. We followed our story line which was a man walking down a hall way with him opening the door, sitting down at the table and including a bit of dialogue about a secret. Whilst we were filming we got loads of diffents shots fro different angles. We really experimented with the camera , we had one idea to use from a cctv cameras point of view. But when it came to editing it we felt that if we were going to do it we needed it to be on a tripod and a bigger space to do it in. When filming we also thought of things like lighting, for example when it came to the intence conversastion we had a the room dark and just one strip light on. We also used different levels to film on. for example we had a shot of his feet walking down the hall and then a long shot of him walking down the hall way. We also used an extreme close up.
In editing our aim was to cut the scenes so they flowed into one. Almost that you wouldnt notice there was a change of shot. I feel we mananged to achieve this especailly in one shot of coming through the door we changed the angle and i dont notice when i watched it. We finally did all the cutting and then added a title to the end. We the experimented with making music for it. We did find this quite difficult but with a bit more practice i think we will be able to do this.