Evaluation 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

I feel that during my preliminary task I new only very basic skills in camerawork and editing and almost none in sound and lighting. During the preliminary task I didn't use any mics for my dialogue and I didn't use any lighting. I used some editing techniques such as cross cutting to show for example a man walking up to a door and then a hand turning the door handle linking the two. I also followed the 180 degree rule and used shot reverse shot. I didn't do anything much more complicated than this and my preliminary task was very short and simple.

In my final piece I stuck to the basics but also explored a lot more techniques with lighting and sound. With sound I used a directional mic for my dialogue and also used the mic from the camera so that I could choose which one I thought sounded better. In the end the camera mic sounded better in most of the scenes and the directional mic in only one. I am glad I chose to use both the camera and the directional mic because otherwise I could be stuck with sound that doesn't sound very good. With the lighting I added filling lights to some shots and main lights to other ones. With both of these I used kaiser battery video lights. I had a helper to hold them most of the time but when it was just me and my actors I held them, I used the shutters around the edge of the lights to change the amount of light on the actor's faces and also the position of the lights to portray different things such as overhead lighting to give mystery with the detective as because of his hat it created a shadow on his face and hence you couldn't really see him. I also used back lighting for a shot to create a silhouette of the detective which worked well creating more mystery and combined with the mirror next to him I think looked quite professional and it achieved what I wanted it to. I used some more techniques for camerawork than I knew back when I did my preliminary task. In my final piece I used camera positioning such as high shot and low shots, establishing shot and also tracking and movement. I have learnt that using a high angle shot on a character shows the characters vulnerability and perhaps that they are weak or inferior. The low angle shot is the opposite showing power. An establishing shot would introduce the location and let you know where the characters are. Tracking shots and movement shots are a little too complex for my film however I have learnt how to do certain shots such as zooms and panning but not used them in my film. I've used editing techniques such as fast paced to keep pace up and action and then slow paced editing to create tension and focus on what's going on in the scene, like the shot where the detective enters the building via the staircase and he's a silhouetted figure. I've also learnt how to use final cut pro x to a higher level than before. I now know how to put effects onto my shots and how to reverse some shots. I also know how to lift the colour on a shot or change the colour to something different. I've learnt how to sync the sound by using a clapper board and also how to add sound effects. I've also improved a lot on continuity and tried very hard to keep this the case in my final piece however there are still some aspects of the final piece that aren't flawless. For instance the lighting frequently changes as it's very hard to have a shot with lighting from far away as you would be able to see the light and the person holding it whereas if you're close up you can hide the person holding the light and it isn't an issue. This is what i've done in various scenes which I thought was fine during filming but then when looking back on my scenes I realised that the continuity was a problem, however didn't have time to fix this. There was also a shot that was meant to come after a night shot that was shot during the day time, this too I didn't have time to fix but I managed to use various different shots and add effects on to make it darker and so the continuity didn't look too bad in the end.