AS Prelim

Our video is about a young 'nerdy' boy who finally musters up the courage to ask the 'girl of his dreams' to Prom. The video lasts for 1 minute 10 seconds.

1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with Gabriel Meytanis, Prudence Carter-Phillips and Georgina Harper-Dennett. To decide on and allocate different roles to each other, we held a group meeting in which we decided who would be responsible for what. We decided that the main characters would be played by Gabriel and Georgina, and that between Prudence and I, we would take on the responsibility of working with the camera and directing.

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account? 
To plan our sequence we came together as group and discussed different ideas about the plot. Any ideas that we proposed were well discussed and even explained physically by 'walking it through' to demonstrate. We used these group discussions to eventually produce a storyboard, a props list, a casting list, a shot location/set-up list, a script for dialogue and a top-down plan.

Here is the props list, top-down plan and script that we used for out sequence:

In addition to this, we were sure to consider many things that could potentially affect the success of any ideas that we proposed. This included: continuity theory/principle and how effectively we could implement it into our sequence; the composition and framing that would be included; the representation of people and events in our sequence; and how the genre would be connoted and signified in the sequence.

3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? 
To complete the task we used a Cannon HFG30 camera to record our shot. We ensured that the settings were set to manual and that we focused on picking up the relevant sound and getting the desired framing and shot type. As well as this, we used Adobe Premier Pro to edit our shots. This allowed us select the preferred 'takes' of a shot and then construct the order the shots together on a timeline through the use of setting 'in and out' points on a clip and the 'slice' tool to cut a clip into desired segments, which were either deleted or used at a later point for a shot reverse shot. 

4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning, shooting and editing we had to factor in a number of things. With regards to planning and shooting there were a number of things that we had to consider. This included external background noise when, theories such as the 180 and 30 degree rule, the most time saving order of shooting and a window that could have potentially shown the reflection of the camera in the shots.When editing, we had to constantly refer back to our storyboard to check that the shots ordered correctly with the right duration. As well as this, having our storyboard allowed us to display things and then decide on how well it works; Is continuity fully achieved?

Here is a segment of our storyboard...


5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I think that the sequence worked very well and we successfully achieved what we first set out to do and so therefore achieved the brief. We were able to incorporate several technical elements which included match on action, shot reverse shot, eye-line match and master shot. These all worked together to improve the overall feel of continuity and seamlessness in the sequence. Also, a wide variation of shots were used which I believe helped to fully appeal to our desired target audience and keep them engaged and interested throughout the sequence. In hindsight, there are a few things that I would change. In the majority of shots a number of takes were done to ensure that there was flexibility in editing process. This meant that there would be a selection of takes that could be used for a particular shot. However, the shot taken from the ‘girls POV’ didn’t not have a selection of takes to pick from. In addition to this, one other thing that I would change is the last shot in which Character A (Boy) runs off in excitement after the exchange of dialogue with Character B (Girl). The problem with this shot is that in the previous shot, Character A is seen holding a folded piece of paper, but in the final shot he is not.

Q6) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
3 things I have learnt from completing this task are: - continuity is well achieved providing that all technical elements used, are used correctly. The continuity skills i have obtained will definitely be essential when filming my film opening for my main task in the future. As well as this, this task has strengthened my confidence when editing. Prior to the editing sessions i didn't feel very comfortable editing, however after a few sessions i quickly grasped the main concepts, and this will definitely benefit me in future tasks that require editing on Adobe Premier Pro.Finally, this task has definitely stressed that time is key to success. By working at a good consistent pace,using time efficiently and one can achieve many things in a given period