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.