Preliminary Task

In this preliminary task, we learned some useful things which we could apply in our main task. With regards to the camera, we learned how to set up the camera on a tripod and how a tripod can help us use a panning shot as the camera could move without difficulty side to side. Simple things such as how to put a battery or a tape in the camera seemed to be useful for us too. We learned that when filming, we need to film more than we need to so that when it comes to the editing, we can delete the bits we do not need and use what we do. Therefore, we counted to 5 seconds and then started acting so that the 5 seconds at the beginnign can be deleted when editing. The editing software was at first hard to use as it was a new piece of equipment to us but after a few trials, we got the hang of it. We learned how to capture everything we filmed and then from there, take the bits we want and use it in our preliminary. What was really hard was achieving continuity editing. We had to match the actions so that it looked continiuous and confortable to watch. This meant that there shoudn't be any jump cuts. The good thing about a preliminary task is that it allowed us to explore the use of cameras and the editing software so that we can be prepared for the main task. Also, it allowed us to make the mistakes that we do not to make in the main task.

Before filming, we made a shot list of the different types of shots we wanted in our film. However, we did make some changes to it. This is because we realised after been given the camera and the equipments, some of the shots did not look like they would fit together and create a continuity film. This then would overcomplicate the short film and bring us difficulties when editing. When we were editing our film, we realised that we didn't film the part where Ismahan was sitting down as we paused the camera to quick. This result in us having to film it quickly again which was time consuming. What we learned from this mistake was that we need to be sure we got the whole shot taped before stopping or pausing the camera. What did work well was the editing of the door scene. The shot shows Ismahan opening the door and entering from the other side. The opening of the door and the entering were two different shots so we had to match both those scenes up to make it look like one flows into the other. We were suprised of how well and quick we managed to match it up. That was an example of a good use of match cut in our film. What also went well than expected was our use of shot/reverse/shot. We used this when Ling and Ismahan were having the conversation where you see the camera switching from one person to another. At this point we also used over the shoulder combined with shot/reverse/shot in order to expand our use of shots.

We also made sure that the 180 degree rule was not broken by staying on one side of the line, this meant that we had to film from one side keeping the camera on the same side to make sure the characters are not suddenly swapped. If we did break this rule, it would have created disturbance in the film.