Genre Ideas!

In our group we had a discussion about what genre we could make our film in, to do this we made a mind map outlining them all. We made a choice of comedy thriller.

180 Degree rule and match on action!

The 180^o degree rule

Normally films are created using the 180^o rule; this is where shots are only filmed within an 180^o. This technique is used to prevent the audience from becoming disorientated with what is happening, the rule is only necessary when continuity is important to the film.

For example, if two people are having a conversation, the first shot is the orange man on the right and it cuts to a different angle with the orange man on the left it will disorientate the viewer and become confusing. The green line outlines where the camera can film from and the red where it would not.

Match on action

A match cut helps to carry on the action; it’s not as sharp as a jump cut where there is no link between actions. With a match on action the cut to a new action or scene is more seamless, it’s used to cut from one shot to another, both shots match and is normally the same action further on. It creates a visual ‘bridge’ between the shots and scenes that let the action carry on.

Preliminary Task

 

For the preliminary task, we had to display our skills in filming a short dialogue sequence. The first thing we had to do was talk through where the best location would be for the sequence. We tried to pick an area that was large; therefore a camera can be placed in different places easily for a variety of shots, an idea could then be developed off this space. The next thing was storyboarding, we mapped out what would happen within the short clip and which camera shots, angles and direction and the position of actors as well as what dialogue would be said and at what times. Here is a copy of the storyboard:

 

The last thing was to choose actors, this was based on people who felt comfortable being “in the spotlight” and being on camera, but also would be able to make up repeatable sequence of dialogue quickly that was appropriate.

Preliminary task: I believe that our preliminary task went well as a practice but there were many clear mistakes with it, these mistakes will help to improve our final piece and outline where to improve. though we did keep to the 180 degree rule and the match on action.

Negatives: Shooting through a window this meant there was a reflection and you could see the camera taking away the illusion of a film and the movie, also having a hand-held camera, it was shaky and made it look unprofessional. The sound quality was also poor, the actors were not loud enough for the camera to pick up.

Positives: I think that the close up used when the planner was being caught was very good and made you pay attention to that section.



Preliminary Task Video