Media Studies 2009-11

This is our Preliminary Filming excersize. We had to stick to a brief given to us by Mr Marshall stating that theres should be a good variety of shots inc a shot revearse shot the use of over the shoulder shots. The story was simple the exchange of an item including crossing a room and the use of dialouge. In our first attempt we did not stick to the brief in all of our filming so we had to go and film again. Second time round and we kept it simple and to the brief i feel that the vareiation in shots is good for example when callum is coming down the stares there is a cut to a close up of his feet and the package coming down the stares. This film includeds a shot revearse shot an over the shoulder shot and the use of dialouge and within all this we stuck to the brief throughout. Another positive that can be taken from this piece of film is the sound levels are good and all sound a dialouge in the piece are clear and of a good level. A negeative of the piece is where we try do a pan tracking shot on callum but toward the end of it , it becomes jumpy, this could be improved by using a tripod with a lubricated giro or cuting the shot before the jumpyness starts. A general overview of the piece is that it is a well stuctured and well put together piece and i feel we show some good skill and ability for this early on in our film making.

In the example made by Mr Mannix and Marshall there are some postives and negatives. The general positives with this peice is the overall flow and consictency of it as can be seen in the cut from mid shot to close up when Mr Mannix opens the door and places his hand on the door handle. Another positive is the very good close up back to mid shot when Mr Mannix grabs the chair and we see a close up of his hand grabbing and back to a mid shot but it doesnt look like a cut it still looks like one single shot then adding to the peices continuity. Although there are good points to this peice there are also bad ones , for instance in the over the shoulder shot there is too much head room above both heads making the room seem bigger than it is and the characters smaller. During the over the shoulder shot sequences there is a mistake of crossing the line so it looks like both characters are talking to themselfs. The final negative point about this piece is the sound levels have not been correctly set so in places dialouge can become distorted.

Editing is the process in which video shots are rearranged and changed to make them into a sequence which usual goes into chronilogical order.

This Process includes

Correcting Colour

Adding and or Removing sections

Rearrageing Sections

Createing transactions between shots.

Editing is the main part of the post production process.

The microphone is an everyday object that is used in many devices such as a telephone or a computer most people dont think twice about using it but when it comes to filming lots of thought is put in to it. Many factors have to be taken into consideration when using a microphone for filming. One of these is the conditions, if the outside conditons of a shoot is windy then a cover will be used to stop the mic picking up the wistleing noise. There are also different types of microphone’s used for filming such as a boom a directional microphone mounted on a pole with insulation around it then it is raised out of the shot and pointed at who is speaking. Sometimes with a boom the microphone gets lowered into the shot or a shadow gets cast into the shot aswell. Clothing clips are a small microphone that is cliped on to a persons clothing it is descrete and used in a lot of TV such as News, Chat shows and most if not all live TV and a boom is used for pre recorded TV.

There are many types of camera shot these include:

• Extreme wide shot
• Very wide shot
• Wide shot
• Mid Shot
• Medium Close Up
• Close up
• Extreme Close up
• Cutaway
• Cut in
• Two Shot
• Over the shoulder shot
• Noddy Shot
• Point of veiw shot
• Weather Shot

The most common of these shots are wide shots, mid shots , close ups , over the shoulder shots so i will explain each of these common shots.

Extreme Wide shot - this is often used as an establishing shot and rarely features any people or dialoge in them just buildings or scenery.

Wide Shot - his is were a subect usual being a person takes up the whole shot head to toe but with room below each of the head and feet.

Mid Shot - this is the shot trying to be the most realistic as if you were talking to the person it is probably what you would see with your eyes if you were talking to someone usual the top half of the body upwards.

Close Ups - Used to show emotions or tension usual the shot is close up on the persons face to show there recation to somthing that has happend.

Over the shoulder shot -  this is used when two people are talking to eachother and the camera is placed behind the shoulder of the person who is listening to dialoge and is swiched when the other one talks showing cleary two people are taking part in conversation.

Most common domestic camera’s have all there functions already set up so all the user need do is grab the camer press record and then thats it but it is a different matter with higher level camera’s there is a number of steps. Making sure the batterys are charged well before usage is a key and a basic and once charged must be covered up at the back before placed in storage and then the cover taken off before usage. other stages before pressing record are inserting the mini dv cassette , putting the camera on a tripod and white balance. When setting up white balance a sheet of white paper is placed infront of the camera and then all of it should be white then press the white balance button. Another thing that needs setting up is the audio and to make sure that the R and L are level there are little buttons situated on the camera that will adjust both of these levels. once these are set up according to conditions then you get the shot you want to film then press record.

Before going to record any footage a number of planning steps must be involved before you actually go out with a camera and film. One of the first steps in this planning process is to make a storyboard or an animatic of the film in chronological order. After this stage it goes on the the Recce Report in which you go out to your various location and take still images on a camera. The third stage is casting and following on from this is the scripts and dialouge and then the shooting of the script. All these factors of planning are taken into consideration before filming but one of the main things to watch out for is the saftey of the location of were your going to be filming and also getting permisson off the landowner if the area is private.

Storyboards are used in the planning of a film , movie or animation. It is usualy a set of small drawings done on little cards and put in chronological order of how it will happen in the actuall production, the drawings could represent a single shot or a short scene and these are always in a sequence.  The benifical effect of using a storyboard process in the production of a film is that any changes that need making can be made earlier on in the planning stage rather than leaving it to the editing process saving time and in big feature presentations probably money aswell!!

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