For the first part of our AS media course we were asked to create a short film that included different

techniques. We had to include a match on action, a shot reverse shot and make sure that we used
the 180degree rule. The film had to flow nicely and be continuous. We had to start from scratch and
create a story that the audience would understand from a short snippet. To do this we had to create
a storyboard and script.

I think that our piece demonstrates continuity quiet well. The storyline of our film does become
quiet confusing, as we made a mistake while filming, our prop we used for the opening scene should
have said ‘THE SECRET’ instead of ‘TOP SECRET’. When watching this a few people realised this and
said it confused them as it looked like someone had found a secret, then it changed to quickly to a
similar but slightly different story.

I found that our piece was very continuous from shot to

shot. The lighting was the same and there were no overlaps, as we tried to keep each actor in a shot
by their self, and if they were speaking they were very close together to avoid discontinuity. We
used two separate cameras which worked really well, the only thing that I would have changed
about the actual filming is the fact that one camera was positioned higher than the other, although
it’s not an obvious fault, it was easy for me to see as I knew it was filmed incorrectly.

However the sound wasn’t as continuous as the actual visual filming. When the camera that was
filming the male protagonist, who is tied to the chair, the sound quality is decreased and it’s very
quiet whereas the beginning and the opening soundtrack are quite loud. All of the conversation is
quieter than the rest of the film which is a flaw as it sounds really unprofessional and isn’t
continuous like the rest of the filming.

Overall I think that the storyline and sound doesn’t show good continuity but the filming and editing
match well and look smooth together.

I think our group showed match on action really well. It was helpful to use this because it helped
with continuity, as it was like another transition, by using a jump cut it showed that the blonde
antagonist was coming into the room.
Our shot reverse shot worked well and was helpful because it made clear to the audience what was
going on. When editing this part you can’t really use any transitions so it wasn’t helpful for us to
make the film look better, although just before the shot reverse shot we used a quick transition
which made the film look better and it was also shorter as it was a version of match on action.

The
180

degree rule was used throughout the filming we made sure of this by
using two separate cameras so it wasn’t as hard to follow. By doing this it helped to audience to
understand what was going on in the scene and where the actors were positioned.

180° rule

With the group I worked with I realised how hard it is to agree and get along with one another. I
thought that our group didn’t work quite as well as other may have, I don’t feel that this affected our
group to much only that some people became
extremely stubborn and would only stick with
what they wanted to and not agree with
much else unless they were extremely
persuaded. I thought that some of our group
were very picky in what they wanted to do
and would only want to do one thing.
Whereas I like to try everything and see what
are my weaknesses and strengths. I also like
new things so I wanted to try everything
which I was worried might have come across
as controlling and picky. I think that the rest
of the group were okay with the way we did
things, and the editing side of the project was
a lot easier as we didn’t do it all together and there was more to do. Although I found that one
person may put their input and maybe add a transition but by the next time it would have been
changed by another side of the group. I didn’t find that anything of mine had really been changed
but I wasn’t overly bothered if it had been as the film turned out to be quiet well in the end.

If I were to re-film this piece I would improve on the quality of the video, I would try and film it so it
was more steady and smooth. I would also want the sound to be a lot louder therefore clearer. I
would add more to the storyline; so that the film made more sense and that every part of the
audience understood it.

There is a difference in
lighting here but there
wasn’t much we could do
about it as it starts like this
but I changes slightly later
on.

If I had a chance I don’t know if I would re-film it all, as we had to re-film it all once before and we
took many takes of certain shots. I think we collected the best shots for what we created. For
instance the shot of the shoes walking down the corridor took more than 10 different takes, and in
the last few we found the best clip. If we had the time I would have liked to retake over and over
learning from all the different mistakes that could be made, this way we could create the perfect
shot. I have found out that everything effects the filming and you have to be very precise with what
is in the shot and how you are moving the camera.

If we were to re-film together we would have to realise and listen to everyone’s opinion individually
would also make sure that we made the storyboard and script together so we all knew exactly what
was going on and what we were planning to film. I would want to talk everything through first
before we filmed, as when we filmed this preliminary task I thought when we were slightly scattered
and it was unclear to the actors and to everyone filming. We had to stop every so often and re run
through it.

I think when we started our plan was planned very well. We made a reasonably good storyboard and
it explained everything well, our script was also useful and detailed. As we had to film our task twice
the second time we changed the script and storyline slightly. We didn’t change our storyboard or
script as it was too much work and we didn’t have enough time. This was a disadvantage as we
couldn’t explain to the actors what to do; we also had a lot of confusion as some of our group didn’t
know what was going on or what the new story was. Although saying this we worked it out in the
end and we kept the script so this was very helpful. We also planned our props well, we collected
everything before filming and we knew what we were going to film first, and what we would need to
film last. We planned how we would film it e.g. by using two cameras and who would have to film
first so we wouldn’t cross over and see each other in the shot.
As our piece was very jumpy we had to use a wide range of transitions and different effects to
strengthen our piece. We didn’t use any in the opening of the task, as we wanted it to jump straight
in so it was interesting. We then used a fade to white after the
titles so it was just as shocking. The next scene came quickly
so it didn’t work as well as it could have. We didn’t use any
transitions for the walking part of the film as a simple jump
cut looked good enough. After the scenes of the protagonist
on the chair and the authoritative antagonist walking towards
him, we used a transition to cut from the shot of the feet to
the shot of the female actually walking. We used a dissolve for this, so they matched well. We used
this transition again later on when she stands up, to when she is closer to the male. This worked well
as you couldn’t really tell it was used although it cut out a mistake nicely. At the end we used
different effects; the most prominent one was the spy-hole effect that matched with our storyline
nicely as it was actually about spying and uncovering secrets. We also used an effect to add the time
and date the main start of the story. This came with a typing sound which enhanced the film and
made it seem more important. We used the same titles throughout and also used them for our
‘scrolling titles’ this worked well as everything was then consistent. We used other effects for sound.
We added a track at the beginning and end of the film although we realised after we had finished
that the music didn’t quiet match as it sounded a bit like it should be included in an adult movie. We
used the Foley effect for the clanking of the shoes at the start. This worked really well as it is hard to
tell that it is a fake sound.

I didn’t really enjoy the editing part of our filming even though I learnt the most in doing this. I had
never really used an editing programme before apart from when I made a short film for an ICT
course. When we went through the editing class I really enjoyed learning the new thing. I found this
hard to learn because there was so much to remember. I learnt how to cut out the bits we needed
for the film, this was the most useful part, I can use this throughout the AS course now. I learnt other
things like how to add transitions and music but they were pretty self explanatory and I found them
easy to use. I also learnt how to use the camera this was also very easy as it was just self
explanatory. I enjoyed learning how to step up things like the tripod and the dolly’s. I found that I
was the only one that set up the equipment as I enjoyed doing it. I thought the equipment was really
intricate and as I am interested in filming but also technology I liked learning how to use these
pieces.

I also learnt how to create a blog, I had never done this before and it was a easy task but its
something I have learnt and I can now use whenever I need to .I think its a brilliant invention and is
very useful to the older and younger generation of today.