Evaluation - Question 4

Looking back on the preliminary task what do you think you have learnt in the progression from that to the actual production?

Camera Shots
Here i am going to talk about the improvement in camera shots, which includes positioning in the frame too. This is in order to conform to ideas of conventional mise en scene (in order to show off costume and make up which was intentionally placed in the opening). The preliminary task was very useful as it was the perfect test run to prevent us from making too many mistakes during the production of our opening. 

During the shots which show conversation between the two characters, we learnt a lot about the positioning of the camera for the conversation. Both of these shots are meant to be wide shots, which is not evident in the preliminary task. We found that due to not planning the shots for the preliminary task and not knowing the meaning behind the shots, we didn't frame them properly so they aren't technically a shot. The conversation is meant to be in the centre of the frame, which perfect from out film opening as we made sure the tripod matched the camera up with equal amounts of space either side of the bench. Where as in out preliminary task, the camera is placed too far to the left meaning that one of the characters is more centre than the other.

Another aspect of the conversation which was vital was the shot/reverse shots. I found that when looking back at the preliminary task we didn't use the correct level for the camera. So, what we did was we tended to have the camera higher up or closer to one person which meant that the camera showed them from the wast up and then on the other character it showed them from the knee up. This was inconsistent and should be shown to be level. However in our actual opening we made sure that we places 2 objects the same distance from each other which showed us where we would place the tripod. The tripod then ensured that the camera was pointing in the same direction at the same level meaning that we always got above the waste and below the shoulders.
The conversations also conformed to the 180 degree rule in that we made sure we had an imaginary line between the two characters which we switched between in order to get a sense of realism.

Long shots were not as effective in out preliminary task. We tended to forget about how much of the character that was supposed to be within the frame when filming it. Because of this we were a lot more aware when creating our actual opening. In the preliminary task we kept cropping out the feet which should have been included to show a full body and the action of walking into the classroom. Where as in out actual opening we made sure that we placed the camera way from the character as much as we needed due to the fact that you can always crop the image but you cannot add in any more image without re-filming. Our long shots were more effective. 

The 180 degree rule

Our preliminary task actually showed a great example of how to abide by the 180 degree rule. Due to our research into the 180 degree rule, we made sure that we did it perfectly in our preliminary task which then enabled us to do it just as well in our actual opening. Here is an example: 

Preliminary task:
in the preliminary task we imagined the line was through the centre of the door. This meant that we filmed only on the one side of the door allowing chlaryse to look as though she is walking in the same direction. The editing of this clip was also very handy as it was a straight cut and matched the action well. 
Our opening: 

We used the 180 degree rule in our opening during the montage. This was so that as an audience you could really see a sense of travel and direction in which Emma was walking.