Practical Film 2

The task we were given for todays lesson was to go out and film another practice sequence so we can practice camera shots etc for the real thriller film. The Brief we were given was: 

Film the following sequence, making sure to use at least one match cut, an example of shot/ reverse shot and showing your understanding of the 180 degree rule - A character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue. 

The camera work used in the sequence was very good as we used a varied amount of shots and also experimented with movement and angles, i feel we have improved in camera work from the last practice film we created as well have learned from the mistakes made last time and fixed them. The shots that were most successful were: Over the shoulder shot, close up (of feet and hand opening door) and the match cuts used created a sense of flow and continuity in the sequence. The panning shot we used in the beginning of the short film didn't work very well as the character was not positioned in the frame properly and was unable to judge the pace of the person walking so therefore was a bit messy as an overall shot.

The editing was very successful because the clips we filmed were easily fitted together after some touching up so the film looked good and made sense. We used continuity editing successfully in editing as the film flowed and looked like there was no editing done to it. The short film that we made did make sense because of the thought and planning that went in before hand of the shots and angles used and also in editing we created the scene so that it looked straight rather than looking as though it had been edited. 

We learned that Mise en scene was very important in the shot as it created the mood and feeling and also gave the viewers an idea of where it was set and taking place.

We did manage to create a sense of suspense at the beginning when the character walking in (Andy) was not shown fully we only decided to show a close up of his feet and hand opening the door so it gathered questions like where he was going and why? the close ups used created this suspense because of the involvement with the character and the waiting that was needed to find out what was happening.

One thing that we forgot to do when filming was to add 5 seconds before and after the shot which would have given us more time and space when editing it.

We tried to use some conventions from areal thriller film like tracking the characters footsteps, close up of hand creating suspense and also a variety of camera shots giving the viewers more to look at and thing over. 

The feedback from the teacher was that the film we made was good and the match cuts used worked well and also the camera work was well thought out and planned.

my feelings of the practice was that it was very successful and i enjoyed filming with the group, i also believe that the work we was set was done well and to high standard including everything from the brief in the film.