Prelim Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
The people in my group (besides me) were Emily and Arianna, and we shared the different responsibilties. We all had equal input in the planning progress, and we all contributed to the shot list, shoot schedule and storyboard. However during the shoot Arianna did the majority of the filming, because she was the only one not acting in our task. When Emily and I were not in shot we often took on the roles of cinematographer, director or cameraperson, for instance the pan from the killer's POV was shot by me. I think we worked well together, and we had a lot of ideas about possible storylines for our task. Also while editing we had equal input and roughly the same amount of time actually controlling the mouse, and we agreed on all the editing choices and cuts.

I played the character of the killer in our film, and Emily was the victim.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What Processes did you use? What theories did you take into account?
We started planning by brainstorming all our ideas, which included a musical, a makeover and , but we were limited by the size of our group and the lack of boys. We decided to make a thriller, and wrote a scrip. Then we compiled a shot list and made a storyboard which I later turned into a shoot schedule.We also took pictures of possible shots to evaluate how they looked, and in this way very effectively planned out what we would shoot, and what technical codes we would use.

We tried to take to avoid continuity errors by using shot/reverse shot, and by not crossing the line. However, we had trouble keeping the lighting continious whilst trying to follow the conventions of the thriller genre by having dark moody lighting. We had a PAG light but in 2 shots we had no one to hold it, as we only had 3 members in our group. However we got round this by having me holding the PAG light in my hand whilst we were filming OTS, but the shadows were not in the exact same place as they were in the CUs. On a more positive note, the small PAG light did create dramatic shadows especially in the LA MCUs and CUs of the killer, which made her seem more threatening and evil.We obeyed the rule of thirds in our compostion, and the 180 degree rule. We also had an establishing shot which immeadiately helped the audience to identify the setting, a little of the narative and get some idea of character, and we tried to get matches on action.

3.What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
The technology we used to complete this task included; a Canon 3C30, tripod, and PAG light, and for editing we used Adobe Premiere Pro. The PAG light was useful for creating shadows as in the LA MCUs of the killer and the CUs of the victim, which helped us to follow the conventions of the genre and produce good quality footage. We used it because while we wanted the room we were filming in to be dark, we wanted to end up with good footage where you could actually see what was going on. The tripod enabled us to keep the camera steady so our shots were clearer and the audience weren't distracted by all the excess movement, but equally we had to remove the camera from the tripod for some shots such as the CU of the killer's feet and the pan from the killers POV.

4.What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
Originally we had planned to have the killer waiting in the room and the victim bursting in on them, but we swapped this around when we realized that this would mean the victim would be framed in a HA while the villain (who was supposed to be sitting on a chair) would be framed in a LA. Another restiction we had was the space we were shooting in, as it was a small edit suite. This limited the types of shots we could do and consquently there aren't many LSs in our film. It also meant we couldn't film any OTS shots from the victim's side as they were against the wall and there wasn't enough space. Another restraint was the number of people in our group, as we often had only one team member who wasn't in shot, so we often had to do several jobs at once. We tried to plan as sequence that contained all the nessecary requirements.
While filming we had the door of the edit suite open which posed problems as there was another group filimng in the classroom adjacent to it, which meant that we had to decide which group would film at what times and when to be silent so as not to disturb one another.
We watched all the shots so see in what take the actress's delivery was the best, and in which ones the composition was right and we had made any continuity mistakes. Some takes we couldn't use as there was a bit of equipment visible, or there was movement in the background of the shot. We didn't realize that in our OTS shots from the killer's POV the tripod was in frame, so we couldn't use all those shots, which was a shame as they made the victim look really small and helpless.

5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you have done differently?
I think our sequence was successful in conveying the thriller genre, and I think that our matches on action were good, such as when the killer opens the door. The narrative is also very clear, and I think we were effective in following genre conventions and creating enigma and suspense. I think our lighting worked well (for instance in  the clenching the fist shot there is a silhouetted effect), and our quick cuts help maintain a fast pace throughout, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. The fade to black at the end was also satisfactory as it connoted to the audience of the victim being killed and time passing, and the fade in from black at the beginning of the sequence foreshadows the death to come and makes the scene more mysterious. We also used CUs well in the shot where the killer clenches their fist, and in the shots showing the killer and the victim's emotion, bu particurlarly in the CU of the killer's feet. This was effective as our master shot as it gave a sense of space and indicated that the killer had the power and the victim was helpless. The beginning of our sequence had lots of movement, starting with a MS pan which we cut back to after the LS wide of the room, which created a frantic, and forboding atmosphere.

However there were a lot of things we could improve, including my acting which could have been better, especially since as I have a lisp I couldn't pronounce 'breath' properly. There are a few continuity errors, like between the shots where I enter the room, to the one where I am saying 'Did you think you could run away from me' my position changes slightly.
On some of the shots of the victim we zoomed in slightly, but it was quite a fast zoom, normally about half way through the shots instead of a constant steady zoom, which looked slightly odd, and most of our shots were MCUs or CUs so we could have used a wider range of shot types.
As you can see from the photo storyboard below, we planned our shots out extensively, however we didn't manage to film all the shots we had hoped for, and if I had to re do it I would give each shot an allocated time to be filmed in so we didn't get behind schedule and didn't continue redoing the same shots.

6. 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?

I learnt how to effectively plan a shoot, and it was very educational trying to make the shoot schedule, and even harder trying to keep on time, so I do think my time keeping and planning skills have improved, whih will be useful for future shoots. It was also useful putting the theory we had learnt in class into practise, such as the 180 degree rule, which I can now apply to future projects, as well as learning what shots work or not. Trying out the technology like the PAG light also helped us experiment with different elements of the cinematography, and I have a greater awareness of the possibilities open to me during production. It was good to revise my knowledge on editing and shooting, and I feel that I will be more prepared for completing my coursework later on in the year.