Preliminary Task Evaluation

Preliminary Task Evaluation

The 180 degree rule is a method that ensures a form of continuity in a scene. It makes sure that the actors are always facing the correct way. If you break the 180 degree rule it will seem like the actors are facing the same way as each other even though they’re looking in opposite directions. There is an axis (dotted line) that runs down the centre of the scene (through the centre of the actors and or objects) and the camera should always be kept on one side of the axis to ensure the rule isn’t broken. We incorporated this into ours during and just before the match on action shot. This is the pinnacle of our scene so we used this shot here to make it look even more impressive.

Match on action is an editing technique where it cuts from one shot to another that matches the same action that was being performed previously. For example, in our preliminary task there is a match on action shot revolving around a phone being handed over. As James, one of our actors, passes the phone over to Harry, the other actor, it cuts as their hands make contact so the shot changes to show Harry pulling away with the phone. By carrying over an action into multiple shots it creates a visual bridge and gives the impression of continuous time, even though they may have been shot at different times during the shooting process.

An eye line match is when a character is looking at something. As well as this it can be used to confirm what someone is looking at. For example, if a character is looking off screen out a window then there will be two shots. One of the character looking off screen, then another of whatever it is they are looking at. The eyeline of the actor must match what they’re looking at whether it be another person and or an object. We have used this as James is backing up the stairs whilst Harry confronts him about the phone. We do this through two different shots, one from behind James and the other to the side of both of them.

A shot-reverse-shot is where a character is looking at another character and then the other character is seen looking back at the first character, this is often done using over the shoulder shots and is most commonly used when there is dialogue between the characters.

The filming process for our group didn’t go as well as we’d have liked, this is not due to members of our group not having the knowledge of what to do but because a member of the group, who had all our work, decided to drop the subject. By doing this, we lost all our previous work and ideas and had to start again. This meant that we had to plan and film it all in the space of a couple of hours. The idea is generally the same but due to our lack of a storyboard we did miss out a shot-reverse-shot from the final cut. The actual filming was very smooth however, we had no interruptions as we specifically chose our location to be quiet and secluded and it was just that. We had a general idea of the shots we wanted and how they should look after our first attempt as we could essentially refine our idea further and they were more successful this time round. We got a good range of shots that add meaning and context to the film. We took multiple takes of each scene to make sure that we got one that’d work and look good in the final cut, this meant that we wouldn’t have to go out and film even more scenes in a rush because they weren’t good enough.

I learnt a lot about Adobe Premiere as I’ve never used it before. I’ve always edited anything on Sony Vegas on a PC and not a MAC. I learn how to cut clips down to the time frame necessary, add transitions, titles, change the lighting levels & contrast as well as change the time scale of some of the shots so they are now in slow motion in comparison to what they were before. This will help me to edit anything in the future more successfully and to a higher standard than I already have done.