prelim task part 1

prelim part 1

Last lesson we were in the studio learning how to film a sequence. Matt talked us through everything and told us what we had to do and how to do it and then we were split into groups and were told to film a specific task which was given to us on a piece of paper.

As a group of four we were working with the editing suite as our set, using the Sony FS100. We assigned ourselves different roles within the set, we had a camera man, a director and two actors. We began with filming the wide shot as this is the first on the scene and once we have this shot established and done so that we are happy with it, it means we can then get on to the more interesting shots and move the camera around a lot more for close ups etc. We filmed the entire sequence with this one shot to make it easier when it comes to editing. The scene involved two characters, “A” and “B”. I played character B and although it was a simple script, we attempted to make it more dramatic by using different camera angles.

The second shot we filmed was a behind the shoulder shot. We first did this behind my shoulder, looking at Sofia or character “B”. When filing this we filmed the whole script through from beginning to end so that when it came to editing it means we can cut and edit the clip to what we want, it makes the footage easier to manipulate. We then did the same over the shoulder shot but this time it was over Sofia’s shoulder, looking at me. Again we filmed the entire sequence using this one angle.

After doing those shots so that we were happy with them, we moved on to close ups. The first close up we did was of my face as I spoke. This shot was used to help the audience establish the kind of emotions they should be feeling and the kind of emotions the character is feeling. We then did the same close up of Sofia, again going through the whole sequence again.

We then, after establishing these essential shots, decided to play around and see what else we could do. We decided to film a shot of Sofia walking out through the door to add to the dramatic effect of her last line. We then filmed a shot of the door handle from beginning to end when she first opened the door, to when her hand lingered on the handle before she stormed out.

We attempted to make Sofia look like she was the powerful one in the scene. To do this we put the camera up high and I looked up at it. This was an attempt to make me look small and weak, vulnerable even. Despite our efforts, the shot just wasn’t quite working in the way we wanted it to so we gave up. It would have worked if we had filmed all of the shots at this same angle, however we didn’t have time to redo the shots and decided to work with what we had already.

This was our set last lesson: