Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Our preliminary task was a continuity task, involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom they would exchange a few lines of dialogue. We were tasked with demonstrating a match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
At the time of doing this, we had no experience and had to work with new people. I had known Jonathan previously, however we had both only met Ross so this wasn't just developing our media skills but also our team skills and co-operation so that we could work consistently together. It was a bit intimidating being tasked to do this task as none of us had done a media course prior to this and had only just learnt the basics. By doing this, we would be prepared to work on a two minute piece based on a script of our own which would be the opening sequence to a new film. This included the titles and setting the basis of a storyline.
As we learnt these new rules and shots, which were basic and would set us up to learn the rest of the key shots to produce the next piece, we also learnt how to operate the equipment and use the editing software. From making this, we were able to see where we went wrong and could learn from these mistakes. For example, one of us spotted that the shot where we attempted to do a match on action went wrong due to the fact the male actor opened the door with the handle in one shot and then simply opened it with his hand in the next. Due to cutting out certain parts of this shot during the editing stage, this was solved and was helpful to teach us what to do when we went onto the main product. It also taught us that even if we made a mistake during filming, by doing several takes and the use of some sneaky editing cuts we could easily fix it.
So during the preliminary we learnt how to do a Match on action. As previously mentioned, we had a little bit of difficulty when doing this so we took what we had learnt from our mistakes and applied it to all of our filming time. We heavily insisted on doing a shot over and over again and although this took a lot of time I believe it was worth it.
For example, while we were filming the montage, there was a particular shot that I may have gotten a little out of hand with.(Shot above). I near forced my colleagues to retake this shot a total of 7 times just because i felt there should have been more flow to it. In one case, the hat dragged the table cloth with it and off of the table. Looking through all of the shots during editing however, I did the right thing as we were able to find the best quality shot out of a large pool of shots. We did this for near all of the shots we took for our film and I think that is why we were able to take some very good shots.
One thing I personally have improved at is using the Final Cut Express editing software. By doing the preliminary exercise, I wasn't going into editing the film "Blind" and had a little bit of experience in my belt so I didn't have to spend time learning how to do the basics of the software. I definitely used more techniques during editing the film, such as varying how loud the sound was for the radio broadcast, as you can hear it slightly fade out as Will walks out of the door and away from the radio. I have definitely improved at using the software and recording equipment since doing the preliminary task, just with using it more I have found the varying ways they could be used and have found out what they do in more depth.
One method that we used was parallel editing during the scene where Volnus called Will. We showed not only what Volnus was doing at the time, but also showed what was going in around Will at the same time; showing Will typing previous to receiving the call and his reaction to what he could hear going on where Frank and Volnus were. We were able to maximise continuity throughout the film due to our previous experience and could do it with more precision, being able to make the film seamlessly switch from shot to shot, allowing it to flow without the audience noticing.
I have come away from this with more knowledge and experience than I ever could have hoped for and feel I would be able to apply this experience to future projects. I have learnt a lot about which type of shot would best fit certain scenarios and am more accustomed to the creation of a film, from start to finish. This has allowed me to be more confident when editing personal projects and have a knack for knowing if a shot is one or two frames too long or short. I am very happy with our end project and know where we could improve such as shots that are slightly blurry or too quiet. I look forward to more experiences like this where I can learn more and improve my skills.
So during the preliminary we learnt how to do a Match on action. As previously mentioned, we had a little bit of difficulty when doing this so we took what we had learnt from our mistakes and applied it to all of our filming time. We heavily insisted on doing a shot over and over again and although this took a lot of time I believe it was worth it.
For example, while we were filming the montage, there was a particular shot that I may have gotten a little out of hand with.(Shot above). I near forced my colleagues to retake this shot a total of 7 times just because i felt there should have been more flow to it. In one case, the hat dragged the table cloth with it and off of the table. Looking through all of the shots during editing however, I did the right thing as we were able to find the best quality shot out of a large pool of shots. We did this for near all of the shots we took for our film and I think that is why we were able to take some very good shots.
One thing I personally have improved at is using the Final Cut Express editing software. By doing the preliminary exercise, I wasn't going into editing the film "Blind" and had a little bit of experience in my belt so I didn't have to spend time learning how to do the basics of the software. I definitely used more techniques during editing the film, such as varying how loud the sound was for the radio broadcast, as you can hear it slightly fade out as Will walks out of the door and away from the radio. I have definitely improved at using the software and recording equipment since doing the preliminary task, just with using it more I have found the varying ways they could be used and have found out what they do in more depth.
One method that we used was parallel editing during the scene where Volnus called Will. We showed not only what Volnus was doing at the time, but also showed what was going in around Will at the same time; showing Will typing previous to receiving the call and his reaction to what he could hear going on where Frank and Volnus were. We were able to maximise continuity throughout the film due to our previous experience and could do it with more precision, being able to make the film seamlessly switch from shot to shot, allowing it to flow without the audience noticing.
I have come away from this with more knowledge and experience than I ever could have hoped for and feel I would be able to apply this experience to future projects. I have learnt a lot about which type of shot would best fit certain scenarios and am more accustomed to the creation of a film, from start to finish. This has allowed me to be more confident when editing personal projects and have a knack for knowing if a shot is one or two frames too long or short. I am very happy with our end project and know where we could improve such as shots that are slightly blurry or too quiet. I look forward to more experiences like this where I can learn more and improve my skills.
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