Preliminary Task Evalutation

Our preliminary task demonstrates continuity editing well as continuity editing involves using several different techniques such as the 180 degree rule, match-on-action and shot reverse shot to allow the audience to follow the storyline easier. We made sure that all of the techniques above were used in our short film, to gain the highest grade possible for it. We used match-on-action when the male character in our piece opens a door to walk into a corridor, with the female character closely behind him. By using match-on-action we are able to put two shots together in order to make the movements in the shot look continuous and like the scene was shot at the same time, not like they have been cut together. It helps the audience get a grip on what is happening in the scene without confusing them. We have also used a shot-reverse-shot during the conversation at the beginning of the film. This is to allow the audience to see the characters reactions to each other and the sounds that they hear from the corridor. We also used the 180 degree rule throughout the conversation and throughout the rest of the piece to ensure that the audience stays orientated throughout the film and make it clearer to follow.

During the filming and editing of our film, there was a few minor disagreements about where props should be whilst filming, what camera angles we should use and where the cameras should be placed whilst filming, and we also disagreed on some things during the editing, for example we had different views on what sound should be used during the film and when to cut from scene to scene, whether we should be cutting pieces out or not. However we did communicate and listen to each other’s ideas very well throughout the production of the film and we made sure that nobody had nothing to do, everybody had an equal amount of roles. Despite the few disagreements we had, we came up with ideas that we were all in favour of and the piece was well filmed and edited in the end. If we were to produce the film again, we wouldn't change much to do with the filming and editing as we feel that it turned out very well and it was all well organised, but the one thing we would improve on is getting people to bring consent forms back on time, and making sure everybody was available to film at the same time, as we had to find different actors and actresses to film as people didn’t bring their consent forms back in, and some people weren't able to film on the day we needed to. We feel that we planned our film very well and very specifically. We knew where we wanted all of our props, even though there were a few disagreements regarding the costumes etc. but we worked through them and in the end we knew what camera angles we wanted to use and where the camera was going to be placed before we’d even started the filming.

 To do all of our editing, we used iMovie on an iMac. At first it was quite confusing to get the hang of the effect and where everything was, but after a couple of testing sessions we figured out where everything was, resulting in the editing being quite simple, allowing us to test ourselves to try and make the editing as advanced as possible for a first attempt at using iMovie. From producing and editing our own film, I have realised that nowadays filmmaking is a lot more advanced, and due to the uprising in technological equipment such as editing programmes, camera quality etc. I feel that if we were to have made this film 10-20 years back, we couldn’t have made it as good as the technology wasn’t up to the standards it is today.