Preliminary Task - Miss Miller

Preliminary Task

The other members of my group are Malu Pillai and Kane Faulkner-Wild. I filmed the task whilst Kane and Malu acted. The purpose of the preliminary task was to get familiar with the different equipment we will be using for our own opening thriller sequence and to understand how it works and how use the equipment successfully. It was also to experiment with the different camera angles and shots. We had to film a short conversation between two people. We had to include a panning shot of one of the people entering the room and then a shot reverse shot of the two people having a conversation and then an over the shoulder shot and also a long shot of the setting and also a close up shot . The sequence had to be less than a minute long. Once we had finished shooting the sequence we came back to class and uploaded the clips onto Final Cut Pro where we watched it back and quickly edited the sequence together. We cut out the parts that were unsuccessful and then we watched it back in order to see how the filing had  gone. Once we had finalised and was happy with how our preliminary task sequence had come together we uploaded it onto Youtube.

We had to use different camera techniques whilst experimenting filming. We had to include different shots such as a long shot, a close up shot, shot reverse shot, an over the shoulder shot and a panning shot. We used the panning shot to show Kane entering the room and also Malu and Kane leaving the room. The shot reverse shot was used to show Malu and Kane's conversation. It showed Malu's face then Kane's face and then back to Malu's face again. The close up shots were of Kane and Malu's face to show their facial expressions. The over the shoulder shot was used when Kane tells Malu to leave. We also had to experience the tripod whilst filming to familiarise ourselves with it as we will be using it when we film our own thriller sequence as it keeps the camera firm and steady. However when we tried to use the tripod when filming our preliminary task we found it difficult to correctly use it as the camera kept falling out and we couldn't keep the tripod up right. Therefore we had to use the hand held camera technique. We will have to practise using our tripod before we film our own original piece. I think that our group used the different shots well, using them correctly and in the suitable parts of our film. Although we concluded every shot required, some took more time than others as they didn't come out the way we wanted them to. For example our panning shot looked uneven to the shot before and we tried various times to get it as close as possible as we could. I think my group perhaps struggled with the editing process once we had filmed our preliminary task. There is parts of the clip that could have been cut shorter so that the film flowed more consistently, for example when Kane enters the room to when Malu first speaks. I think if we were to do our preliminary task again we would work differently to try and use our tripod as our film was a bit shaky due to me holding the camera whilst filming. This will have to be done differently when we film our own thriller sequence as we want it to look professional and smooth. We will make sure we don't make this mistake again by constantly practising how to use the tripod correctly and effectively.
The use of various different camera shots will definitely help us when producing our own thriller sequence as it makes the film more interesting when the audience can experience different things being shown to them in different ways. We can also make some of the shots seem more scary, for example a close up shot to scare the audience and make them jump.
Watching our clip back after it was quite easy to notice some of the silly mistakes we had made. One example of a mistake we made would be the cutting of shots in the editing. We left some of the shots to long before the next shot which made our film look inconsistent and unprofessional. Another mistake was near the end of our film when Malu and Kane get up to leave. As the over the shoulder shot finishes and the panning shot begins they don't match up and they look like they don't join together which also looks unprofessional as all the shots should flow. The final mistake I noticed was how shaking some of the shots looked as I was filming it with just my hands. It made the film look unprofessional and messy. Therefore we need to use the tripod when we go to film our thriller sequence.

This task helped me in preparing for my own thriller film because it gave us experience on how to use the different equipment and to find out the groups strengths and weaknesses so we know what to work on for next time. I learnt from the task that the equipment can be tricky to use at times and they sometimes required detailed focus in order to work effectively. However I also learnt that my group work well together and can provide each other with different ideas and opinions to improve our work.
There's certain things we need to keep the same and change when we film our own thriller sequence. We should keep the same variety of different shots and the consistent flow of conversation and acting as it looked realistic. However we do need to change how we edit our film after we have filmed it and ensure that it looks professional and flows with ease. It is also imperative that we use the tripod when filming our real piece this because it makes the film steady and firm and look professional instead of using a shaky hand held technique.