Creative Task: 180 degree rule

Tanfastic Lunch:

                          Tanfastic Lunch from Charlotte Bancroft on Vimeo. 

These are the finished product of my groups first creative task. To be able to create these small scenes we had to do multiple things to prepare. First we sketched a small storyboard of our scene. We included camera angles and the storyline of the scene. Using my camera, we then went out and filmed our video. At first we did lots of test angles as the angles we drew on our story board didn't look correct when we filmed the scene. So, we played around with angles and shots until we were sure we had enough footage. We edited the footage by adding multiple video effects. We reduced motion, dulled any background sounds and tried to rearrange the footage so it  was one smooth video. 

What went well?

• The first noticeable thing about our video is the great quality. To be able to achieve this quality we used a proper camera and filmed the highest quality and didn't add any filters to the video. However, we didn't have a tripod so it was hard to film a scene without the camera slightly shaking. Although this was edited out by the motion stabiliser.  
• The angles used in our video all worked in different ways to set the setting. The first shot, a wide shot and a pan jump-cuts to a wide shot of the two girls entering the building. This jump is consistent as the two shots link together and the audience is still able to see a link between settings not a sudden jump to a new location. I also think the use of varied angles is very good. It makes the short film look more professional and realistic. Multiple angles were used through out. Some examples are: pan, side shot, wide shot, over the shoulder and a slight high shot. These shots all flow together and make the film more cinematic as the 180 degree rule is not broken and the audience is able to understand who is who and where the actors are. 
• The acting is believable. The conversation flows, despite being very short. This makes the film more realistic and more enjoyable for the audience. 

What could be improved?

• Sound was one of the downfalls of the video. Even though the voices can still be heard and are clear, there was problems with the background noises. Sound sounds such as the wind, cars and people in the background could be heard. This makes the video seem less professional and its is very annoying when trying to focus on the speech as the loud sounds block it out. During editing we tried to reduce these noises but it would effect the whole video's sound, meaning some of the actors voices would be distorted. From this my group have learned that filming a scene in a quite environment is better for sound quality. 
• Despite the majority of angles and jump cuts being great, there were a few that slightly brought the video's quality down. For example, the jump cut from the two girls walking into the door way to suddenly appearing outside. This is a bit jarring because the audience do not know the layout of the building and it may slightly confuses them as to where they are. This could have been fixed if we had a pan shot of the girls walking from the hallway into the courtyard. This also would have made the film flow slightly better. Another shot that doesn't seem to fit is a shot that had been taken from the side and its of the conversation at the table. This doesn't fit because we should have used an over the shoulder shot so we would be able to see who is talking. Another problem is some shots of footage were also out of focus. For example the last shot where the three actors are walking down the road is slightly out of focused. This could have been easily fixed if I focused the camera before we started filming.

The Shoe Shock:


What went well?

• The film is very high quality. We filmed using a high quality camera so it looked more professional.
• The film matches the genre. For this film we chose to do a short silent film. We added black and white effects and added a happy tune in the background. This is because short films were filmed while technology was less advanced. So there was no colour or sound unless it was added in editing. 
• The angling is good. The 180 degree rule was not broken. 

What could be improved? 

• The film was short and this might make the narrative slightly hard to figure out. 

What have I learnt? 

• From this task I was able to understand that filming a scene is not as easy as it looks. Lots of planning has to go into the scene before the scene can even be filmed. I also learnt that factors such as sound, focus and angles play a very important part in filming. If either one of these things doesn't work or isn't the the quality it should be, it can effect the overall outcome of the film. Lastly, this task has also helped to improve my editing skills. I now feel slightly more confident with editing.