Final Video

Here my final two minute video production:
My film is a thriller mainly for teenagers with an aim to create drama and lots of tension. This thriller film is called 'Visions', we wanted to keep the title simple and to the point.

Costume for two minute production:

In our two-minute film we only had two characters who were going to be filmed and therefore we did not need to do much thinking about the costume. We wanted the costume to be casual clothing and to look very natural such as something that would be worn on a daily basis and be suitable to go on a walk through a park. Therefore we let the characters decide for themselves on the day to keep it simple and as realistic as if it was an actual situation. They wore a coat, boots, jeans, plain tops and scarves. This kept it very basic. The clothing was also made up with dark colours which looked really effective when the lights from the traffic lit up the characters when walking down the dark road. The darkness also made the atmosphere more mysterious as you were not able to see where they were in comparison to the person following them. We did not necessarily want the costume to give an impression as to the personalities of the characters as this was not necessary for our film.

Planning for 2 minute task

In our two-minute task we needed to do a lot of planning in order to help us prepare for it. Here are some notes that we did as a group in our media books.

These notes were very simplistic and just basic ideas of what location we could film at. I feel that as a group we could have done a lot more planning in order to make sure the final outcome was a lot better than what we did do. However we struggled to arrange and talk amongst ourselves which meant one person within the group had to take control and dominate what was going to happen and what decisions were being made.

Storyboard for 2 minute task

Here is the storyboard that I created for my two-minute task. All of us in the group made an individual one which in turn were all very similar so we combined the ideas.

The first section of the storyboard is the first shot that we would use in our film. This is to capture swings moving in the wind with the sound of the chains creaking, as well as a round about spinning by itself. We could not use the idea of a round about because there wasn't one in the park that we filmed at, however we did use the idea of the swings and this worked really well as a result of creating tension and grabbing the audience.

The next camera shot is a zoom in on the swings, as the swing gets higher in the air and moves quicker, but it is unknown as to what is causing it. We simplified this idea as it was very hard to achieve it and make it look realistic without filming any unnecessary objects such as a person pushing the swing with force and getting in the video. We also wanted the swing to stop suddenly and for footprints to appear in the sand. This was very difficult to do and therefore we decided to leave it out but try to work with this idea as best we could.

This part was not then possible as we changed our idea when we were filming in order to improve the overall film. We originally wanted to follow the footprints across the sand and into the grass, soon followed by an establishing shot of the park. However we did this panning shot at the very beginning of the film which I felt looked a lot better than what it would have done if we had included it after the shots of the footprints in the sand.

The camera shot then disappears into some trees to create some mystery and anxiety. We did include this shot and it worked really well along some new ideas that we thought of whilst we were filming.

This storyboard really helped us to plan our production as we found it difficult to gather our ideas and know what to do. Therefore by individually creating a storyboard we were all able to draw out our own ideas of what we felt would work well in a thriller film and then we were able to combine the best ones in order to make our film. It also helped us to figure out the type of shots we were going use and which ones would be more suitable. If we were to improve our storyboards we would make them a lot more detailed and make certain of the ideas. Although we changed our ideas when we were filming our storyboards still stayed relevant and were very useful. The ideas that we all had were included in the film as we found that they were the strongest ideas. It was very easy to adapt our original idea, this is because we had left plenty of room to improve on it and we were not definite on what we were to do until we went out and filmed. Our target audience is teenagers as we felt this film was perfectly suitable because of the suspense and tension that is built throughout it. This film is a 15 classification. We chose this because later on in the film there may be use of strong language and scenes of violence and a terrifying nature.

Prezi presentation - Evaluation:

This is my evaluation:

http://prezi.com/qrxttop_u48e

Here is my prezi Powerpoint presentation that I made in order to make a detailed evaluation of my two-minute production task.

This part of my prezi presentation talks about a continuity error that we realised we had made after filming and how we managed to fix it by rearranging the clips so that it was all in a good and realistic sequence.

This section discusses how well we thought we worked together as a group and what we could have done to make a better team, and the problems we had during our production and how we overcame them.

In this part of my presentation I talk about the different parts of the film and why we chose to do what we did as well as how we went about deciding the location we were to use.

This part of the PowerPoint presentation talks about the costume that was chosen and how we kept it simple and casual in order to fit in perfectly with our film and also how we did our planning and what we did to help us plan.

Here are some evaluation questions that I have answered in as much detail as possible in order to discuss why we made certain decisions and who we target in terms of our audience.

Video Clips of 3 relevant Thriller films:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMZwQulT1Q]

The Crazies. This film is a really good film and I thought it would be good to use. This film is interesting, different but also very predictable in terms of the plot. You can easily guess what is going to happen at the end of the film. For example you can predict that everyone dies because of the chemicals in the water pipes that they were drinking from but the two main characters would survive and live to tell the tale. This is what I don't like in a film because I want to be surprised by the ending. It was also very unrealistic. The storyline was very exaggerated and by all means you would know that this would never happen. By watching this film we realised that we do not want our film to portray such a predictable and unreal manner, what I mean by this is that the film we make has to be very believable and a potential real life event. Therefore we used this film as a base to achieve the look and effect that we wanted. We tried to make our film as realistic as possible but also leaving suspense and not making the story obvious in terms of what was going to happen in the line of events. The graphics are clever in this film creating an effective explosion and so real settings in which the film took place in. The use of special effects to show a character being hung in the car wash as they were trying to escape worked really well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eEauXSQIA]

Awake. The realism in this film is true and effective. This is what we liked about the film. The events that were shown in this film were true and could be a major possibility in actual daily situations. We took the idea of realism from this film and included the concept in our own film, making the events more likely to happen in a daily routine. For instance a patient being awake during a very risky operation. Although this is very unlikely to happen on a regular basis, it is still a major possibility that it could happen. The film was very cleverly made with good actors and clearly put together well as a film. It was the type of thriller that kept you on the edge of your seats whilst wondering what is going to happen. This type of suspense worked really well as everyone is curious as to what the possibilities could be, and will they be what they are expected to?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZXtB80p1I]

Shutter Island. As a film it does not give a good sense of reality as it becomes to far fetched, however as a thriller this film was amazing. The drama involved in it was not very predictable as there were many unexpected twists, the graphics were clever and the amount of tension that was purely built through the amazing acting skills and the tension music in the background. For example the main character walking through a long dark corridor looking for something but didn't quite know what he should expect. This meant that the audience is in the same vote and they also did not know what they should expect or how bad the consequences of his actions would be.

Images from two minute production:

The beginning of our film started with a panning shot around the local park in order to establish the full setting for the audience to see.

The camera then captured the swings moving in the wind.

We then zoomed in order to create more suspense and tension as if something or someone was lurking there, and not necessarily just the wind.

We then moved in closer towards the sand and followed it across and out of the sand pit for the extra suspense and mystery.

The two characters in our film then casually walked across the park and in front of the cameras on purpose. We thought this would create realism and look effective.

The characters then walked through into another section of the park. This shot was taken to make a clear variation. It was shot from the ground so that only the legs and feet could be caught on camera. This worked really well and looked good.

The camera filmed from inside the park looking out through the trees. This looked really effective and almost although someone was running through the park and following the two characters.

This was a shot that was used to break up repetition of running and captured the cars driving along the main road and as they disappeared up the road.

Here is a shot of the characters running from what they thought was someone following at the sound of footsteps.

The camera cut to in front of the characters. Here was a continuity error as in this shot they weren't running still, they were walking and therefore we had to move this clip forward so that we could still use it. This worked equally as well.

Here is the end shot in which the camera moves towards the car as we hear the characters screaming. We did this so that the audience is left in suspense and doesn't know what quite has happened down the dark pathway.

Evaluation of Two Minute Task

In this task we were aiming to create a thriller movie scene. We wanted this scene to be precise what I mean by this is that we wanted the camera angles to be correct and for the lighting to be right and look really effective as well as to create lots of tension and leave the audience curious as to what happened next. We thought that this was the best way of attracting our target audience which was mainly for the younger generation. Younger people and teenagers like films that keep them on edge and keep them wondering. They also like the films to scare them and give them some form of adrenalin rush, as well as portray a good sense of reality. This is why we chose to make a thriller film. The setting of our opening scene was at a local park and the surrounding area. We chose this because at the time of night we filmed it began to get dark and the trees and equipment on the park formed creepy imagery and lots of shadowing and tension. This is typically seen in many thriller or horror films. I felt this location was perfect for our scene, we also had traffic passing by which helped add to the atmosphere as it was extra noise in the background as well as the brightness of the car lights and other existing lights that we could pick up. In this opening scene we did not want to pinpoint particular characters and therefore tried to keep it to a silhouette figure as much as we could. We also felt this helped create some tension as you are not quite sure what to expect from both characters. We used a camera stand in order to get a panning shot of the surroundings; this was a good way to introduce the setting in which the events take place. We varied all of our camera shots as much as we could to make it interesting and as skillful as possible, whilst also making it look as effective as we could. This was the real importance, because without it looking effective and if it looked too precise and staged it would not create the feeling that we are trying to send across to our audience. The main theme was the reality of this actually happening in a day-to-day situation.

We had several problems in our task. Firstly we really struggled to come up with a suitable and interesting idea that we could use. We all created a storyboard which we thought would be the perfect idea and then moulded them together. This was the easiest way in which we could all agree on a specific scene choice. We had further problems when trying to film. In our group none of us are the closest of friends and we all live too far away from each other in order to just meet up and film. Considering we were filming at night we could not find a suitable location safe enough for all of us to travel to. In the end two of us took the task into our hands and filmed, leaving the other two in the group to help edit and make any adjustments and change what they wanted. This meant that everyone could take part in the group. Whilst editing we struggled to adjust the lighting and contrast for the entire film, this was because we filmed as it got dark and therefore some scenes are lighter than others. This looked out-of-place and spoilt the filming. In the end we managed to change it and make it look the same colouring and shade.

In this task there are several things that we could have done better as a team and during the creation of our scene. Firstly I feel that we should have practiced our techniques of filming a lot more so that we were certain about what camera shots we wanted to achieve. Secondly we all needed to work better as a team by fully co-operating and discussing what we needed to do as a group and individually in order to make our film a success. This was one of our weakest points.

In conclusion I am pleased with our final outcome, we tried our best and created a film to the best of our ability even if we did lack enthusiasm. However next time we need to expand our horizon and really think carefully about what we are going to do, who is going to be involved, what props and equipment we will need and most of all the most realistic location.

Problems with two minute film:

When trying to film it became very difficult in the location as it was so dark. It was vital that it was dark so that we could successfully create tension and atmosphere to make it scary and gripping. When trying to capture certain shots such as shadows and car reflections is was difficult on the camera I attempted to use, as it did not pick up any of it. Therefore I became restricted as I had no other camera to use. The weather was also a problem as it was so cold it became hard to concentrate on what was being filmed because we were so focused on how cold our hands were. Also is began to sleet and rain which became a further distraction. As each one of us in our group do not live close enough together to just simply go out and film, this became a struggle.

Ideas for the location:

Here is one location idea for our two minute production. This is a local park which would work well and be perfect to shoot our thriller at.

Here is a shot from another local park that we could possibly film at. This park is full of climbing apparatus that could be used to create a great deal of tension and atmosphere.

I went out around my local area and got some pictures of two good locations that we could use. They are quiet areas but tension and atmosphere can easily be created by the use of props and objects in those surroundings.

Importance of Opening Credits

The opening credits of many films vary. They mainly begin by setting the scene and allowing the audience to start painting a picture of what may happen. This may be done by an establishing shot of the setting or even a Birdseye view shot. This then moves to some form of close up whether it is a characters home or the characters facial expression at the time. This is very effective as it is a gradual process which slowly draws the audience in to keep them watching. It is important that the scene it set to make clear of where the action is taking place, and it is also important to introduce the main characters to stop any confusion within the first few seconds. Most film openings will show a clip and then display the title of the film. This is a good idea as the audience's attention is held for that short period of time and then the title is shown. This makes the audience want to continue watching if they like what they've seen.

My task in the two minute production

The plot of this two minute production is going to revolve around the genre of a thriller film. The main outline of this film is going to be based on two friends walking home from an afternoon out. The lighting will change from light to dark and you will be able to see the gradual process in which the changes are made as the sun goes down.The idea of this film is that no-one is quite sure where the plot is going to go, and therefore it will end abruptly leaving suspense and many questions to be answered. This is what we want to achieve as we do not want to conclude the film in the two minutes that it is watched, we want our audience to want to continue watching to find out what is going to happen in the end.

In this task I am going to be in charge of the location in which the film is set, therefore I will look into various places that are close and would look realistic to film at. The factors that will need to be taken into consideration when thinking of realism are: is there actual apparatus that work properly and to our satisfaction and use, will the location need more props in order to make it look like a park, is the area big enough to use to film the entire two minutes or will we run out of land to film in? Finally the points of the park that will be used to create the atmosphere that we want, will there be areas that we can use to film added suspense? I will also consider how practical the location is, by this I mean how safe the park is to film at, are the weather conditions going to affect the safety of the actors? Also how suitable the apparatus are and are they working like they should and safe to use if needed. Finally it is vital that it must create the kind of emotion and empathy that we are trying to make the audience feel, which is anxiety, tension and get them on the edge of their seats. We also want them to consider how they will feel if they were in that position themselves.

The different sectors of the park that we are considering using are a mixture of casual areas that you would easily walk through alone as well as areas that you wouldn't dare visit on your own. We want to use the area of the park that includes the swings, as well as show how empty the park is by showing the children's play area. We also want to include a clip where the actors walk through into a creepy and mysterious farmers field. We will then lead off down a long and dark pathway in which the only source of light is when the cars travel along the roadside. These are the perfect parts of the park that we felt would create the most tension because the expectancy of anything bad happening is so low. We also thought by using a park it would give the feeling of safety, this is because at a park you assume that nothing bad will happen due to the fact that young children play freely there, we want to people to reconsider the assumptions that they may have made before.

My first thoughts about using this local park is that it would help make the film look really effective. This park has areas in which we could use to make the scene creepy and mysterious, for instance a set of swings. The use of these swings is creepy because no-one is going to be near the swings, and therefore we are going to use the wind to our advantage to make the swings move. This will leave the audience to question whether it is the wind or in fact could there be someone in the area that we do not know about. Also the use of the long pathway which is only lit up by the light of the cars will also work well in terms of creating tension. This is because we will only be able to see objects that are being caught in the reflection of the cars and therefore the imagery will not be clear enough in that split second to work out precisely what is happening at that moment in time.

Another option that we considered for the location is following the two actors home from a night out in the city. We thought that the use of footsteps from people walking in the same direction could create anxiety if the pace changed, and for the footsteps to get louder and if there are a lot of people close behind the audience would be unable to work out who is following the two friends. This idea is a lot more difficult and complicated. This is because the park is deserted which is unlike a park, so the absence of people makes it more frightening. Whereas by filming publicly this will make it difficult to film with people getting in the way who you don't want to include in the film and also it could make a lot of continuity errors. For example if we were to film one person who we wanted to be the suspect they could suddenly disappear from our sight, as well as the risk of people shouting and making unnecessary sounds which may ruin the footage.

A possible plot for the opening two minutes

In this coursework task we are so far struggling to decide a final plot, however we know the genre and have a collection of ideas that we need to put together. This idea involves a local park at night. The camera starts with a close up of a round about side angle spinning around really fast by itself, slowly the camera moves out showing the entire round about, the shot then changes to a panning shot of the swings then capturing the noise of the chains creaking and the wind blowing. The camera closes in again as the swing moves quicker and higher in the air, showing that there could not possibly be anyone there. The swing comes to a sudden stop, as mysterious foot prints appear in the sand. The camera then follows the trail of footprints until they stop and disappear into the grass. There then is a camera shot showing the entire surroundings and what is in the park. The camera from that point then explores some interesting but nerve-wracking trees through a big gap. This is the only idea that we have at the moment, but we still need to fully develop our ideas further and think of a concrete plot that we are going to create. The main beginning shots that I have discussed above will be the types of shots represented in the opening credits, this part of the film is full of suspense and drama, therefore it will help to draw in a bigger and more interested audience. The main storyline of the film is about two best friends who are on their way home from a good evening out when dramatic consequences happen which resorts to all kinds of terror and misery by the end of it. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you wondering.

New Task: Opening two minutes of a film

In this task preparing for the opening credits of a film I want the genre to be a thriller. The beginning can be built up, for instance hearing the uncontrollable sounds in the far distance and background, or the sound of a swing moving as if someone has just jumped off it. It would have to be filmed at night in order to get the real effect of tension and atmosphere. The limitation of light means that you can never be entirely sure of what is lurking or who is about. Music could be played in the background to help build up good suspense as the names of the producers scroll down the screen. This will then begin to create the feeling of a lack of control and all the suspense. The filming would have to be effectively done in order to achieve all the tension and atmosphere. What I mean by this is that the camera shots are going to have to be very precise in order to capture the correct amount of light to shine on what objects that we want to be vaguely seen by our audience. Also we must ensure that we have good support of the camera and hold it properly as we do not want unnecessary blurring or distortion, we also must make sure that the pace either stays the same throughout the film or if it changes, it changes in the correct order and at the correct time. If this is not done properly then the film will loose the affect that we are trying to achieve, this is because the film being filmed at night time makes it a lot harder and not as simple to film as we are very limited in terms of visible sources.

Images taken whilst editing Preliminary Task

This photograph is part of the end scene. It shows the difference in the black and white colouring, as well as the difference in the normal film and the flowers being blurred out.

This image is at the beginning of the film. This is the introduction of the film. The sign spirals in then revealing the original poster on the door. This looks good because it creates some originality as we do not quite know what the spirals are going to lead to until the poster is unleashed, meaning the audience can start to piece together what might happen in this short film and I also feel this makes the beginning a lot more interesting to watch .

This image shows how we cut off the main character's head, and how the feeling and emotion can be lost without seeing the expression on his face as he storms out of the room.

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

In our Preliminary task we had to make a thirty to forty second film someone had to walk into a room and sit at a table with another person, and then leave the room again. We wanted our film to be different from the usual and a romantic comedy. We decided to create a blind date scene in a restaurant with a hidden twist. This twist was that the blind date turned out to be a man rather than a woman and the date was a complete mix up with the wrong name. By the end of it the guy storms out of the room disgusted that he has met a man.

Our Preliminary task was successful in the end. In this task we planned to make it as realistic as we possibly could. The main idea was that the character at the table was a man who looked like a girl, but the blind date who entered the room did not know this to begin with. Once the character has sat at the table with the 'woman' he believes it to be, he begins to question 'her'. He soon notices a name badge saying 'Jamie' and not 'Jannie' and realises that he appears to have facial hair. He then later throws the flowers he was clasping on the floor and storms out of the room. The genre of our film was comedy, and I feel that we portrayed this in a creative way. Our film makes you want to watch on and find out what is going to happen next. In the film we included eye level shots when filming, we did this because we thought it would bring the audience to the actor's level as they would be able to see exactly what the actor could. We felt that this would also make them feel more involved in the film almost like there were there themselves seeing it first hand. I think that this worked really well as the camera was kept in good focus and was well aligned through the duration of time that it was kept at eye level. Another camera shot that we used was shot reverse shot when focusing in on the conversation between the two characters. We wanted the audience to be able to see the facial expressions clearly when the character's were talking to each other, without the facial expressions the film would also loose some of its humour as this is what made the dialogue funny. Finally we included a 180 degrees shot around the table, this was so that the audience would get a full insight as to what was in the surrounding area and the props being used to create an effective setting to be in.

We had a few problems that were noticed after the filming process, once we had uploaded the video. One of the problems that we had was when we were filming an end shot we cut half of the actor's head off, mainly leaving focus on the torso. This was done with out even realising that it was a problem. This meant that the expression on the character's face could not be made clear to the audience of how he was feeling at that moment. Therefore the sense of emotion and feeling towards the end of the scene was lost. We solved this problem by cutting the end of the film so that is finished before the head was cut off. Another problem that we found was that our 180 degrees shot wasn't the full 180 degrees. We followed the eyes of the main character around a table, but we did not do the full turn. This could be easily solved by going around the entire table showing a clear shot of the opposing character already sat at the table. We will use this for future reference when filming a 180 degrees shot and will make sure that it is the correct angle. When the actors spoke in the film it was not as clear or as loud as it could have been, and therefore when you watch the film you have to listen carefully. This could have been done better by the actors speaking louder and clearer, as well as the video camera being even closer to the actors. We discovered a further problem once we watched the film again realising that we had a lot of unnecessary items that were in the background, for example, bags that held the props and people who were watching us record the film.

The setting in which we filmed looked realistic but it could have been improved if it was set somewhere else, such as a place off the school site. We used many props in order to make it look as real as possible to the audience but I felt that it still did not express where they were meant to be. At the beginning of the film we focused on a sign on the door which we made on the computer, however we needed to make the sign look a lot more professional and realistic in order to improve the beginning of the film. Also the door did not look like a restaurant door as you could clearly tell that it was a classroom door, I felt that we should have filmed at an actual restaurant to improve on our final result. As the main character entered, this was a form of introduction as to what was going to take place in the room. When we were editing we had to order each scene into the sequence that we wanted them to appear in. This meant either cutting pieces out and shortening them, or adding the scene in more than once.

Finished Preliminary Task

We have finished editing and improving our film. We are happy with the end product although it could have been improved if certain things had been done to prevent errors in the first place. From this task we can learn that we need to be a lot more specific about what we want to happen and to make it clear. We also need to make sure we film from lots of different angles such as from the front, back and the sides. This will allow us to have a range of film that we can edit and put together in various ways and make the best of the film we are making. I feel that we needed to do a lot more planning such as if we were going to have any music, what props we would need, how we could make the scene look as realistic as possible and what we want to be said and done by the actors. We felt that by using different actors it improved the film a lot in itself. This is because we do not feel confident or good enough to be recorded as no-one in our group takes an interest in acting or performing as such.

Editing in our Preliminary Task

We are currently in the process of editing our film. We are all doing our individual edit of the film in order to improve it. We have come across some problems though. The first part of the video that we edited was that we made the entire film black and white. We felt that this looked a lot better and prevented drawing so much attention to the unnecessary background objects. Towards the end of our film the main characters head has been cut off as he leaves the room. This either needed to be re-filmed, if not cut out so that it is not noticeable. In the end we managed to cut the end so that it could not be seen or noticed in the video. When filming we got some unnecessary items in the background such as bags and people that should be there. In order to improve this we zoomed in at various parts so that they could not be seen as much, and we cut as much as we could to stop them becoming a distraction. We have carefully cut various areas of the film so that the film flows correctly and makes good sense. We ordered each scene so that it was in the correct sequence either adding it in more than once or completely cutting it out. In parts of our film we wanted to slow it down so that it did not finish as quickly, but we have struggled to do this without slowing it down too much or leaving it so fast that a scene is skipped. At the beginning of the film we had a sign as a form of an introduction saying 'blind dating inside' we edited this scene so that it twirled in a spiral then showed the original clip of it still on the door. This made it look really interesting and made the beginning a lot more eye catching and better to watch. At the end we showed a clip of the flowers laying on the floor after being knocked off. We then made it so that the flowers slowly faded out after the main character left the room. This was a good way to slowly end the video, making it clear that it was finished.

Dialogue in our Preliminary Task

In this Preliminary Task dialogue was very important, this is because we had a limited amount of time the clip had to last as well as being limited to the amount of speech that could be said. It took us a while to try and think of speech which was funny but also short and snappy so that it did not drag on for ages. The dialogue that we were originally going to get the actors to say ended up being too basic.

Actor one ( Man entering the room) : Are you Jannie? (Whispering in the secret date's ear in a calm voice)

Actor two ( The lady/man sitting at the table) : ( Nods her head delicately)

This then lead to a 180 degrees shot around the room following the footsteps of actor one. This was done so that everyone could see what he was seeing as he approached his date. This worked well allowing suspense and tension as to what he was going to end up seeing.

Actor one: ( Looks vaguely at actor two who is already sitting at the table) Are you Jannie? ( In a curious and very inquizitive tone) The bubbly blonde looking for fun?

We felt that this was funny to watch as the audience can clearly see there has been a mix up, but they are still unsure until it is confirmed.

Actor two: Do I look like a desperate blonde needing love? ( Shoving a name badge in actor one's face, looking very irritated)

There is a close up shot of the name badge showing the name 'Jamie'. This piece of dialogue was said so that a sense of anger could be felt and expressed, as well as embarrassing actor number one.

Actor one: ( Knocks the flowers off the table and stamps them into the ground) And yeah you do look rather desperate! ( Muttering under his breath and storms out feeling stupid )

End of scene.

When we created this dialogue we were unsure of how well it would work in comparison to the acting. When we started filming we realised that is wasn't working very well and didn't sound that good, therefore we let the actors put their own spin on things. In order for them to achieve this we gave them a basis of what sort of dialogue we wanted to include and the type of humour that we wanted to give to our audience. We then told them our speech and let them take it from there, they got into the acting and thought of speech that fitted perfect. The two actors who played roles in this film already had a good sense of humour and naturally knew what to say to make the film appear funny. This made our film a lot more interesting and funny as it fitted in well with the scene.

Problems in Preliminary Task

When we were filming we had some problems as but we managed to get most shots correct first time, but when we watched what we had recorded we realised that we had some unnecessary information in the background; for example objects that shouldn't be there and people in the background. We are going to try and solve this problem when we edit the film, by either blurring the background or trying to cut them out; which is going to be difficult. The only shot that became difficult was the 180 degrees shot. This was because it meant following the actor around the table at the correct pace in order to see what the actors were seeing aswell and at times the pace was either too slow or too quick. We did not manage to do a full 180 degrees shot as we did not circle the entire table, and therefore when doing our next task we will ensure that this angle has been achieved correctly. When we were planning are Preliminary task we struggled to think of dialogue, and any dialogue that we did write did not sound good or fit in with the acting. This problem was solved when we let the actors take control and personalise the language to fit the scene based on what we had told them to say. This improved our video a lot and made it a lot more interesting to watch and listen to. However the sound is not extremely clear on the video as the actors were not close enough to the camera and did not speak loud enough. The location of the film was also difficult to achieve. This is because we had to use props in order to make the scene appear realistic and believable. Props included place mats, knives and forks as well as a candle. This was to make the scene look as if it was in a restaurant.

Filming Preliminary Task

The filming of our preliminary task went well. We managed to film within a short period of time but accurately and carefully. We ended up filming in the board room of the school using the facilities as a part of our setting. We brought our own props using flowers and several items as table decoration. This looked realistic. We filmed our shots from a variation of angles so that when it came to editing the film it would make it a lot easier. We are pleased with the results that we have got so far as we feel we can use them and make good use and improvements before we get to the final film. There is three of us working together and we all contributed to the planning, filming and all the ideas.

Working in media production contexts - professional prac

1. How did you manage the group dynamics, equipment and resources, interim deadlines and the necessarily collaborative nature of film-making?

I feel that as a group we managed all of these points really well. We worked as a good team in which we all contributed to ideas, the use of props and how the film would look when its finished. All of us took part in filming the video as a rough idea even though we are not acting in the final outcome. This video rounded up the basic idea and helped us with what needed improving.

2. What health and safety and logistical problems did you solve?

The only health and safety problems that we had to solve was where the furniture was set out in the location in which we filmed. This needed to allow enough space for the actors to move without causing any injuries to themselves and for the filming to take place.

3. How did you organise your human resources - the people involved in the production?

As a group we already knew what sort of characters were needed in order to make the filming as realistic as possible, and we based this on the people we knew. This happened to be my brother and one of his close mates. They were up for acting for us, we also felt that we did not want to be acting in this film as it may not have turned out as good or looked as realistic as it could of.

4. How did you manage actors, locations, costumes and props?

The location of the filming was fairly simple, it took place at the school itself, therefore not a lot of hassle to get to or to film. The actors in the filming were close friends and a family member which meant that they could easily be contacted for when they were needed and ideas could be discussed with them if necessary. The costumes were based on the clothing that the actors already had meaning that we could use their clothing and make it fit into what we were filming. In our group we gathered the props together from what everyone was able to bring in from home, this was important to complete the filming and improve it.

Camera Shots for My Preliminary Task

This photograph is the first camera shot that will be caught on video. This shows the entrance to where the speed date will take place. This is only a rough idea of what will be seen. This photograph shows what will happen when the actor enters the door. He will stop in order to look for the table in which his date is already seated.This is what will be seen in the actor's eyes once he has entered the room. He will also see the date opposite him at the table which has not been included in this picture.This image shows what the actor will see once he is sat the table. When the film is recorded you will also be able to see the other actor opposite him. This shot will be one of the main shots and will be very important that it is done correctly. This is because it will reveal the twist and needs to be done effectively in order to work.This image will show some flowers on the floor after being knocked off the table. This is one of the closing shots.This photograph shows what the actor will do once he has entered the door. He is looking for the table in which he will be seated at with his dateThis shot shows what the actor can see when he is in the room. He will be able to see the back of the date's head which can't be seen in this picture.This image shows what the actor can see when he is seated at the table. He will also be able to see the date opposite him at the tableThis photograph shows the floor in which the flowers will be laying on once they have been knocked off the table.

Planning my Preliminary Task

In order to plan for my preliminary task, a lot of preparation is in need. The main idea for our 30 - 40 second video is going to be a blind date scene with a twist. The genre of this task is going to be comedy. The basic idea of this video will be based around the fact there has been a mix up, and the date is not what you would expect. This will add some comedy to our clip as well as show expressions of confusion and stress. In our group we created a spider diagram writing down our main ideas and planning the various points such as: costume, setting, dialogue, music and any sound effects that are going to be used. We have made a start on deciding the dialogue but are still unsure of the exact speech that we are going to use, this is because we feel that we should check it against the movement of the actors and see how it sounds on the video. We are considering using an egg timer in the background for the sound effects, this is so that we can build some tension and make the speed date seem as realistic as possible. The video is going to be set in a classroom and based around a circular table. Throughout our video we will incorporate three main camera shots: match on action, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. We have thought about how we are going to do this by filming a basic video trialling these different camera shots. As a part of our planning we have created three different storyboards that all link together, one of them is for the camera angles, movement and the dialogue.