Before I Startedfilming, My Knowledge of Camerawork and Editing Was Minor, I Knew Bits

Question 7

Part 1 –

Before I startedfilming, my knowledge of camerawork and editing was minor, I knew bits and bobs about it but wasn’t actually sure on how you edit to create a good piece of work.We began the task of planning our film by doing a preliminary task where we tried out using the cameras and editing software, this was an introduction to the concepts and practical application of continuity filming and editing.

This really helped because it helps me know how to put simple shots together and make them flow like a professional piece of work. After working practically, and actually doing the filming and editing it really helped my understanding of how to shoot and edit, I learnt from mistakes such as the cameramen being in a reflection of a window and items being in shot. Because we was new to filming we thought it would be a good idea during filming to do a shot from outside a window, filming the character walking past the window, but when we had the shot on the screen (while editing) we realised that we (cameramen) where in the shot reflection from the window, so it was challenging to actually put this shot in the prelim task, without it looking unprofessional.

We started off by being put in to groups, and were asked to talk to each other about ideas and put them on a piece of paper. My group was quite shy when we was doing it , but we all learned that voicing our opinions and getting over the shyness would be best for our group ,so we used our learnt communication skills and started communicating, overall we ended up getting a lot of ideas .

Once we had got ideas we started to finalise them down to a couple. We then looked if we could make a story out of the ones we had, but it wasn’t so simple. We had to change the story line of our ideas so that it would make a better movie and actually make sense if it was shown without confusing the audience. We was quite confused on what work had to be done at the begging of this task, so it took quite long to start delegating tasks, for the thing we could do in pairs we split our group in half and did the parts that needed to be done, and once we started to know what we was doing we organised each other and told each other what we was doing in order for us to be doing different things and not all doing the same piece of work. On the filming day we took all different roles we had one person who had to be the actor due to his physique suiting the character we had created, and then we had the two cameramen and a person in control of lighting and the set, so it all planned out well.

I think the fact that we all worked well as a team and made sure we got things done and didn’t mind doing extra time then we was supposed to do, this was rewarding because it showed how much we all cared and enjoyed this piece of work. Ways that I found that it was difficult was that sometimes we didn’t all agree on things e.g. the storyline, so we all had to think wisely and think of one that we all thought was good and we all though was going to be a good storyline. Also another way it was challenging was making sure that we were all doing fair amounts of work, because it felt personally that Me and Laura (The editors) at times where doing a lot more work than the other half of the group. We made sure that we would book time with a teacher and sped extra time finding better quality sounds and effects in order to make the piece good.

When it came to editing our footage in order to make a good title sequence, I and Laura had already had a little bit of experience on how to edit on the software. But whilst doing this we got very good and was able to do a lot more skills and editing tricks to make it look better. From doing the preliminary exercise it really helped us with editing shots like a shot reverse shot, that is usually used when people are talking, or match on action, this is where the shot is cut when there is movement being made (we used this one a few times), Also the 180o rule we made sure we stuck to this.

We use storyboards, recce’s, shot lists, costume and props etc. for planning and this really helped because on the day of filming we were able to just get on and do what we had already planned to do. We used very detailed information in our planning so therefore it would be easier for us to film etc.

I feel if I was to do this again I would know a lot more on how a filming day goes and know what to expect making it a lot more easier than it was at the beginning of our filming process. My most proud shot is of the one going around the table, I got feedback asking if it was done on a track, and the shot was actually done by me holding it and moving around the table, so that was a compliment and made me feel really proud of what I had shot. When we received feedback we needed to improve on adding more shots of the main character holding a family portrait in order to catch the audience’s eye and make it more obvious what was happening. Also we realised that the in some shots there were bags in the corner where we didn’t realise they were there on the camera screen.

The only parts we‘re- filmed’ were the parts of adding more photos of the character going through notes and holding family photos. If we did re-shoot it would’ve been hard to get the same lighting without it looking like it was a different day, because our shots got darker and darker as the film goes on, so it worked out very well. We used match on action shots on the laptop scene, door closing scene and the breaking in scene, this is so that it shows our skills with editing, also it makes it seem a lot more realistic for the viewer, so that they feel like they are there and can see everything, also as if they were he character, or a close up can make it seem a lot more personal.

I can proudly say that I feel that our final product has turned out well and is better than I thought it was going to be, halfway through editing. It included a lot more skills and effects than I thought it would do, and had a very professional touch to it. If I was to do this again, I would make sure that I spent more time on filming the shots and making sure the location is clear so that we didn’t have to get rid of the shots. Another thing I would do differently is speed up more and make sure that your whole group is clear of the storyline. This is so that you know what shots to get and when it comes to editing, you know where things go and what they are supposed to show. And lastly instead of being shy at the beginning and not talking, all communicate quicker in order to get a better piece.

When editing, like I said we knew a lot more than we did at the beginning of the course doing the prelim exercise. But also like I said we learnt a lot along the way of editing our final piece, we got help from our teachers that generally really helped and made our final cut 10x better. It was easier editing the footage as we filmed with continuity in mind so it made it easier for us to put shots together and made it a whole lot of an easier experience. We found lots of different transitions like gradient wipe, page peel etc., but these are very unprofessional and did not look good when we tried them. It made it look very cheap and unprofessional. A good effect that we found was putting two shots over each other and changing the opacity of one of them, so that you could see through it and see both shots, this was very effective as it reminded the audience what the main character was looking for.

Overall my skills have improved a lot, like I have said in my evaluation I did not know hardly anything when starting the preliminary exercise, but now I know that I could create a two minute or even more, opening title sequence and also give it a very professional look. I can now also match sounds nearly perfectly to an opening title sequence to give it its final touches.