Preliminary task

Preliminary task

We decided to keep our preliminary task very basic as it did not have to be complicated at all, just as long as it showed we understood basic filming principles such as the 180 rule and having no continuity errors. We were also asked to create a story board which shows a snapshot of each of our scenes so we know what we have to do when it comes to filming. the groups we worked in for this preliminary task will be the same group we will work in when it comes to making our film opening, therefore this task will give us a good idea of each others strengths and weaknesses and will prepare us for working with each other later.





Story boards

story boarding is an essential part of film making, it gives the director and acting crew a clear picture of what the shot will look like and can help to spot any continuity errors before they have been made.

story board page 1

In the first box of our story board we can see Grace walking up the stairs, originally we felt this clip would only need to be 6 seconds long, however after playing around with the shot we realized it would have to be longer if we were to get an accurate match on action as it was important that Grace's feet were in the same position between the first and second shot, I feel this particular match on action shot was something we did very well.

The second shot was very basic, it simply showed Grace reaching the top of the stairs, turning right and walking past the camera. This shot, combined with the first shot shows our editing skills as we managed to get a very successful match-on-action as Grace was walking up the stairs

The third shot again was very simple, it showed only the lower part of Grace's leg and her feet walking past the camera, we used this shot as it shows we can recognize the effectiveness of a close up shot. we cut a second off the end of this second to allow for correct match-on-action with the following shot.

The fourth shot depicts grace walking towards the door and pushing it open which becomes part of a match-on-action shot with shot 5  which shows Grace from the other side of the door. this was a difficult pair of shots to get right as it required precise editing to show the door at the same point on the swing otherwise it would have been very obvious and would have not looked very good. shot 5 also shows Grace walking over to a table and sitting opposite myself, setting up for a conversation and ultimately a shot-reverse-shot.

Shot 6 shows me facing the camera with the back of Grace's head shot still in the shot, this shows a clear eye line, creating a realistic effect to the shot, the shot is quite lengthy to include the dialogue. The original script for the dialogue was edited on the spot during filming, we kept it this way as it seemed less forced and was more natural which is better for the film.

story board page 2

 The seventh shot is shot from behind my head but focuses on Grace's face as she is replying to my conversation opener, originally the shot was supposed to last for 8 seconds however we cut 1 second as it was unnecessary and made the clip look awkward and fake. The seventh shot is also where the only continuity error of our film occurs, there is a slight difference between the story board and the final clip in that i am holding a pencil whilst talking to grace, however the position of the pencil and the way i am holding the pencil changes between shots, we realized this mistake after the video had been published however it is something to learn from and i am sure we will be less likely to make that mistake in the future.

the final shot is very similar to shot 6 and the pen has returned to the original position, I am undecided on whether i like my acting in this shot, i can't tell if the way i notice the time and leave looks forced or not, in the real film opening we will make sure the acting is as good as it can be to create a professional feel to our film.





Here is our preliminary task video