Evaluation of Preliminary Task: Jasleen

For our preliminary task, we were asked to construct a short clip that contained the three important principles of filming, and these are; Match on action, Shot-reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. We were also asked to make sure there was continuity editing present, continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing in the post-production process of film making of narrative films and television programs. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

These are the three important principals of filming:

180 Degree rule
Shot Reverse Shot
Match on Action

We were given very short amount of time in order to plan the story line and to film, and this also gave us an insight into how the filming of the actual production process will be. My group had more time to film as we planned quickly and therefore could film straightaway. Also we had improvised along the way, due to some scenes not coming out the way we wanted them to. As we were restricted to school premises, we had devised a script that would fit the atmosphere perfectly, and this was based on a killer roaming around school. We used the three principals of Shot-reverse shot as we had dialogue when Katie and Natalia were speaking in the theater facing opposite each other. We decided on the roles of each of us in the group; Katie and Natalia being the students, myself as the killer and Jade as the camerawomen. We all had input on how the scene would be shot and the scenes that were important to have consisted in the film.

After we had decided the pre-production, such as the roles etc. we went on to filming. We explored different camera angles and shots to see which would create the atmosphere we were looking for and how we could achieve that, whilst still making sure it contained the important principals of filming. The problem that occurred was the consistency of the lightning, as when we changed location so did the lightening and sometimes it became too dark, for example in the theater it was too dark to shoot and the faces appeared red, but outside in the corridors it was much easier as the lightening was directly on the face thus easier to see the faces. Also the sound in the theater played back and created a lot of background noise which made it harder for the audience to hear the dialogue, and Jade and I had realised this so in Final Cut Pro X we used a tool to get rid of the background noise so it was clear to hear the dialogues. However, it was still not clear enough and this can be something we need to improve on. 

The three principals were used throughout the preliminary as Shot-Reverse-shot was used when exploring the conversation between the characters and how the audience was made invisible but still feeling they are part of the action. We used this in our film making, when Katie and Natalia were talking in the theater facing opposite each other, so Jade could have an over the shoulder shot when capturing this conversation. The editing of this scene took a long time as we had to cut and edit each side of the conversation and then merge them together so it didn’t look disrupted.

Match on action is a technique used in editing, cut from one shot to another view that matches the action and pace of the first shot. This creates an impression of continuity despite the fact that the shots may have been filmed weeks apart. An example of this in our work is when Natalia is running through the hallway, making a left and opening the hallway door and going inside. Even though for us to film this it may have taken a couple of shots, the audience only sees the edited version and don’t see the discontinuity during the film.

180 Degree Rule is a rule where characters in the scene have the same left-right relationship with each other. We used this when the conversation in the theater took place between Katie and Natalia.

To edit our raw footage, we used Final Cut Pro X and worked in pairs to produce two separate final videos, this made it easier to work in and also we all got a chance to trial out Final Cut Pro X even though we may never have used it before, we got familiar with the techniques on how to use it. I had worked with Jade, and from importing the raw footage to editing and adding different sounds whilst getting rid of the original one, me and Jade both learnt the features and functions of Final Cut Pro X and ended up with a completely different film then we had started off with.

We also tweaked some areas so that they wouldn’t conflict with the idea of Match on Action and this was possible due to the mirror image function, as before Natalia was looking in the opposite direction but in order for her to look the way she was going to run we needed to flip the image to make sure this could have been possible. We decided to use the track 'Tip Toe Through the Window' by Tiny Tim as it gave it a spooky atmosphere and also related to our film, however Jade and I slightly changed it and used a remix version to suit our film even better as it related to a high school theme but also created fear and suspense. This was different to Katie and Natalia’s as they used the original without the remix and added in other sound effects to set the scary atmosphere and mood.

Title

Match on Action

Shot Reverse Shot
180 Degree Rule

Credits