Prelim Evaluation

Preliminary task Evaluation

With our Preliminary task, we were put into groups of four. My group consisted of Jenelle, Alex, myself and Heena. Firstly, we discussed the topic in which we would do our production on and decided to choose a manager and player talking about an unexpected topic; we thought this was an entertaining topic for our audience. We began by splitting up into two groups within our faction and allocated specific jobs and targets to be met at a certain date. I was with Jenelle to write a rough copy of the script our actors were going to use, with Alex and Heena producing a rough draft of a story board. After everybody had finished their tasks, we shared our ideas and thoughts with one-another to spot and correct any errors in our plans. We found that the script Jenelle and I had made was too long, so we cut the unneeded lines from the script, subsequently to this, the storyboard had to be updated; matching the more efficient script. Our chosen location was the Conference Room, which we wanted, as the atmosphere was professional and sophisticated. We then started our location recce, where we found that on every different day we wanted to shoot, we would have to ask for permission and get a staff member to open the door. This was time consuming so we decided to stay in the conference room for longer periods in the space of two days, which would result in the completion of our shooting. Another negative trait of the conference room was that the lay-out was going to be changed the day after our first shooting, this was an issue of consistency and we found that we had to keep our set simple and easy to form. Lastly, we found that during break-time there was much noise in the corridor outside the conference room, this interference was difficult to overcome, so we planned to shoot a certain number of shots at a certain time of the day. We found that individual tasks were good, but when we had all come together and applied our ideas collectively, planning had run smoother and the quality of our preparation had vastly improved; but the problem with this was that some of us were not available to attend such meetings, and when we were together, there was not much time. So we planned one meeting where we were all available to attend and for a longer perioid of time. In this meeting, we had finished our storyboard, script, shooting schedule and our location recce which gave us license to start the shooting. I think our strengths were the high level of competence towards the task, for example the storyline and ideas. We were able to work as a unit which was important for time management as we understood time was imperative. Strict deadlines were met to an exceptional standard; our time that we used to devise ideas was very well used also. Our weaknesses were struggling to organising meetings effectively; this had cost us valuable time that had been made-up for shortly after. I have learnt that next time I will have access to contact each of them to notify our scheduled meetings in case they may have forgotten.

We planned our sequence through a storyboard which was drafted and re-drafted prior to our updated script. We wrote a line from the script that we wanted to show in each shot, along with the camera angle, height of the tripod and name of the shot; for example, shot 1 was “a medium-long shot of manager sitting and player in corridor with door to room open (Player- (on mobile) Okay, I’ll see you later)”. This allowed us to include all parts of the script and organised our shooting schedule to a high level of impotence.

We used the Canon XH A1 for shooting the production and Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. I learnt when using the camera that the sound is altered depending on the proximity of the person speaking and the camera itself. I had located this problem while editing, when the shots were put together, the sound level of the actor’s voices had altered because of the varying proximity levels. For example, shot 12 was a medium long-shot of manager and shot 13 was a close-up of his lips; this was where the volume of the manager’s voice had been changed. This issue of consistency could not be overcome whilst shooting, but when editing this was quickly resolved. I also learnt that it took a few seconds after pressing the record button that the camera would actually start to record the footage on the tape, so it was very important that the person operating the camera to signify that the camera is rolling. We also gathered that; after the director had used the clap board to state the shot and take, the camera needed time to re-focus, so the director had to come and look at the 2.8” LCD screen on the camera to see if the shot was focused, and if so shout action.      

The factors that we as actors, directors, writers and camera operators had to take into account was the level of consistency, as this is imperative to enforce the illusion of realism to the audience, the match-on action, where we repeated a line of dialogue from the previous shot despite the fact that we will cut it out, allowed the actors to act in a sequence, the rule of thirds, where we wanted all the spaces in the shot to be filled with relevant objects, but if this was not handled with awareness, the authenticy of our sequence would have been hindered. The Camera operator had to especially consider the camera balance which is illustrated with a spirit ball on the camera. We also took into account costume, as we were going to shoot over a two-day period, costume would have to be consistent, same with the layout of the conference room. While editing we intended to make our sequence flow as smoothly as possible.

I believe our sequence was successful to a certain extent, as our level of consistency had been challenged by many obstacles that could have been avoided. For example, the player’s trainers are altered in the sequence, the time that the clock on the wall behind the player was radically changed from “3:00pm” to “3:45pm” in between shots. Also, the manager had a pen under his hand on the table in one of the shots, and then in the next shot, the pen had disappeared. This could have been easily avoided if the pen was not present to start with. Lastly in the end, the last shot is a long-high shot, where a CCTV camera would be, this shot however was too short and may confuse the audience as they would not have enough time to fathom the nature of the shot. What I would do differently next time is to keep a record of all the objects in the mise-en-scene and discover their purposes in the shots. This would allow me to keep the set simple and continuity would be achieved. I would also aim to keep the costume fairly simple also, and to give the actor’s notice that their clothes have to be the same for the next scheduled shooting. In the future I will aim to maintain a sense of calmness and relinquish the need to rush the takes as this may hinder the illusion of realism. We have to take our time when shooting and to maintain the level of maturity and professional approach to our work.

I believe that we devised and planned our ideas very well. We listened to each other and applied them to our production to an exceptional standard. Furthermore, our time management was very well used and we were able to run by our shooting schedule which was a very helpful and encouraging factor. We had been aware that time was of the essence and we were all in the same perception to develop a successful production.

Subsequently to this task, I have developed my skills and understanding to operate a camera and to include camera techniques such as the shot-reverse-shot executed in conversations between two characters, the significance of staying in the 180 degree angle and how that may hinder continuity if preceded with no knowledge of this rule. I have also enhanced my knowledge of editing, as I find that it was more enjoyable than shooting. I thought that putting all the shots together and observing them being played in a sequence to a high standard was very rewarding. While editing I also learnt how to create and use effects in certain shots, for example, the last shot is in black and white and has the words “CCTV IN OPERATION” to show the audience something that they did not expect. In addition I have realized the significance of team work and the ability to work in a certain fashion in a set time period. Planning the shooting schedule was also helpful in understanding the importance of planning, because it allowed us to be organised and helped us to keep to our time limits.

In our Post-Production, I have learnt that editing is as or more important than shooting the scenes. The significance of being provided the correct shots and takes as an editor is vital. I also found that when you are filming a shot, you do not expect to cut it out while editing, as while you are editing you find that the shot you have done is useless and its presents is not needed in the sequence, despite the fact that it may be a good shot, its presence in the sequence cannot be identified. When we were faced with difficult decisions, we made sure that we faced them together; we first discussed it and then come to an agreement and constantly checked if everybody was satisfied with the development of the sequence. Our time management for editing was the same method that we used for shooting. We would edit the sequence for a long period and only do it a few times. This helped us stay together as we would not have to keep coming back. I feel our strengths in editing were the ability to allow the sequence to flow very swiftly and smoothly. I also feel we used the effects very well too, as it was an addition to the sequence that carried meaning and great significance. Our weaknesses were that did not straight-away identify that the sound of the voices were altered in between shots, as we thought we had finished with this issue not addressed. Next time, we would carefully observe and hear any faults in our sequence, and allow other people to see if they can spot any errors in it, before we declare that we have finished.

Abdul-Manan Asghar