Prelim Post Production

When finished with filming, our footage was loaded onto the computer. We accessed this footage on the programme ‘Final Cut Server’. We checked out the Edit Proxy and not the raw footage to edit in our editing exercise. An Edit Proxy is a digital copy of the footage so that we are not actually editing the real footage.

Logging the Shots:

To log our shots we created a log bin to keep the shots separate from our full footage. The purpose of logging the shots is to separate the rubbish shots from the good ones. So seen as we had many of the same shots from the same angle we just had to pick the best shot, for example we did not use ones where the actors messed up their lines. We used the ‘I’ for in and ‘O’ for out to select the shot we wanted and then clicked Modify, then modify clip. This saves the clip to the clip bin at the side of your screen where you then re-name the clip and drag and drop it into the log bin. We had to go through all the shots of each angle and pick the best one that would be the best fit for our overall clip.

Organising your shots:

Once we had logged all the shots we then looked at the storyboard to compare the shots we had to get them into roughly the right order. We then had to look at how we were going to edit our footage, as in whose side is the audience on. Depending on whose side the audience on depends on who gets the most close ups and others shots.

Shot Order:

The shot order is very important in editing as it is essential to continuity. If the angle shot changes right after an action happens it will break the flow of action and will look far to edited. The whole point of editing is so that the sequence will be flowing and so there is good match on action and it doesn’t look like its been edited.

Editing in Final Cut:

Using Final Cut was an interesting experience as I had never looked at any editing program before. It was interesting to plan how to link in different shots to make different characters appear in different ways and to make different things appear harsher or softer. For example when character A said “Do it” he is more powerful than character B and is being quite harsh so we had and extreme close up of his mouth. This draws all the viewers’ attention to his mouth and what he is saying so it seems a lot harsher. Also when character B is left sitting in the room by herself after the whole discussion is finished we cut to an extreme close up of her eyes to show her sad eyes. This once again draws the audience in to what we want them to see and makes them see the sadness and confusion in character Bs eyes.

Prelim Task Evaluation

My group filmed in a classroom in the school for our media preliminary task. This location worked for us as it had enough room to film in and we had the door of the classroom which functioned well as we had to have one of the characters going in and out of a door in the piece. In filming each of our group members had a turn in operating the camera, directing and holding the rifle mic. We rotated around so we each got to experience all the different types of filming. I really enjoyed directing as you get to call out the commands and make sure everything was okay and I also enjoyed operating the camera as you got to help set up the shot and do the actual filming.

For our lighting we decided to go for a more sinister, darker feel with the lighting and have a back light on character B as they were being victimized and a key light on the main area. The back light would make character B appear more vulnerable and also prettier. Unfortunately we were unable to use the back light as the only back light that we could have used was a desk lamp and it was very ineffective so we ended up not using it. The key light created cast shadow of character B on the wall behind her creating a creepy atmosphere and it also gave an attached shadow on her face which made her look very vulnerable. The lighting was important to the scene as it set the right mood. It was effective as it helped portray character A as more powerful and scary and character B as more vulnerable and helpless.

When filming we remembered to set up the camera by bubbling it to make sure the shot would be level each time. We also made sure to film colour bars so that when it comes to editing we know where our piece starts. Also colour bars are useful as if the colour bars are distorted or if there is anything wrong with them, when recording you will know there will be something wrong with your shot. We made sure that each time after moving the camera to make sure it was bubbled, the shot was level and that there was no pieces of equipment such as lighting in the shot. We also made sure that when doing the over the shoulder shots we never crossed the 180 degree rule. We ran through the sequence several times in each different angle and each time we changed the camera angle we ran the sequence through the whole time through. For example we set up the wide shot and filmed the whole things through, then the close ups and then the over the shoulder shots. This ensures that when editing we didn’t just have little clips of different angles here and there but that if we want a clip of a bit from that angle later on we have it incase we need it. When thinking about angles we filmed at a high angle to film some of character Bs close-ups. This is so that the audience is looking down on character B making her appear more inferior and vulnerable. Also when shooting character A we shot some bits at a low angle, this means that character A looks more superior and powerful. When filming on set we made sure that each person who was directing used the right terminology to make sure everybody knew what was going on. This ensured that everybody was all working as a team and knew what was happening.

I thought that during the preliminary task our group worked well together and I felt that the filming and planning both went very well. I have learnt that filming is not as simple as just shooting the shots you need or running through a sequence in one angle. It is all about shooting the same thing over and over again in different angles and views in order to stick them together in editing to make an interesting scene.

Storyboarding

Storyboarding is a great way for people in film production to easily see visually what they have to do. It also means that people funding the film can see what their product might look like instead of waiting till the films release date. Storyboarding helps in film production as when shooting a film it means that the team knows roughly what a shot is supposed to look like and how it is set up and also it means they never forget to film a shot, so they don't have to go back and repeat a days filming.