Preliminary task evaluation.

Preliminary evaluation

For our preliminary task, as a group we had to film a short film of a beginning to a thriller. I was happy with my group as we all had a good idea of what we wanted in the movie.  If one idea was put forward we didn’t immediately disclose it, we thought about each idea that had been brought to the table and had a discussion about. Lucy came up with a good idea of an interrogation and we thought it would really set the scene of a thriller movie if we made the audience think straight away of what is going on.

In our film, we had teenagers play the roles of the interrogator and the victim. I put myself forward to act as the interrogator and we had help from a Year 13 A-level drama student to play our victim. By having her there, it helped us gain more confidence in what we were doing. She helped us along the way by saying how we could do things differently to have a bigger effect on the audience. However, it is clear to the audience that what is being said isn’t over something positive. This gives a negative impression of teenagers as it shows that they can be involved in crime.

When we started filming, we thought carefully of what we wanted. We wanted low lighting in the picture to suggest that there is little hope for one of the characters. We chose a dark room to film and used a single standing light to make sure that the audience could see as little light as possible (low key lighting). I had spotted a light in another teacher’s room which I thought would be useful to the task. It was a large light in height with a circular light resting on top. We decided that it would be best placed in the corner of the room to make sure it had some effect on the picture but not too much. When filming the preliminary task, we stuck to the 180 degree rule to make sure that the view didn’t confuse the audience. This then made it clear to the audience who was sitting where. WE used overhead shots when filming as well which contributed to the audience knowing where the characters were based. Mostly all of our shots had something that was filling the picture. WE didn’t really have any dead space which would make it more interesting to the audience as they will always have something to look at, making them pay more attention. We didn’t use any music in our film. The only sound we had was the dialogue between the two characters and the sound of the door being shut. We emphasised the door being shut because it suggests that there will be tense moments in the scenes to follow.

To make our film look interesting, we decided to make it short and snappy. We wanted to shock the audience and to make them think what was going to follow on. I also thought before we filmed that clothing would be important. I decided to wear a red jumper when filming as the colour red suggests danger. In our film, with the use of colour and light, we have told our audience a story which is very different to what would happen in reality. An investigation would happen daily but because of the age of the actors we used, it tells the audience a different story and that teenagers do have that side to them that could lead to trouble.

Before filming our preliminary task, I knew it was going to be a challenge to film a short movie as I had never really filmed before. The only thing I had really done was filming video shots on my GoPro. When we first got the camera equipment, we started slowly and tried not to rush things as we thought that would get us more stressed. Taking it slowly paid off, as we soon got the camera on the tripod. We then worked out where the characters would be sitting and thought of the best places to put the camera. We had a slight problem with the tripod as length we wanted wasn’t possible. WE overcame this by putting the tripod on a table and adjusting the size. The only other real problem was getting the videos that we had taken to play back but after a few clicks on the camera, we found what we were looking for.

I think as a group, we thought we had done a very good job as I think it was our first experience filming. As a group we were very proud of the shot when the interrogator walked out on the victim. I thought by making the interrogator walking out towards the camera, it made the audience believe that the scene was being brought to an end. I also thought that it made the interrogator look more superior and powerful as you cannot see his top half but you can see the victims which connotes tot the audience that he has all the power.  However, when we were editing our movie, the shot where the interrogator gets up he starts to laugh and this went on for too long. I believe that this made part of the movie unrealistic. Also, I think we should have made the movie much longer in duration even though we were going for a short and snappy piece of work. This would improve our work because we could get more constructive criticism from peers which would enable us to make films that we make in the future look more detailed and realistic.

Leading up to the task we planned it very well. We wrote out a script and didn’t change it at all. The only thing we really did change was our action whilst filming from the help of Saffron who’s doing A-level drama. We each wrote a storyboard which were all very similar and made our plot from there. We had already known what we wanted to do so when we got there, it was pretty straight forward in the sense of what we wanted to film. I think if we hadn’t of made a story board, we would have been there a lot longer than we were. Whilst planning, we each said what day of that week we were free so we could all come in and put our own input into what was being filmed.

Before filming, we look at some good filming techniques that we had never seen or heard of before to ensure that our movie was up to scratch. We became familiar with the 180 degree rule which we later found out is used in nearly all movies. It lets the audience understand which character is standing where so it doesn’t confuse them and then losing where they are with the plot. We decided to use the 180 degree rule in our movie because it is one of the basics in film making and when we decided to have a conversation in our movie we thought that by sticking to this rule it would make our movie more interesting.

Looking back, I’m glad I done this because I feel a lot more confident behind a camera. I know what you shouldn’t do when filming like making sure there isn’t any dead space in a shot and what you should do like sticking to the 180 degree rule to ensure that a movie is a success. I believe that when it comes to shooting the thriller, us as a group will function quicker and the end product will be a brilliant success.