Preliminary Task Script

For our script we decided to have 2 characters however we had to change it in the end to 3. The reason for this is that we thought it would be too short and it means that everyone in the group would act in some way or another. This meant that the person who was operating the camera would have to multi-task but he had a small role so it would all work smoothly. At the top of the script we had camera directions, descriptions of the sound and how the actor should walk to the room. We included where we were going to add the match on action on the end as well to make sure that we are able to add it in. When you look down the piece of paper we have how the actor should act. We felt that this would help him with the expressions and how we imagine what it should look like. The last things we thought would be good to add was timings. This was done so we could create some tension in the film to make it more captivating to the audience.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Overall I am happy with the way that our video turned out and they way that we filmed and edited the piece. Filming was fast and over the few hours it took us, it didn't take too many goes to get it perfect. We used the camera movements match on action, shot reverse show, the 180 degree rule slightly at the end as well as an over the shoulder shot. I feel that these key shots helped portray a good feel for our film. To ensure the continuity of the film we made sure that it would be in a chronological order to help the viewers understand and enjoy the story line.

The first thing we completed was to pick the genre and make the storyboard. This took us a while to complete as we wanted to create the ideal piece for our first task. We were going to do a horror however we didn't want to make it too cliche and with the setting and equipment we had it just wasn't going to work. So we came up with the idea of a crime film. We thought that with the setting that we had and the equipment available it would be our best shot at creating a decent video. Next was to find out the best area's that would work well in a crime film. We had to focus on mise en scene during the planning of our film. We wanted to make sure that we had everything in the shot that would probably be there in real life. It was during this time that we had also planned on what camera angles we wanted to use and where we were could achieve them. We found the best area's to film that we had available and we started to plan our script.

We knew that writing the script wouldn't be the hardest part of the process as we had came up with a few idea's while creating the storyboard. We knew that we would be in a small room so we wanted to limit the amount of time that it was shown in the film. This is why we made the script short and sweet with about 40-50 seconds worth of dialog. I feel that the planning of the work done by the group was good and effective. We all communicated and we all put idea's into the work.

 The first shot we created was one of the interrogator walking down a path before reaching the door on which the match on action would occur.

Match on action
While we were creating this scene we knew that this door would be hard to create a good match on action, so we wanted to make it clear how the door would open. If we were to do this again I think that we would have tried to film a different door. The reason for this is that i think a door handle that you have to move or twist would be more effective than the door we were using in the film.


Editing this scene was a challenge I thought because we were trying to align the clips together to create a seamless transition between the door being pushed open and the character walking through it. This we thought would make our piece look better and more professional.


For this shot we wanted the camera to be closer to the door so the sound would be a lot clearer. These few shots took some time but we wanted to make sure that we had the best quality audio and video.









After we had filmed that scene we moved on to the interview. Like i said before this was a challenging scene for us. If we were to do this project again i would like to use a different room. This would hopefully give us more room to place the camera.





Our group found that lighting was a bit of a challenge. The first main day we were filming was dark and gloomy - the perfect lighting for the genre of film. However when it came to the second day it was much lighter. The contrast in light meant that the film would look a lot worse. We had to make sure that the room was made darker by playing with the window and blinds to get the best lighting, we also used colour correction in post production to help us make the lighting correct.

I feel like my group worked well and we got everything that we needed to do completed. We all done equal amounts of work and made sure we all had a say in how it was shot and edited. This meant that not one person was left to do all of the work.

During the filming of the video i learnt a lot about the technology and the best way to get the filming completed. I found out using a separate recording devise would mean that we would have got better audio from our film. This is why we are going to make sure we have one for our future video's. Another thing that we have found out about filming is to make sure that we timed everything correctly. If we were to film later in the day we would normally have more people walking past and making noise. This is why we made sure that we filmed earlier on in the day. The last and main thing that we learnt was that we should always carry our storyboard, script and any other important information with us. We made the mistake that one of us forgot our lines and we didn't have a script so we wasted time having to get it. Now knowing what I know I feel as if I will be able to make a video in a lot less time and in a lot more of professional way.

The Investigation Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task: Storyboard and Shotlist

To make sure that our film makes sense for the viewer/audience we had to make sure that we planned everything that we wanted to do. This includes what shots we want to achieve and how we are going to position the camera. This is so that we don't have to waste time planning the shots that we want to do. This also gives us an idea of the equipment that we are going to need for the shoot. all of the camera angles that we are going to use is on the storyboard.

So for the first scene we want a man to be walking to the interrogating room. This will be outside in a dark setting to set the mood for the rest of the short clip. this will be sort of a establishing show/ long shot of a man walking. This again helps set the mood for the rest of the film.

In the second scene we are having a match on action from the door into the corridor, this will be one of the clips that we have to do strait off. This will make it easier to do the other shots later on. hopefully this makes our work look more professional. This goes all the way through to scene 4 on our storyboard.

At scene 5 there will be a follow shot on the interrogator walking down the corridor. This may be a dolly shot or handheld, it all depends on what equipment we have on the day.

At scene 6 we are going to have a panning shot on the interrogator walking down the corridor. this is where we will see him getting closer to the interrogating room. From this shot we will get a close up on the door and him about to walk through it.

At scene 6 into 7 there will be a cut, to an over the shoulder shot of the interrogator walking in behind the suspect. This is how we want to introduce the suspect.

From here on out in the film we will be using the 180 degree rule and eye line match. These will be the only other scene's we have to have in. we feel that that this will hold the viewers interests and make our film look more appealing to people.

Preliminary Task: Genre

For our Preliminary task we decided to pick our genre as crime. the reason that we wanted to do this was to make it quite unique and stand out. This we feel would look quite good in the place that we are going to film in and the lighting in the area suits the type of genre that we want to do- dark and plain. This means we have to do a lot less work to make the scenes look good.

When we done a bit of research on crime films we found that it looks best for a darker setting. The reason for this it to create a much darker feel to our story. We were also lucky to have some small rooms which we are able to film in, these are also normally pretty dark which gives us a brilliant setting for a prison cell or interview room. The corridor connected to these rooms could be made darker giving it a more gloomy and ominous feel to the film. from these few rooms we could get some awesome camera angles which we could use to create a more effective feel.

We like the look and feel of this image as it gives us an idea of a creepy, unwanted corridor. We want our corridor to look a bit like this (same lighting) however a bit modern to give us the ideal look for a prison corridor. We want the lighting to reflect the mood of the prisoners in the cells, this we feel gives us a good feel of the overall film making it more appropriate. This we feel will make our film more professional.

(This image was copied from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_corridor_(4676385338).jpg)

Name and candidate number

Christopher Phillips            2284