Preliminary Task: Evaluation

Evaluation

Produce a 30 second clip to exhibit a scene with the manipulation of basic film production techniques (lighting, sound, editing etc.) as well as employment of match-on-action, the 180-degree rule and shot/reverse shots. The narrative of the scene should include a character opening a door and sitting down opposite another character with whom they exchange a couple of lines of dialogue with.

The plot of our short film was an innocent girl stumbles across a lost purse and decides to take it as her own, as a consequence of this it causes her to fall into the hands of a shifty con artist who uses her innocence to his advantage and for hid criminal activities.

In order for us to actually get to filming we first had to plan out how and what we were going to do. This included story boarding which would allow us later on when filming to visually see and recreate what we had planned and what to include mise-en-scene. We also it had to create a narrative to ensure that we knew fully what the story line was and how we could create this visually. This was basically like a guideline for us to follow during filming and even editing. This allowed us to bring the story to life as effectively as possible. As well as a general narrative there was a brief script that was also created to allow for the actors to memorise and deliver their dialogue effectively. Each of these pre-production aspects were taken on individually by each member of our group which allowed for the work to be concentrated on wholly on that part of the production and produce and effective piece that will allow us to create the best final product possible.

The main strengths of our piece were the narrative and the music. The narrative was strong and projected clearly to the audience which allowed for them to follow the film and enjoy it. The music allowed for the audience to know that there would be an ultimate pinnacle to the film as it slowly built the atmosphere of suspense without the use of dialogue in the film which complemented the situation well and gave it a blockbuster feel. This was achieved very easily with royalty free music from the internet. Another strength of our film was the cinematography, there was a variety of shots and unique shots for each scene which allowed for audience to be constantly engaged with the film therefore making it easier for them to get fully indulged in the narrative of the film. The use of shots such as panning shots allowed for more suspense to be built as the audience is waiting for the subject to be revealed. Another effective shot was the handheld shot of the antagonist running towards the protagonist. This evoked fear in the audience as it was very realistic and felt as if they were there too.

There were several weaknesses within our film; they included the focus of the camera, the unintentional change of moods and the jumpy transitions. The focus of the camera was a difficult aspect that we struggled to combat during filming. This was down to the fact that we were fairly inexperienced with the 50ml lens that we were using which a strong focus and depth of field which was hard to deal with. An example of this in our film was when there was a shot of the antagonist looking at the purse, there seemed to be more focus on the radiator in the shot which could’ve caused distraction and confusion to the audience. This is a mistake that we will strive to avoid in our final production but the use of this happening in this task allows for us to increase the production value of our final piece. Furthermore, another weakness in our film was when the protagonist was thrown into the room. This was done in a comedic manner which slightly diluted the dramatic atmosphere that we were trying to create. All of these weaknesses will definitely be improved or avoided when it comes to our final production.