Preliminary Task - Miss Miller

Preliminary Task

My media group consists of Molly Emmerson, Jake Butler and myself. For the preliminary task we were asked to create a sequence that was roughly one minute long and that showed a character entering a room, conversing with another character and then leaving the room. The purpose of the preliminary task was to explore the different camera angles and shots and experiment as a group using the media equipment that we had never used before, in particular the digital camera, tripod and memory card. We were also given some editing time to look back over the footage that we had filmed to practice merging two shots together and then working to make the transitions between shots as smooth as possible. This would help for our opening sequence as we want for our film to flow from beginning to end. After looking over the footage from the preliminary task, it is clear that our biggest struggle that we need to work on before filming our opening sequence is making sure that the tripod is stable and that all three of the legs are on the same level as sometimes the picture appeared to be tilted and slightly unstable.

The narrative behind our preliminary task was that one of the characters, portrayed by Jake, had lost his phone and was seeking help from his friend in order to find it. There were some camera shots that we had decided to purposely use in preparation of the preliminary task, including a close up, shot reverse shot, low angle and panning. A close up is used in films to show the reaction that a character has to someone or something else in the scene. We used a close up towards the end of our preliminary task in order to show the audience the reaction Jake had to finding his phone in the cupboard, enabling the audience to see the full extent of his relief and happiness. We used a shot reverse shot following Molly's entrance into the scene in order to show the conversation between her and Jake., in which he explains that he has lost his phone, and she responds by suggesting places for him to look for it. The audience are able to see both of the actor’s faces and how they react to each other and what they are saying. In our opening sequence we planned on using a shot reverse shot to show the conversation that takes place between the mother and antagonist while they are eating dinner together, therfore getting the time to practice filming this technique would help to make the shot reverse shot in our opening sequence better. Low angle shots are typically used in the thriller genre to make someone or something look strong and powerful in comparison to another character by positioning the camera so that the lens is facing upwards. A low angle was used at the beginning of our preliminary task when the camera was positioned at the bottom of the stairs with the intention of giving the a full body image of Molly as she entered the scene, we had never planned to use a low angle in order to make her look more powerful or stronger than Jake.

The panning technique is a smooth, sweeping movement of the camera which we used twice in our preliminary task, the first when Molly entered the shot in order to bring both of the actors together, and it occurs again at the end of the sequence when Jake leaves. The technique enabled us to follow the characters as they moved around the frame

It had been discussed beforehand that I would act as the cameraman while we were filming our opening sequence, therefore it made sense for me to lead the filming of our preliminary task. The biggest struggle that our group faced when filming the preliminary task was using the tripod as we felt that it restricted the movement of the camera. An example of this is when we were filming the low anlge when Molly first entered the scene. Due to the limited movement in the legs of the tripod, we found it difficult focusing on Molly's face or achieving a full body shot. We decided to use the handheld technique instead as it enabled us to move the camera as freely as we liked. In order to improve on this in our opening sequence we will either need to find a bigger loaction to film in so that the camera can be position with the tripod further away from the actors. The problem with using handheld instead of the tripod is that the images will not be as stable, and we may unintentionally create a sense of panic. Another element of the filming our group struggled with was finding the best place to position the camera in regards to the actors. For example, when it came to filming the close up shot of Jake's face the camera was sat close beside him, but it meant that his movements and the movement of the camera were restricted.

When filming the preliminary task, something that our group did well was finding alternate ways to film certain shots if we were struggling to film in the way that we had first planned. The first example of this is when we were struggling to use the tripod in the space that we had decided to film in. The tripod itself was quite tall and required a large amount of space for its legs to move around. In order to solve this problem, our group decided that instead of using the tripod, we would use the handheld technique which, as the name sounds, is when the cameraman holds the camera freely. This made it easier for us to hold the camera where we needed it to be and move it depending on where the actor needed to move to. Another example is when we decided to use the zoom in button on the camera instead of positioning the camera directly next to the actor during the close up shot. We eventually realised that there needed to be more space between the actors and camera to move around and for the footage to flow more smoothly. Another group success was that we were able to complete the preliminary task quite quickly, which gave us confidence that we would be able to do the same with our opening sequence.

The preliminary task was helpful when preparing our group for filming our opening sequence as we were given time to explore the different camera shots and angles that we had only ever talked about before as being conventional to the thriller genre. Our group had never used most of the equipment before, the tripod in particular, and so having time to work out how to use it on its own and then with the camera was beneficial to us all. The purpose of the tripod was to keep the camera steady, overall resulting in smoother shots and images. A technique that our group had identified as important for us to practice was the shot reverse shot, often used to show a conversation between two characters. We had planned to use this technique twice in our opening sequence therefore it was key that we knew how to film the shot accurately. Overall, it would make it less of a struggle on our group when filming our opening sequence having the basic knowledge of how to film that shot.

In order to create a high angle in the preliminary task we had to lower the two back legs of the tripod so that the face of the camera would be tilted upwards. Similarly, in order to create a low angle we had to lower the front leg of the tripod, tilting the face of the camera towards the ground. Before we began filming we believed that the best way to create a close up shot was to place the camera and tripod directly in front of the actor that we wanted to focus on, but while we were filming we found out that there needed to be more room between the camera and actor. Therefore, in order to create the close up shot seen in our preliminary task, we used the zoom in button on the camera which allowed us to stand further away from the actor so that both he and the camera still had room to move around. There were some camera shots that we did not manage to incorporate into our preliminary task that we had planned to use in our opening sequence, for example, the handheld technique that is typically used to create a sense of panic and instability through messy, moving images.