Evaluation for Preliminary Exercise

For the starting exercise of the coursework we were given the preliminary exercise brief which was a continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. I was placed in a group with Sadie Lynham and Charlie Edwards. I knew them well and have worked with them before in other tasks and was looking forward to work with them in this exercise. When we were first given the preliminary exercise brief I was slightly nervous because I didn’t have much experience in producing short film. However I was excited because the brief seemed to be simple and in the group we could still be creative with the film and keep with the key factors of the brief. Our group decided on a initial idea of a “gangster” theme with two characters, one being a leader/boss, the other being a young woman. The woman enters the room dropping a gun then the two characters exchange dialogue, in the end the leader/boss picks up the gun aiming towards the woman. I was happy with this idea as it seemed the most realistic to succeed and followed the brief well. We had trouble picking the roles because there were only 3 of us in the group and unsure of which roles we wanted to do. I was given the role of camera work in the end. I was looking forward to do this but I was also a bit nervous as well because I have had had no experience filming before. However I thought that it would be fun to work with the camera and get experience in filming like deciding the frame of the shots. I also had some background knowledge from the work in the beginning of the course looking at technical codes of camera work and all the different types of shots to represent meaning in TV drama.
Then as a group we created a storyboard looking at the composition and framing for each shot involved in our short film. It was good to see how the film would look and how it will work by creating the storyboard, it helped a lot when planning for the filming as we kept looking back at it for help and reference when planning to see what would work and what wouldn’t. After the script was written we then added to the storyboard the duration of each shot involving the dialogue of each character. Doing this made me understand and learn that all the planning was necessary for the film to succeed and I didn't realise how much was needed for this film to result well. After we had the general planning of the film done we needed to find a setting for the film. I had the idea of using the photography studio (C032) in college because we could use the lights and there was a backdrop making it a great set for filming and we could get there easily. I then asked permission of the teacher who used the room and we decided on the time when we would film as we had to book the room specially and everyone in the group was available for that time.
Then a risk assessment had to be filled out before we were allowed to start filming. The general risk for our group was the lighting in the photography studio, we had to be aware of the temperature of the lights and be carful of the wires and cables along the floor. I didn't realise that even the small risks had to be notified and that the risk assessment was so important and a legal requirement. Once the form was filled out and signed we could start filming. We then booked the camera and tripod, Lee Hodgkinson our lecturer gave a quick run through on how to use the camera. I was a bit nervous when given the camera however I understood how the camera worked and knew what to do so I was looking forward to getting started. We had found our actors through Sadie Lynham, the plan was Jack Stanley to be the boss of the gang and Jaz D’avola to be the young woman. We planned to meet before we started filming in the studio, however Jack couldn’t get into the college that day. Luckily Jaz was bringing in someone else that could take Jack’s place. Then the replacement couldn’t come either. It was a big panic to try and find someone that could take part in the filming. Luckily we managed to find a friend; Ali Mitchell, before filming and he was happy to take part and takes Jack’s place. This was a panic as we were meant to start filming straight away, so next time we will make sure that the actors are available to come at the set time and place so we won’t have this problem for the main exercise. We also had to get props last minute but luckily managed to get a plastic gun from the drama department in college. We then got the the photography studio and started setting up, I believe that we should have looked at the room more closely and drawn up some plans before we started filming, on where to put the camera to get the correct shots we wanted because we found it slightly awkward to set up the camera because the room was a bit narrow. The lighting was also a problem with the continuity because we had to move the lighting between shots and it was difficult to keep the same level of lighting all the way through the filming. I needed help setting up the tripod and to place it where the camera needed to be because it was awkward to move independently because of my physical disability. When the tripod was set in the right position I could film easily and move the camera myself. I also kept with the 180 degree rule and I learnt how to move the camera smoothly with the tripod and found it easy to do. I managed to pan well, but found it difficult to keep the camera steady when holding the camera and not using the tripod, when doing the over the shoulder shots and when the conversation was taking place with the characters. We had a lot of fun filming with the group and managed to get the shots we wanted when we replayed what we recorded. Charlie Edwards did the editing and the overall result of the film I thought was good. Working with the camera was a good learning curve for me as I hadn’t done anything like this before and found it fun to do in the end.

Here is our short film:

Filming blog

Before we started filming we had to fill out a risk assessment looking at all the risks that could happen while filming for example we were filming in the photography studio so we have to be carful with the lights and cables in the room. Once we had all the form filled out and all the risks recognised we would have permission to start filming. We then booked the camera and tripod, Lee Hodgkinson our lecturer gave a quick run through on how to use the camera. I was a bit nervous when given the camera however I knew what I was meant to do and was looking forward to getting started. We had found our actors through Sadie Lynham, the plan was Jack Stanley to be the boss of the gang and Jaz D’avola to be the young woman. We planned to meet before we started filming in the studio, however Jack couldn’t get into the college that day. Luckily Jaz was bringing in someone else that could take Jack’s place. Then the replacement couldn’t come either. It was a big panic to try and find someone that could take part in the filming. Luckily we managed to find a friend; Ali Mitchell, before filming and he was happy to take part and takes Jack’s place. We managed to get a gun prop from the drama department as well. When we had the actors and the props we went into the photography studio and set up the set. We chose the photography studio because there were lights and a backdrop which would be a great set for the filming. I needed help setting up the tripod and to place it where the camera needed to be because it was awkward to move independently because of my physical disability. When the tripod was set in the right position I could film easily and move the camera myself. Before we started filming we arranged the room so we could get clear shots for filming. I learnt how to move the camera smoothly with the tripod and found it easy to do. I managed to pan well, but found it difficult to keep the camera steady when holding the camera when doing the over the shoulder shots and when the conversation was taking place with the characters. We had a lot of fun when filming but found it difficult to keep the continuity because we had to keep changing the lights between each shot so the actors were correctly lit. After we finished filming I had to leave early because I needed to get a taxi. Next time in the main exercise I will leave more time for filming so it won’t be as rushed.