Preliminary task

In our most recent lessons, we have planned, filmed and edited our preliminary task. In this, we had to get into groups and film a person walking towards and through a door before sitting down and talking to someone for around 1 minute. We had to provide examples of match on action, shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule and rule of thirds. During this project, we had to use preproduction, production and post production.

Preproduction- In this part of the process, we had to decide where the scene would be set and plan a script for the dialogue. We also drew up a storyboard to display what exactly was going to happen in each part of the scene. Using this, we also decided all the different camera angles and shots that we wanted to use and at which point. One other thing we had to discuss and organise was finding actors/actresses to use and provide the right costume and any props needed to get the effect we wanted.

Production- The next part of the process was actually filming the scene. We arrived at the setting which we had chose which was one of the geography rooms and we were also using the corridor outside. We began by filming Patrick (our actor) coming into the geography corridor through a door, leaving 10 seconds before and after cutting to leave us a buffer for when editing. Once completed, we filmed it once more to make sure we had an extra take in case anything happened to the first one. We repeated this for each take we took. Next, we filmed a close up of Patrick's hand on the door of the room he is about to enter before cutting to another tale of him coming into the room and sitting down. As I am already sat down in the room, the next take is the beginning of our dialogue. Abbie (who was filming at this point) took many shot reverse shots as me and Patrick continue our dialogue. When I find out that I haven't done my history homework, Abbie zooms the camera in to a close up of my face to display my shock.

Post production- Once we had finished all our filming and got all the shots that we wanted, it was time to edit all our takes together. We did this on the computers using movie plus. After importing all of our takes from connecting the camera to the computer, we were able to link them all together to make sure the continuity of the scene was flowing and that it all made sense. Next, we added in a fade effect to link two takes together and show the viewer that a moment of significance is about to happen. After doing this, we added in a title before the first take and credits before the end to finish it off and make it more professional.

Once we had completed all of this, we uploaded it to YouTube and I have attached the link above for you to watch.

Mise-en-scene

In our previous lessons we have learnt about mise-en-scene. This is everything that is in the scene and can be broken down into the parts: props, lighting, appearance, costume and setting. Many different features can then be found inside each of these parts.

Props:
These are items a character possesses or picks up, for example a gun or bunch of flowers. These can be used to tell the viewer a lot about what type of person that character is.

Lighting:
This can be very key in highlighting the importance of characters. For example, high key lighting may be used to display a bright and well lit scene with very few shadows. This is often used to make a location or character seem friendly, happy or safe. Low key lighting may also be used to show a dimly lit scene with lots of shadows. This is often used to make a location or character seem shady, untrustworthy, dangerous or unsafe. One other example of lighting that might be used is chiaroscuro lighting. This is when a scene is lit with extreme lighting, lots of shadows, or some very bright parts. Similarly to low key lighting, this is used to make a location or character seem very dramatic and unusual.

Appearance:
Body shape and language is a key part of the appearance of a character. The way a character's body looks and the way they hold their body, for example confident, slumping down or cowering from someone, tell us what type of person they are and how they feel about themselves and others. Facial features and expressions also come under appearance. This is the way a characters face looks and shows emotion. For example, a shocked expression, sadness or a look of love. Another feature of this is by looking at how some characters may have interesting characteristics such as bad teeth or small and squinty eyes. This tells us what type of person they are and how they feel about others. Hair and make-up may also come under appearance as the hair of a character and the cosmetics a character might be wearing such as lipstick tell us things about the character. For example, a woman wearing very little make up might be seen as very naïve and innocent.

Costume:
This is the clothes that a character is wearing. There is a lot of importance based around what style, shape, choice of item and colour clothes that a character is wearing as it suggests what type of person they are and how they might be feeling. For example, a floaty dress might represent someone as being traditionally girly. A policeman's uniform might someone as having authority and power. Baggy, shapeless clothes might suggest someone as shy, where as tight clothing might suggest they are confident and flirtatious.

Editing

In one of our previous lessons, we have learned about editing. This is part of post-production and takes place after you have filmed all your scenes. Editing is used to cut between scenes and keep the continuity of the film flowing. There are many different features of editing, these include:

-Sound effects can be added in.
-The best camera shots/angles are used.
-Transitions
-Non-continuity
-Continuity
-Shot duration/place
-Pace and rhythm

There are also many various types of editing. For example, cross-cutting (also known as parallel editing) is where an editor cuts between two separate scenes happening in two separate locations at the same time. This serves to illustrate a contrast or link between them.  Another type of editing is a cut. This is when the move from one shot to another can tell us lots of things. For example, it can draw our attention to things. Similar to this, a cutaway is a brief shot that is not totally necessary but is cut into a scene showing a related action, object or person, not necessarily part of the main scene, before cutting back to the original shot. One other type of editing is a dissolve. This is when the first shot is on screen and the second shot starts appearing on top of it more and more until all you can see is the second shot. Often used to link two scenes or two people together, or sometimes used to show time moving.

An eye line match is a type of editing that maintains the eye line or level when cutting from a character to what the character sees. The effect of the edit is to create a sense that what the camera sees is what the character sees. It puts us in the position of the character and helps us feel empathy for them. A fade is a type of moving image editing where the image gradually fades and disappears, leaving a white or black screen. A fade to black often suggests that time has passed or a situation has ended. A fade to white often suggests a dream sequence. A graphic match is a cut from one shot to another that look visually the same, possibly linked by a similar shape or colour, they are there to show us a clear link between two scenes.

Production

In one of our recent lessons we learned about the methods of production. This comes in three different stages:

Preproduction
Production
Post production

These three stages all come together to complete the progress of shooting a film. Each individual stage consists of key elements. For example, preproduction involves everything that you need to prepare before you begin shooting. If your film involves dialogue then you will need to plan and prepare a script before hand that your actors/actresses can learn and memorise before hand. Another part of preproduction is drawing and mapping out a storyboard of the events of your film so that you and everyone taking part is clear what is supposed to be happening. You need to also arrange a setting or location for your scene beforehand to make sure it will be free of interruptions and any thing that could get in the way of your shooting. One other part of preproduction is making sure all your actors/actresses are prepared with the appropriate costumes and any props they need to ensure they have the right affect on the audience. Lastly, you may want to write up a shot list before hand of all the camera shots and angles you want to achieve by the end of the scene and at which certain point you want to shoot them. This way, you are not making up stuff on the spot and instead have a clear view of what you want to get done by the time you have finished filming.

The next stage is production which is where you actually begin to start shooting your scene. For this, you need to think about camera angles and shots still even if you have made up a shot list as you may discover something that will look even better and have a bigger effect on the audience. The biggest part of production is shooting. Many key elements come under shooting that you need to think about when you are filming. For example, you need to think about your cuts. For this, you may want to have your actors wait 10 seconds after you say action and cut so that you have a buffer to make it look more natural when you are in the editing suite. This also comes into the element of continuity of the scene; you want everything to look like it is running smoothly and has the right flow. Another thing you may want to consider is the rule of thirds. This is where you place your characters or point of interest in the scene. You may choose to have it based in the middle of the scene so that it is the centre of attention or somewhere off to the right or left to make it seem like something is not right. The last thing you will want to think about is the 180 degree rule. This is where you have two people talking and you are doing over the shoulder shots from behind each person so you can see who they're talking to. However, if you cross the invisible line and move the camera round to the other side of where from you are shooting, it may look like the person is speaking to themself and will therefore affect the continuity of the scene and confuse the viewer.

The last stage is post production. This is when you have finished filming and will most likely all take place in the editing suite. The biggest part of this stage is editing. Many key elements go into editing that you need to think about. For example, if you need to add any sound into your scene then this should be done at this point. You may also want to add special effects depending on what is going on in your scene. The last thing you should add in to your film is a title and credits to give an official and professional sense to the viewer.

History of editing

In our last lesson we watched the video 'The history of editing' by John Hess. In this video, he goes through how filmmakers began to use cutting to impact the scene. From this video I was able to learn many things. For example, the first ever screening took place in the basement grand cafe in Paris in 1895 by the Lumiere brothers. The magician George Melies who owned and operated the theatre took inspiration from this and wanted to start making his own films. Melies bought an English made projector called an animatograph. He was able to reverse the mechanics and therefore create his own camera to film with. From here on he started making and showing his own films as part of his magician show. Through this, he discovered the jump cut which he used to crest reappearing and disappearing effects in his films. In the making of his films, he also created the fade in and fade out, overlapping dissolves and stop motion photography. However, Melies never moved the angle of his camera so the viewer always seems to have to the perfect theatre seat.

Another upcoming director at this time who was beginning to develop the progress of cutting. This person was Edwin S Porter who was originally a vitascope projectionalist. He joined the Edison manufacturing head of production for Edison's skylight studio in 1901. He served as the editors director and cameraman when filming 'Life of an American fireman'. Porter also filmed the famous film 'The great train robbery'. In this film, Porter interestingly begins to cut straight between scenes without using fades or dissolves and without letting the scene reach its logical end.

In this sense filmmakers were beginning to see editing' ability to compress time. I have added the link to this video below: