Our preliminary task was a continuity task to film and edit a scene of a character opening a door, crossing some kind of space and sitting down or standing next to another character with whom they exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. This was in fact our brief, and so we had to create a short clip incorporating all aspects of this.
Planning
Before we could film or edit anything, we needed to plan our scene to help us understand how the clip would come together as well as to help ensure the shoot was smooth and well organised. To begin with we had to find a location to base our scene around. After a short brainstorm and walk around the school site we had decided upon our location and headed back to class to create a floor plan and to create our script. We used the internet to find a copy of the script from'The Woman In Black'. We searched through it until we came to the section we had planned to use, copied it in to a word document and edited it slightly to help it fit more effectively in to our scene. By creating a script as earl as possible it gave us time to both learn the lines as well as use the dialogue when planning the action within the scene. As we hadn't decided upon the shots yet, we began by simply sketching out the area we had chose. This was beneficial later in the creation of the storyboards as we could use the floor plan as a reference when deciding upon different kinds of shots. After this we progressed on to creating a story board to help bring all of our ideas together in to a rough outline of how the scene would progress. Storyboarding allowed to us to evaluate each shot, one after the other and think carefully about the variety of shots we would be using, such as extreme close ups and extreme long shots. As shown in the photos of the story board, the sketching of where characters would be as well as what kind of action would be happening in the shot, helped us create a scene with a variety of interesting camera angles, different kinds of shots and different action within the scene. When it came to filming, we referred back to the storyboards to remind us of what kind of shot we should be aiming to shoot as well as what action should be happening within each clip. Having done this, we then went back on to our floor plan and added where the cameras would need to be for each shot, labelling the camera with which shot in the storyboard would be filmed there, where the characters would be and where they would move to and finally the 180 degree line between the two characters. By adding this line, we could ensure that our scene would not break the 180 degree rule, as we could clearly mark on the cameras that would be filing the conversation on only one side of this line. After doing this, we practiced creating the shots we had outlined in our storyboards with the camera and the tripod. As well as making sure the 180 degree rule was upheld throughout the clip, this helped a lot when it came to filming as we didn't have to waste time trying to work out where the camera would need to be placed as we had already rehearsed the filming and placement previously. The only additional planning I would have done for this task would have been the rehearsal of the characters action within the scene. This would have aided us in ensuring the continuity and smoothness of the characters as well as allowing us to edit and refine the motion we had drafted in the storyboards.
Techniques
In our task, we used a range of techniques in both the camera work and the editing, that we had studied and looked at in lessons to help our piece come across as professional and interesting as possible. Throughout the scene we ensured the characters had both head and nose room. The degree of this changed slightly according to which character was speaking, portraying to the audience differing levels of power. This technique is used in a scene from Breaking Bad where Walter White and Gus Fring are exchanging conversation about a business proposition. In that scene headroom and nose room is shrunk according to who has more power at the time t make the character seem trapped and claustrophobic. We took inspiration from that scene and used the technique so that throughout the dialogue 'Mr. Kipps' has less headroom than 'Sam'. During the conversation part of the scene we used over-the-shoulder shots to make it clear who was talking and when. This technique is very commonly used in instances where talking and conversation happens very regularly. For instance dramas such as Hollyoaks used this technique frequently every episode. While using these over-the-shoulder shots we ensured that we didn't break the 180 degree rule. We had previously studied the importance of the 180 degree rule and understood that by abiding to it, our scene would have a stable continuity throughout and would not confuse and distort the audiences view. The camera work in our scene incorporates a variety of different shots to make the scene as interesting as possible. Extreme Long shots such as the 3rd shot and the final shot contrast with close ups such as the 4th shot and this diversity of different shots helps change the focus of the scene, providing the audience with a more in depth scene. As well as this, we used different angled shots to portray the power associated with each character. The scene that we studied from Peaky Blinders uses interesting and professional camera work to show the power of the gang in an interesting way and we wanted to emulate their use of camera work in our own scene. While editing I used a range of editing techniques to add other aspects to the scene. Throughout the scene, there is a high contrast, black and white filter applied to the shots. This adds to the piece as it highlights the bold light that we filmed in outside. The use of a high contrast filter links to the Film Noir style of thriller we have been studying in class and the chiaroscuro lighting used within it. Where as in Film Noir this create a dark tone, I simply wanted to saturate our scene, linking to the content of the dialogue. Finally, the fade to black at the end of the scene, closes it well, adding a professional definite end to the piece. This is used in many films and television pieces as it is a classic and traditional way to end a scene.
We used a variety of different camera shots in our piece including extreme long shots and close ups.
We used differing levels of head room to portray the characters power level (a technique used in the Breaking Bad scene of Walter White and Gus Fring)
Main Learning Points
By partaking in this task, I have learnt many key points that I can use and refer back to when it comes to creating the opening to a Thriller. In terms of practical aspects, learning about using the camera in areas such as focus pulling, manual focusing, zooming and placement has been very useful. When it comes to creating the Thriller opening, I will be able to to use these techniques in a more efficient manner as I will have already practised them and so the quality of the camera work should be higher. In regards to the tripod simply understanding where all the adjustment levers and mechanisms are will benefit me as I will be more competent when it comes to using the tripods again. One of the main practical aspects I learnt about was the basics of the editing software I will be using. Understanding how to open the programme, how to input clips, how to add in and out points, how to add and edit video and audio effects and how to export the scene will allow me to use the programme efficiently when it comes to my thriller project. As well as practical aspects, this project has taught me about the importance of planning and group work. I learnt that by creating a detailed storyboard and floor plan, the actual filming of a scene becomes easier as it is already thought out and not spontaneous and as a result has a more professional outcome. While the planning aspect of this piece worked well, there are some aspects we didn't plan and as a result were not as smooth and continuous as I would have liked. For example, if we were to do this again, I would like to plan in detail where each character would be in the scene as well as the movement and action between shots as in this preliminary task, the characters sometimes appear to jump to different body positions in between shots. As well as the planning aspect, this project allowed me to learn how to work efficiently as a group and how important it is to make sure everyone in the group has an equal amount of responsibility within a task as this makes every aspect of the task easier. As well as the previous issue, the other thing I would do differently if I could do this task again would be to take more shots of the same action as well more rehearsal shots. I think if we had done this, there would for one be more options to chose from when it comes to editing which could mean the final outcomes may be of higher outcomes, but also by rehearsing shots in more detail, any errors or faults (such as the discontinuity between characters positions between shots) could be identified and rectified.
How could you have filmed more material to strengthen the audio in your production?
Something we didn't do in this task is record a room tone. This is when the 'silence' or ambient noise of a location is recorded to be used to aid the continuity of a scene during editing. When we shot our preliminary task we simply used the audio recorded by the camera during filming and this resulted in some auditory discontinuity when it came to editing. For example the background noise or ambient noise changes suddenly between shot 2 and 3. As well as this example, the occurrence of wind affecting the background noise means it was even less continuous as in one shot there would be audible wind and in the next there was none. If we had recorded a minute or two of room tone, we could have used this in editing to make the audio in our production seem more professional and continuous. For example in scenes where there is no dialogue, the room tone track could be used instead of the original track as this would produce a smoother overall finish to the production. Similarly, in shots where there is audible wind in one and then suddenly none in the next, the room tone track could be used to cut out this wind and therefore hide the discontinuity in the sound. In conclusion if I could do this task again, I would make sure 1-2 minutes of room tone was recorded to be used to aid the continuity in editing.
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