Preliminary Task Essay

Production
Pre- Production

From using the story boards we have been able to structure our ideas effectively, in order to complete our task to the best of our ability. We were able to adjust our story board to decide what shots we had and in which order they would go. It enabled us to see the overall concept before going out to shoot. Within each scene we had to decide as a group the props needed per shot and also had to prepare that before shooting.

The year 13 students showed us the basics to use the camera, tri pods and computer software. When the camera was being introduced to us, the students gave us advice about movement of the camera for example; not to use the camera hand held unless necessary due the fact that it may look un-professional. Another helpful tip that the students gave us was to not use the zoom as it gives it a staggering effect, an alternative to this would be to use a trolley to have a tracking shot.

From watching and analysing past preliminary tasks from previous years, we were able to see the positives and negatives of each. We took notes on each prelim in order to not make the same mistakes they did. It also gave us an opportunity to get inspiration for our ideas and take them on board. These are the errors that occurred in the clips: zooming- which caused to camera to jolt, bad continuity editing, positioning of the camera and breaking the 180° rule. In order not to make the same mistakes as they did, we structured our story board

During the filming of our preliminary task we only faced slight problems when it came to the mise-en-scene of the shots. This was because we filmed it in school and during filming there were several members of staff in the background unable to put their work on hold. In the end we asked for the cleaner’s permission for her to be an extra in our film as we were both working in the same space.
Planning and filming our prelim allowed us to have a greater understanding on how to use the cameras effectively, it gave us a chance to experiment with using different shots/angles and most importantly how to edit a film once its complete. When filming we learnt how specific the shots have to be for the story line to run correctly and we learnt different techniques such as match on action and shot reverse shot. We learnt that we had to stick to the 180 degree rule otherwise the characters position becomes confusing to the audience. When editing we learnt how to add music, cut our shots, add credits and effects. Filming and editing was quicker than expected.
We were not properly prepared with our props for the prelim task and had to improvise as a result. If we had the chance to redo our prelim we would ensure that we were more organised.

When editing our preliminary we only were faced with a couple of problems, the problems that we faced were finding the correct button to mute the footsteps. We had a music track covering the entire clip; therefore the ambient sound was making it confusing. After playing around with the software we found the button to correct this problem.

Tom Payne, Leila Robertson, Mollie Duncan and Paige Brooks

Preliminary Task: The Pea

Bellow is the short film we made for our preliminary task, to prove that we know how to use the camera and edit using pinnacle.

Paige Brooks, Tom Payne, Mollie Duncan and Leila Robertson

"One Hour Photo" Story Board

We watched 'one hour photo' to use as an example of a story board. We are learning how to fill in each section and what is required for it to be used to the best of our advantage. Having a story board is an excellent way of planning as it shows the order of each scenes, what will be in the shot and how it will be approached. The last box includes subtitles where we could write what props are needed and the sound effects. When filming this will be a ruff outline for the directors to know what shots they want.

Tom Payne