Preliminary task and Evaluation

For my Preliminary task my team and I decided to make an advert about a teacher for teachers having troubles with managing their students. The main character of our film was a teacher who was stressed out due to the lack of discipline of his student. After a few failed attempts to calm the students down, a fairy godmother like figure appeared at the corner of the room and handed the teacher a product called ‘’paper 500’’ which she promised would calm the kids down if he blew it. The teacher was then delighted to see that the product (paper 500) did work after he blew it. We planned thoroughly before we started to make the story board; we thought carefully and choose the right places to incorporate the camera techniques.

My preliminary task was very successful in achieving my vision. All the scenes worked together well and my team and I had a good story line. We were very disciplined when it came to shooting the video and we avoided any deviations even though we aware tempt at certain points to change the story line a little. I strongly agree that my Preliminary task was successful in meeting the criteria. I did a lot of research about all the key techniques that was required to be successful and came up with and intriguing story line which helped me show off all the key skills I learnt during the time period I spent researching.

The first technique we used in our film was the match on action technique. This is a technique whereby one shot cuts to another shot in which the action of the first shot continues. We used this technique in the first scene, showing the teacher walking into the class room. We set up one camera outside filming the teacher walking in and the other inside the classroom also filming the teachers’ reaction as he walked in, this helped us create a visual bridge from one shot to the next. This technique also makes sure that the viewer does not lose sight of what’s going on and helps the viewer’s stay with the action. Secondly, my team and I decided that the best time to incorporate the 180 degree rule would be when the troubled teacher commands the students to calm down and do work and when he sits down to have a chat with the fairy godmother like figure. We strictly abided by the 180 degree rule which helped us maintain the spatial relationships between the characters and this technique also helps avoid viewer disorientation.

The shot reverse shot was technique was used when the teacher was chatting to the fairy godmother like figure. This technique is used when one character is shown looking at another and then vice versa. Continuity editing was one of the easiest techniques we used when we were editing the film. It helped us place emphasis on establishing a logical coherence between shots.

The Preliminary task has helped me improve my skills and knowledge about film making and planning. The use of all the techniques has given me a good insight of how to present the scenes to the audience and how to send out a specific message. Even though the Preliminary task was good overall I think we could have done more to improve the film like adding more interesting characters and using more advanced techniques. Also I have learnt a lot of new skills I could use in my next project. I have learnt that the arrangement of scenery and properties to represent where the scene is enacted (mise en scene) is very important and can help portray characters in a certain way for example during the making of the preliminary task I realized that leaving books and stationary on the table gives the viewers the impression that the room is a class room. This got me thinking about my next project and led me to do some research. I found out that things like blinds and closed curtains and blood stained walls will be excellent in my next project (Thriller film). The lesson I have learnt about Camerawork for my next project is never to break the 180 degree rule unless to create a special effect, to use the match on action technique to create a visual bridge, use shot reverse  shot when characters are sitting opposite each other having a conversation to prevent unnecessary panning. During the making of the film I realized how curtail sound is. Sound can help give the impression of danger, anger, fear anxiety, depression etc. In the making of the preliminary task I thought carefully and decided that the best song to use was ''I dont care'' by Icona pop. This song portrayed the disobedient kids in the film as wild and rebellious which was exactly the way we wanted the audience to see them.

In conclusion I think that the preliminary task was very successful and the mistakes my team and I made during the film making process has taught me a lot, given me good experience and finally it has given me an insight of what the film making process is all about. The Preliminary task compared to my previous task is a step up and the improvements are noticeable.