Preliminary Task Evaluation

Our Preliminary Task was to make film some sequences of a storyboard that was given to us and we did that in the old studio in our school which is next to the Music Tech class room and offers great light opportunities, space, doors that we needed for our sequence and silence. This location worked very well because there were two doors we could use, as it was said in the Storyboard, and we could use the special lighting to create a nice atmosphere. We used two spot lights that very focused on our two actors, creating shadows behind them and lighting up their faces. In the whole sequence I actually took a very active role (as well as all the others-because our whole group worked actively together to make a great piece of work) in the filming because I took the role of the producer. I focused the camera together with my partner, I made sure that the lighting was correct and didn’t create shadows we didn’t want and I also sometimes told the actors what to do, which worked very well because one of our actors actually started crying for us because it fit into the scene. I didn’t like the fact that we, and especially I was telling the actors what to do, but Lottie helped me and so they did exactly what we wanted them to do for us to even make a good piece of acting. We had soft light which created lots of shadows behind the actors, what fit to the scene because the soft light fit to the hurt of the “B” character and the shadows made it look like an evening scene. By having soft evening light underlined with shadows, the light was very effective because it represented a dark atmosphere and the hurt that character B felt because she was left by her lover. Our camera was set up in different angles and we first shot the whole sequence through a wide shot, then the whole sequence in a mid shot and so on to let the action play through the picture and this also makes it easier to cut after woods because we had enough space on the tape. With setting up the camera we also made sure that we didn’t cross the 180° line and because when we filmed the whole sequence from a wide shot and then a medium shot etc. we made sure that the tripod was in the correct level all the time, so if we had an over-the shoulder shot, the shoulder of our character was (hopefully) always in the right and same position. We also made sure that none of our group was standing in the light so that there were no shadows created we didn’t want. After shooting the scenes we were supposed to shoot we added some that we thought might add something to the story and give more extra detail for example the door opening and some more close-ups of facial expressions as well as point of view shots. To let everybody know what we are doing on the set we used the words “Standing by-running-action”. We said standing by to make everybody get ready, then running to make sure that the tape is actually running (we could see it on the time code) and action to let everything start. When the scene was over we said “cut” to end it.

Example of a short movie sequence

The Movie Making

Today we learned a little bit more about how to shoot a movie sequence. Our task was to do a Preliminary Practical Preparation and we were supposed to shoot 20 seconds. The story should be very basic, for example just picking something up from a table, but it was important to understand “how” to use the camera properly. The camera is on a still focus and lets the action play through so no matter what kind of shot you take the camera is always still and the action is taking part in front of it. We also learned about the 180° Rule. It says that if you for example have a two shot you draw an imaginative line between the two people and you can either shoot from the one side or the other but always in 180° and you are never allowed to cross that line because otherwise it will look as if they have changed positions and that would be a movie mistake. For example if you have a car driving through the desert and you let it start on the right side of the picture, then you can’t switch positions, or cross the line, because then it will look as if the car is driving in the other direction and maybe some people would interpret this as two cars crashing in each other which isn’t the intention. So you always have to film from one side and use the whole 180° but NEVER cross the line.

The Studio

In our second Lesson we have had a practical lesson in the Studio where two students should interview others in front of the camera. The Interviewer started with an introduction and then started asking questions that the person had to answer. While we were at the studio 6 people were important. Of course the interviewer and the interviewed but also the three people who did the lighting, and the camera man who also gave instructions. The people who did the lighting had to put them in the right position so that the people could see everything and the people who were watching the show could have a good-lighted view on them. The camera man had to focus the camera onto the people and gave the instructions. After a sequence the lights had to directly be switched off. Before we started to film the director said: “ready-action“ and after the sequence he said “cut” to end the scene.