Prelim

Story Boarding

 

In order to be able to film my prelim I need to have a story board to show my ideas for what different scenes we are going to have.

A Story board is a combination of a diagram and text. In these Story Boards I decided on the specific scenes that we wanted to have music in. I also then briefly wrote what the dialogue was going to be. This allows me to clearly see my design/idea for what I will film. This is effective as it gives me a basis to follow.

 

 

In conclusion I feel that a story board is essential to the planning of a production. Without a story baord a director isnt able to have a clear understanding of what they need to do to achieve the certain story that they want to tell. For a director to be able to show the other people involved they need to be able to have a story board to show the ideas ande key concepts to the film that they are going to produce.

 

 

Script

 

A script is important to a film so that the actors knwo what they have to say as their character. This is essential to the production so that there can be a story being told. Without a script the prodyuction would just be improvised and the main story is not told therefore the concept is not put across to the audience.

 

 

 

In conclusion I feel that by using a script I am able to  clearly show what the actors need to say. Also on my script i highlighted certan parts and then labelled them as which different shots that I wanted to use. So for example on one of the shots i said that i wanted to use an extreme close up to show the characters facial expression and how they react to a certain situation that has been thrown at them. By using an extreme close up on this type of shot I am easily able to show the characters feelings and expression.

 

 

 

Shot List

 

A shot list is essential to a dorector so that they are able to tell the camera man how they need to shoot the scene. This shows to the camera man that with also knowing what the director thinks will eb the best shot to use. The camera man is able to make their own suggestions based on previous experience.  

 

 



 

In conclusion I feel that by making a shot list I am able to clearly have an idea of what shots I feel will be the best to work with whatn I want to show. However with a shot list I am also able to give a brief outline of my idea. However I do not have to necessarily follow it follow. I can make adjustments with what works best in different scenes as I go along. This shot list also goes in depth with a shot-reverse shot and shows when we want to use that shot and a reaction shot. By plotting all this information down I am able to further my idea and show that I ahve thought in depth with what I want my idea to convey.

Final Preliminary Video -  Autumn Leaves

 

I feel that overall the preliminary video that we made was a success. I feel that we conveyed a certain narrative and showed what we wanted to. When we showed our classmates this video we received the response that we had hoped to achieve by making everyone feel emotional.

 

When it came to the editing I had to make the edits all by myself. Due to the fact that one of the people in the group was unwell. Becky had to help me with certain parts in the editing and she went through and made finesse changes to the video so that it would be perfect. When we came to put all of the video together we were unable to use the 180 degree rule shot due to excess objects being in the way of the shot. When I was editing this shot I had to zoom in to try and move the objects out of the way. However when I had finally got the objects to disappear from the screen the shot that we had intended it to be wasn't what it was anymore. I decided that we couldn't use this shot down to the fact that it made the video itself look unfinished. I then asked Becky and she agreed with me that the shot wasn't as good as we had intended for it to be

 

Looking at the specific camerawork that we used I feel that we used a range of camera shots to show different feelings. For example when I was dying we used a high angle of me to show that I was weak. This then became a pan down to follow me falling to the ground. This created a sense of disapair, because the audience witnessed the characters story unravel. I feel that by using a pan down on this particular shot I was able to follow show the sinking feeling and help keep the tension there in that shot. This was the best shot to use for this particular theme that  wanted to show. If we had used a low angle we wanted have got the same effect that we had. This is because the character would have looked stronger and in this particular scene he is not strong he is weak and is falling.

 

I feel that we used sound appropriately to make the video a lot sadder. The music that we used was called 'Not About Angels' by Birdy. I pushed this song forward because I thought that it fitted with the video. The song and the specific part in the video that I wanted to use it for jelled perfectly together. This helped to make the video sadder and really draw in the audience and make the ending more intense. This for me is one of the best parts of the video because I knew that the song would help to intensify the action that was happening on the screen. I feel that if I was to make another dramtic/sad film I would use a song like this to really show and intensify the climax of the video.

 

I have learnt from doing this exercise how to successfully use Film Noir in a short film I feel that when we used film noir we used it to the right extent to quickly be able to fade it in and create an effect. I think that this is one of our strongest points of the video because I feel that the way in which we used it helped to convey the feeling that we wanted to.

 

I have also learnt how to write a script properly. Before doing this task I was able to write a basic script however in this task I had to write script which included things such as a slug line for example. This task helped me to further my knowledge into areas like that which is where I feel the most interest in. If I hadn’t of done this task and had just gone straight into the real video I would have felt extreme  pressure due to not knowing how to do certain things correctly.

 

I have developed my editing techniques. Before doing this task I had limited experience with editing My only experience came from that of the music video that I had created. I feel that by doing this task I have been able to immerse myself into the editing and challenge myself by trying out new tricks. I feel that the editing on this video is a lot smoother than that of the first video I made. However I am not fully satisfied with how the clips merge together due to the fact that I would have liked to see them flow more continually. I think that if I had had more time then I would have been able to make some of the scenes run much smoother. However all of that will come with practise and this was a great way in developing my continual editing techniques and skills.

 

In order to improve this task I would change a few things. For starters I would re-film a few scenes. Especially the 180 degree rule scene due to the fat that I feel that if I had been able to include that scene then the video itself would have run a bit smoother and flowed better. However overall I do feel that the preliminary video worked very well.

Another thing that I would have changed is the speed of the scenes. I think personally that some of the scenes needed to be slowed down a little to fully create a much more intense effect. For example the scene of me crying I think that It could have been slowed down a little. Or more in particular the scene of me falling down the wall. If this scene had been slower then I feel that the audience would have fully connected with the character and the storyline. The scene is a little too fast for my liking. I think that it doesn’t have that pow effect and makes the audience really start to feel the sadness straight away. Therefore if it had been slowed down I think that the pow effect would have been there. The scene would have been more intense as well.