Main Task: Set Brief

The titles and opening of a new teen horror film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

What did you learn from the experience of filming the footage required for your preliminary task? What went well and what could have been done better?

As a group I felt that we learnt quite a lot from the experience of filming the footage. The first thing we learnt was that the storyboard is vitally important to the filming process as it allows you to be able to film the shots quickly but also ensure they're good quality. If the storyboard isn't detailed enough then you will miss out shots, or not know the location which could mean searching for your locations. We also learnt that we must film all of our shots in landscape view so that the footage fills the whole screen rather than having black stripes on the outside. The location planning is also really important as well, as we found that we were searching for locations because our location planning was not thorough enough which had an effect on the quality of the footage as we were under pressure from the limited time. Another thing that we need to consider is the continuity throughout our filming, there was a circumstance where we realised that we had shut the door on one shot but not on any of the others which meant that we had to shoot the scene again which had an effect on the continuity of the film as the angle on the over the shoulder shot was varied. 

What is the difference between pre-production, production and post-production?

Pre-production is all the work and planning that is required before the collection of the footage. This consists of planning your locations, your camera shots and film shots and finally your casting. This is used to make the filming as easy as possible and enables you to film as quickly and efficiently as possible. Production is the process of the filming. After you have finished with production this then enables you to be able to begin post-production. This entails editing the footage that you have collected into something that makes sense and has continuity.

How easy did you find editing in iMovie? Explain at least 4 different skills or techniques that you learnt during this process. 

I found editing in iMovie a lot easier then what I anticipated, I thought that editing would be challenging. I found the editing software relatively simplistic and useable. One skill I learnt whilst using iMovie is how to insert titles into a piece of film. I learnt how to insert music into a film and how to edit the length of the music so it plays over the footage correctly. I also learnt how to mute background audio that I don't want on the footage which is very useful as we filmed in a particularly busy area. Another skill I learnt was how to cut and edit raw footage in order to make a film which made sense.

What is continuity editing?

Continuity editing is a style of editing which ensures that everything flows with a continuous style. It ensures that if a shot cuts to another shot then it makes sense and that it doesn't skip a shot, for example somebody opens a door and then a shot shows somebody walking up to a door.

What do the following terms mean; a) match on action, and b) shot / reverse shot

Match on action is when the camera perspective changes from one shot to another, but the scene has a continuous flow and makes sense. Shot/reverse shot is a filming technique where a character is shown looking at one character and then the other character is shown looking back towards the other character. When using shot/reverse shot you must consider the 180 degree rule so that the characters aren't shown to be on the same side.

Analyse your preliminary task as a piece of continuity editing. What are its strengths and what are its weaknesses. You may find it useful to include targeted screen shots (cmd+shift+4)to illustrate the points that you make.

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My First Edit; iMovie Review

During my first test edit I learned a wide range of new skills and abilities within the iMovie software. iMovie is Apples simple movie editing software which allows consumers to create a generic piece of film but have a certain degree of quality about it.

The first skill I learnt whilst using the software was learning how to alter the length of raw footage in order to achieve the right amount of footage you need and the amount you need for it to make sense and to have continuity. This skill is important because without it the movie wouldn't make sense and the filming would be a lot more difficult, as you would have to film the precise amount of film. You also need to be able to use this technique because if you are going to includr music then you need to know how long the piece of music or sound effect would need to be in order for it to be synced. This skill was particularly important when it came to the 'knock knock' joke as I had to ensure that the joke had continuity and that the shot, reverse shot was implemented correctly otherwise the task wouldn't meet its requirement.

The next skill I learnt was how to drag footage into other collected footage in order to make the film. This skill is important as it is the most essential part to creating a film with continuity and to have a degree of quality. Without this skill then there wouldn't be a film.

Through editing I have also learnt that filming requires a lot of effort so that the continuity of the film is correct. The editing also really highlights the importance of the planning process. The storyboard is vital as it means that you can film quickly and be able to know your shots. If the raw footage quality isn't  very good then your editing will very minimal.

Planning:Casting

This is Harrison, we considered Harrison to be unsuitable for our film as we don't think he has the level of maturity and the level of acting skills that we require for the film.

This Marshal, we deemed Marshal as inappropriate for the film as we thought he wouldn't take the role seriously and would hinder the progress of the filming.

This is Josh, we considered josh as unsuitable for filming as we thought he might not speak clearly enough for the viewers to understand and may have an effect on the quality of the film.

This is Jerin, we considered Jerin to be unsuitable for the film as she wasn't confident enough for the film and we wanted someone who would be confident and willing to be in our film.

This is Matt, we thought Matt would be suitable for our film as  he would be mature enough for our film as he studies media which means he would have experience in the subject, this means he could have input into the film and would understand what he would need to do in order to make the film look professional.