Preliminary Brief: Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. A couple of lines of dialogue must then exchange between characters & match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule should be demonstrated.
Main Task: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes (all video and audio material must be original, produced by candidates, with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source)
PRELIMINARY TASK COMPARED TO MAIN TASK
Pre productionWhere the preliminary task was the first real task of the year we hadn’t worked together in groups yet and personally, I wasn’t too sure how well I was going to work with whoever it was I ended up being paired with. So when I was partnered with Sharon I didn’t know what to expect! I didn’t see it as much of a problem more just a worry prior to the project. I didn’t let it bother me though as everyone else in the class was in the exact same boat so I soon got over it. This differs to my first worries of the main task because due to special circumstances, i knew who my group was before others in the class. Yasmin, Matthew and i all took part in a foreign exchange program that meant us missing a lot of media lessons. Our teacher felt it most fair and practical that we be put together as while we are away we can still work on the project so we are up to date more or less when we return. This made me feel a lot more relaxed about the project because Matthew and Yasmin have been in my media class since day 1 of Year nine GCSE and we are all very aware of each others working capability.
For the duration of planning (pre production) Sharon and I thought we had covered everything we needed to efficiently however it turned out that what we thought to be quick and useful, really just left us under prepared and missing shots that we originally wanted. We managed to work it out and improvise with what we had but if we had planned with more detail, we could have successfully transferred the shots drawn from the storyboard onto the shooting schedule. From this I have learned you can never plan too much! The more you cover when planning the less stress you will have later. So, i applied this new found knowledge to the main task! We had to do a lot of research on fairy/folk tales in order to have a variety to choose from, considering an adaptation. I looked at ones from other cultures as well as the typical “little red riding hood” story.
However, when we were assigned groups I was put with Yasmin and Matthew and they had studied completely different ones so we had an advantage. The only problem was that we couldn’t decide what story to go for. We had one revolving around a little girl going missing as this was similar to little red riding hood and more similar to the recent media hype concerning Madeline McCann. We also had an idea about swapping a child for a troll as this was a very popular folk’s tale that Yasmin had researched. So to make things even better, we all agreed to fuse both ideas together. Resulting in a fictional story about a girl that is taken from her home and goes missing but she is swapped for a doll. From this I have learned the more resources you have at the beginning the more you have to work with. This will prove to be beneficial as it did for us. This proves the progress we made as the prelim task consisted of one or two five minute meetings deciding what we would do and everything was left very vague. The main task however, consisted of countless folk stories and fairy tales and that was just for ideas! We hadn’t even begun to adapt any further yet!During the prelim task, another problem we came across was the location. We chose to film in the leisure centre but we did not take out a location recce to make sure it was possible. We both felt confident that it would just “work out.” Additionally, we met one afternoon after school and decided on a location as well as drawing the storyboard. When we left that afternoon we agreed that I would complete the script and Sharon will do the shooting schedule. However, it only came to my attention when I got home that I had the storyboard? So how could Sharon do the shooting schedule? We recovered from this slight set back by updating the schedule the next day in lesson but in hindsight, I really think if we had planned more we wouldn’t have had so many problems. Personally, I had learned from the preliminary task that planning is the key to a successful day on set, and the more you think about what could go wrong; the less likely it is for something to go wrong. This is why we had the storyboard, shooting schedule and script completed before we had even found actors. The biggest problem throughout the entire project, was finding cast. We needed to find a little girl aged between 4 and 6 years old and we needed to film her fending for herself one morning. She would pour a cup of milk and sit on the stairs before her Father came down stairs and walked out the front door to go to work. When we thought of every single little girl who would be suitable to play the part, something came up where she could not play the part. Reasons such as interfering with school, living to far away or because her parents were not happy with her being filmed. Either way it was proving impossible to find someone to play our protagonist. This is where we decided to change the meaning behind our opening. We wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable watching our opening sequence because after all it is a psychological thriller. This is why we went back to the drawing board and thought about what else we had to work with. We wanted to keep our story the same so we tried to think of a way we could show something else to introduce the film. We also knew that the unique part of our film was the use of dolls; and this is why the doll was our main focus for the beginning of our film. From this I learned that making a film is a lot more complicated then I originally thought however there is ALWAYS an alternative. To be honest I thought we were helpless when the first idea fell through; but in hindsight it made us more creative to make a better opening than we had first planned. Originally the entire sequence was to be shot at Matthews’s house but when all of our ideas had to be thought out due to some problems with casting, we changed the idea behind our opening sequence. Meaning the location could be changed and so we decided to make up the studio to suit our new opening. We got as many pictures as we could with newspaper cuttings all relevant to our genre and we posted these around the workstation of our set. We met at every chance we had to make sure all points were covered and we had done the best we could to avoid any problems.
After the problems concerning casting, we had to draw a whole new storyboard resulting in a completely new shooting schedule as well. This was time consuming but we were determined to succeed and especially because we had a fresh idea, the creativity soon came out. We watched the opening of the film Se7en and really fell in love for the way the camera illustrated the eerie actions of a man making something? We wanted to capture this feeling between our target audience and the film and so we focused on detailed shots and extreme close ups of a doll being made by a Toymaker. I learned that by making the sequence simpler we made it better all round. Going back to the roots of psychological thrillers we focused on what was important, and for us that was the feeling our film would have on the audience. We wanted them to shiver and tense as they watched the opening.
Production
During filming of the prelim task we didn’t have as many problems as I expected but obviously it wouldn’t be a worthwhile experience if I couldn’t learn from it. I learned that a location recce is vital to do before filming because you can prepare yourself for problems or even find a new location to film. Seeing as we didn’t, when we filmed we were constantly interrupted by strangers walking in and out of the background of our shots. At first we made it work to our advantage as it fitted well with what was happening in our sequence but some shots had passers by and others didn’t so it ruined our continuity. We learned from this by ensuring our main task location was full proof! So the final location was the media room and we didn’t have any problems. Sound wasn’t an issue as we used a soundtrack anyway, and when others came into the room, they were only other media students so they were aware of us filming. Another problem we faced during the production process was costume. The cast consisted of one male character (played by my brother) however he turned up straight from work with a white T-shirt on. We needed plain black clothing but thankfully this was quickly solved and we borrowed a black coat form the drama department and he wore that as well. So for future references, even though it seemed like the least important thing, it would have ruined the whole effect of our film if we didn’t have him all in black; so costume/hair/make up needs to be taken into account well in advance.
Another problem that we came across (during prelim) was keeping up with the continuity. Where there were only two of us we had to make sure one person controlled the camera (Sharon) whilst I directed the cast and due to the fact it was our first time filming, we didn’t bother too much with writing down what takes were good and what were not; so obviously when it came to editing, we had to look at every single shot which was time consuming! I learned from this by writing a simple tick or cross next to each take so we can avoid wasting time when digitising our rushes later.
The biggest problem we faced when filming our preliminary task was how much time we had. Initially we had an hour to get all the shots we needed seeing as it was only going to produce a thirty second clip that should have been enough time.
Although, when we packed up all of the equipment we realised we needed just one close up of a clock to incorporate in the final sequence. So we rushed back to the classroom really quickly set up and got the take we needed. Now though I have learned with a shooting schedule a lot of the problems we faced we could have easily avoided! However, our progression for the main task didn’t come through when it came to not rushing. This is because we had spent too much time filming interior shots and didn’t realise we would need more time for the final takes. I learned that timing is an essential factor of filming and we considered the time of day when shooting exterior shots in the main task. The final problem I can recall whilst filming our opening sequence was at the very end of the day when we had to film outside, we rushed the shots as we were afraid of the lighting getting too dark and it ruining our continuity. Due to the rushed takes, I feel that some of the shots do not look as good as they could have, although they do still work very well with the rest of the opening. I now know that referring to the shooting schedule is vital and I have learned that the time of day in which we film is equally as important as it would look silly having a shot of the Toymaker walking in the light but then walking away in the darkness?Post productionDuring post production/editing for the prelim task we were new to the software and so both of us were nervous in case we cut something we would never get back. Thankfully though, you can undo work on Adobe Premier! I think that we were both just familiarising ourselves with the software and getting used to digitising rushes. From this I have learned that modern technology is not the most reliable resource as when we first attempted to edit everything ran smoothly, yet when we tried for the second and third time the software didn’t want to work for us. The capture window would not open on several computers that were working fine earlier on in the day! So I have learned technology will not always agree with you but it’s an everyday problem you can only overcome with some patience. However, for our main task our luck was not as apparent. The first time we came to edit the software simply would not work for us! It was just an unlucky day but we overcome this minor problem by re-grouping after school and starting editing then.
Additionally, due to the reliability of the technology we were using, we had to keep saving our work as we went along. Although, one day typically we were not saving as we worked and the software froze and shut down. The changes we previously made were lost and we had to do them over again which wasted time and was rather boring because it got repetitive. I learned from this by saving the work after every change I made with the main task; especially because there were a lot more effects added in the main task which had to continuously be saved just in case!
Another problem Sharon and I faced whilst editing is realising we hadn’t filmed enough. There was one particular take that had speech towards the end and we had cut without letting the speech finish naturally. We hadn’t realised this on set and there wasn’t time to re-shoot so we just had to take it as a learning curve and try to make it work by slowing down the shot and adding a transition that stops the shot before it’s meant to anyway. I have learned to allow a few seconds between shouting “action” and “cut” so that we have the time and space during editing.
Editing for the main task wasn’t as stressful as I first anticipated however I think a part of this was due to the fact I was in a group with my friends. They both know me well, and they know how to calm me down which definitely came in handy! However, at the very start I feel we wasted time getting shots in the dark room of our school instead of quickly getting that done and concentrating on the main set and main opening. I have learned that on the day you must not panic but you have got to keep track of time and prioritise! I have learned that there is no point wasting time with shots that may not even work well in the end; we should have filmed all that we could have as quickly as we could. Additionally, we shot every take at least twice to make sure we had decent rushes when it came to post production.Editing for me was the stage of production where i learned the most and i feel i really excelled compared to how unconfident i was prior to the main task. I realised that other members in my group had just the same amount of experience as me and this made me more determined to have the ability to edit at the same level as them. If not, better. We all experimented a lot with different effects and we came to a unanimous decision to have detailed shots instead of quickly cut, sharp takes.
The biggest problem for me was choosing a film title that we still didn’t have even when we were editing! We thought of everything! Right from, “Toymaker” to “Blood Buttons” and nothing seemed right for our film. The only way we could overcome this was to get a fresh pair of eyes to watch our opening and then they say words that automatically spring to mind afterward. From this we managed to get a whole array of words to throw back and forth until we got the combination that sounded right. This is where we had names such as “redemption” and “missing” but they seemed too predictable. We finally decided on “silent play” because the main character plays sick mind games with the parents in order for them to get their daughter back, and the parents do not go to the police; they deal with it themselves in the fear of the Toymaker hurting their daughter! Looking back now I wish we hadn’t left it so late to come up with a name however if we had, i probably would have been sick of the sound of it and wanted to change it anyway. So i am happy with the process of picking a film name.
Furthermore, our film genre is a psychological thriller and we originally wanted to edit the film in a way that made it jumpy and confusing and made the audience think. This was our first plan. Although when cutting and editing certain shots it somehow seemed like we had just made a lot of mistakes whilst filming. Additionally, we had taken so much time and care getting very detailed shots, that it seemed a waste to just cut them carelessly. We all agreed it would work a whole lot better if we stuck to the usual shots and stop trying to add lots of effects that really just brought the whole production value down.
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