What I Have Learnt From My Preliminary Task.

What I have learnt from my preliminary task.

By doing my preliminary task I have learn many things. My preliminary task included me making a short film of a person walking into a room, sitting down, exchanging lines of dialog and walking out of the room again.  There were many mistakes I made while filming and have now learnt from, and I am now more confident with using the camera.

One of the first things I learnt and had to draw before filming was my storyboard.  I learnt that a storyboard is the different shots that will piece together the final preliminary task. It helps enormously when filming because you know what exactly to film next, who should be in the shot, where the shot is and if they are speaking in the shot. My storyboard also helped with editing my film and I learnt it was very useful when I was placing my shots in the right order.

I learn a lot about how operate the camera and the rules of filming. There are many simple actions, which I learnt for example how to charge a camera. Also how to attach a camera to a tripod, as the first tripod I used didn’t attach correctly. One important rule that I learnt when filming was the 180˚ rule.  This rule only allowed me to stand one side of my actors at all time. If I didn’t do this it would confuse the audience and make them think the actors have swooped places.

I was able to include over the shoulder shot in my preliminary task, increasing my knowledge on different types of shot. I also learnt about continuity and panning. I learnt that when I was panning I had to keep steady and follow the actor across the room using the tripod. I learnt that you have to film the space in front of them so you’re not chasing them across the room.

While filming Annabelle walking though the door, also with shot/reverse shot I learnt about continuity. It made my film look professional.  I had to be aware of errors occurring in continuity such as changes in speech, dress and if the actors had moved in different ways. Especially when I was filming shot/reverse shot, which is another important camera rule I learnt.

        I learnt a lot about shot/reverse shot, I had two people sitting opposite each other exchanging dialog. I had my two people directly opposite to each other, and I learnt that it would have been easier to film them if I where to place them slightly diagonal to each other.  It would have been easier because you had to make sure the back of one person’s head was not blocking the other person. That brings me to the technicalities I have learnt about filming. I learnt that you have to film the actors right on the eye level so you’re not longing down or up to the actors. Also I learnt went I do the close up of Annabelle’s hand to try and get them to the eye level of the other actor’s so it is as if she is watching them and it flow more easily.

I learnt that when filming shot/reverse shot you have to get the angles right. So you have to try and get the exact angle as the person your filming is seeing it as. I also learnt you have to get more or less opposite the same place when filming the other side of shot/reverse shot. I learnt that shot/reverse shot is one of the longest shots I had to film because I had to film them more than once. I did this because so I could have the different angles and lines of dialog in the right places when it came to editing the final piece.

     When I was panning Annabelle walking out and into the room, also when she was standing up, I learnt about unwanted headroom. I learnt it’s important to move the camera with the person. This is so you film the whole movement and body not just extra, unwanted headspace. It is useless for extra space so it is important to get the whole body in.

I also learnt there are always some practical issue’s when filming. For example I started filming one day, and the next day the actors had different hair and clothes, so I had to start all over again. Something you don’t notice practical issues till you what your task back; for example reflections, background noises and small movements.

Finally I also learnt how to use Final Cut. I used Final Cut when editing my preliminary task; I learnt the standard operations like cutting and the joining of clips. I had a problem with the audio at first when unwanted sounds where in the background. I learnt how to tame the background sounds and focusing on the speaking.

 Overall I learnt al lot from my Preliminary Task from camera’s to editing. There were lots of different shots and rules to film and I learnt a lot from them to.  I have picked up many new techniques and learnt from where I have gone wrong and hopefully will help me in my next filming task.