Preliminary Task Essay

What have you learnt in your preliminary task in terms of cameras, editing, use of sound, practical issues and establishing meaning through film?

In my preliminary task, I was expected to make a short film of a person walking into a room, having a conversation opposite another person, and walking out of the room again. From this task, I learned many new skills about the use of a camera and different camera angles, and I learned how to edit and cut a film on Final Cut Express, an Apple Mac application. I found filming my preliminary task enjoyable and I feel much more confident using a camera now, after all of the things I learned. There were also mistakes made from which I learned from and amended.

In terms of cameras, I learnt about the 180 degree rule, which in the process of filming, I did not break the elements of it. I also included over the shoulder shots in my film so I picked up new skills like this, and improved my knowledge of various different types of shots to make the film more effective. Over the shoulder shots allowed the shot to focus on the particular actor speaking at that time. I learned about continuity of the film, so I filmed Lizzie walking towards the door, from the outside of the room, and then filmed her coming through the door on the inside of the room, so it looked professional. I also learnt how to use the zoom button on the camera in certain parts of my film and I realised how difficult it was to keep the camera straight and still when it was being handheld during the zoom. At times I had to re-take parts of the film where I was using the handheld camera because the shot came out very shaky and it looked too obvious that a handheld camera was being used. I learned how to use a tripod, to make my camera shots steady and still, which I mostly used during filming and I learned how to re-adjust the height of the tripod so it could suit the type of shot being filmed. Operating the actual camera was also something new I learned because it was a touch screen pad which I had to get used to, and I learned how to rewind, fast forward, play, pause and overwrite the film. A limitation I had with the camera, whilst I was filming, was that the battery level was too low for me to film so I had to constantly keep the camera on charge whilst filming, so I had to select a certain location around the school which had plug sockets around the whole room. I used the ICT 2 room because there were plug sockets on every wall of the room and outside of the room so I could film Lizzie on the outside too. Another camera shot I learnt was the match on action shot where the camera steadily followed the person walking into the room – I found this shot the easiest.

I learned most about editing because I had never done that before and it introduced a lot of new skills. I learnt how to use the programme Final Cut Express to edit my film and it was quite difficult for me to get my head around, but after watching a few tutorials on the Apple website, I understood how to edit my film. Final Cut Express allowed me to cut parts out of my film that were not needed, and I could shorten some takes. I also managed to join my whole film together so it flowed as one piece. Editing was quite time consuming and I had to come to the Media Studies room at a few lunchtimes to finish of my editing in time. I found editing fun and I learnt a lot about it so next time I use Final Cut Express I will be able to use it confidently. It was tricky to upload the videos from the camera on to the Mac but in the end, we managed to do it and it was difficult to view all of the different windows for Final Cut Express at the same time so we could watch our edits and see what the actual piece would look like.

In my preliminary task, I did not include sound apart from the actresses’ voices having a conversation and I had to ensure that they were speaking clearly and loudly so that the camera could pick up their voices well. I had to chose certain times of the day for filming around the school because I could not film during lunch times because the corridors would be noisy and pupils would be coming in and out of the room, so I chose a time where all pupils would be in their lessons so that it was quiet for my filming to take place. I learned about how sound impacted on the film, because one subtle giggle could make the film seem very unprofessional.

I learnt how there are always practical issues whilst filming, and sometimes you do not notice them unless you look back at the film, for example, when I filmed Lizzie coming in though the glass door, I could see my reflection in the door which was noticed in the film when we watched it back so I had to re-film Lizzie coming in, making sure that my reflection could not be seen. There were also other practical issues which made me learn how filming is quite difficult when you are trying to get it perfect. I had to make two different room changes, because one room we used was too small to create effective shots of the two actresses and the other room was not set out correctly for us to film in it. Also, as mentioned before, the camera had to remain on charge throughout the whole filming process which was hard because we could only film from positions near plug sockets. The tri-pod also became a practical issue when I was filming because it could not reach the correct height for my film, so I had to change the positions of my actresses. There were also issues when I told Lizzie to sit forward in her chair but it resulted in her head being in the way of the computer screen, so we had to re-film.

I learned how to establish meaning through film, for example I wrote a script to portray the storyline to the audience, so the actresses were acting out a certain story. It made the film more meaningful instead of having them just walking into the room. I used props like the computer to portray the storyline and we used good team work throughout the filming which was a good skill to have because it made the filming a lot less stressful. I also learned that good acting helps the film to look more professional, and sometimes I used too many exaggerated facial expressions which looked unrealistic.

Overall, I learnt a lot when I was doing my preliminary task in terms of cameras, editing, sound, practical issues and establishing meaning through film.