Preliminary filming editing

Me and Lucy started to edit our preliminary task filming. To do so we used a piece of software called Final Cut. This is the best editing programme for Apple Macs as it allows flexibility with cropping clips and deleting sound. It is also easy to use so you can edit clips easily. We also used Garage Band. This is another piece of software which allows you to add sound and voice overs to your video clips easily and fast.

During our editing we noticed a selection of problems with our clips which we would change and take into account if we did this task again and we also noticed how smoothly some of the shots could be edited into each other.

1. When we started our editing we took out an extra shot we took. The shot was of the characters feet walking past the camera sideways and then off shot. We took this shot out because it was to fast and wouldn't fit into our film smoothly when edited.
2. When we edited the show of the person walking around the corner and the shot of the shot after really edited well into each other and looked very much like a single shot.
3. Another thing we noticed when editing our filming was in one shot our actor was wearing a cardigan then in the next shot they were not. Both shots were taken at different times. This really shows in our filming and is a problem we would consider if we did this task again. 
4. In another shot we noticed that the camera bag was in shot. If we did this again we would remove the bag and make sure all filming equipment is out of shot.
5. Some shots were very dark due to poor lighting and mise-en-scene. A use of lamps to enhance the lighting would be used if this task was done again.
6. We made sure that when we edited shots that they linked together smoothly and looked in order. Some shots we experimented with cut into each other suddenly and didn't seem to make sense. We fixed this problem and made sure everything linked together smoothly in the final film. 
7. One shot was able to be split into two shots to make more sense and to edit smoother into each other cutting out irrelevant film. 
8. Our final point was how the shots where there was dialogue they had to be cut down to 2 seconds instead of 3 as the filming would last to long for what we wanted.

Compared to our anamatic, our film was very similar but some shots we thought were either to dark or didn't flow with the editing easily were taken out. In our anamatic our character walked through two doors. In our filming the actor only walked through one. This was to stop confusion as to which door was the door mentioned in the brief. Some shots were also moved around to make sure the camera angles flowed together then the film was edited and also so the filming made more sense. We added some of the new footage in which we didn't mention in the anamatic to make the film flow.

Mise-en-scene: The mise-en-scene was a classroom which we felt perfect for our filming as the 'results day' theme fits in well with a school location. The scene was formal which built tension in the shots. The lighting was poor admittedly. Many shots were to dark and sadly couldn't be used. To enhance the lighting we will use lamps next time or pick a lighter location to film in. We used few props in our filming. We used; a folder for the teacher, a desk, 3 envelopes (one with the results in) and a book for the actor playing the teacher to read. These props made the filming look more realistic for a teacher/school theme.

Cinematography: The cinematography was simple. We used many static shots which stopped the camera shaking. To do so we used a tripod for many of the scenes. The over shoulder shots were filmed free hand for ease. We used shots such as over should shots, point of view shots, close ups, medium shots and long shots. These all created different effects which ultimately lead to a feeling of tension and excitement which built up to the results being opened.

Continuity editing: We used continuity editing to smooth over the discontinuity of the shots and to establish coherence between the shots. Continuity editing was very useful in our filming. For example, our long shot which showed an actor walking around a corner from behind and another shot of the actor walking around the corner from the front. These two shots had to be edited together smoothly to create the effect of one shot instead of two shots which do not fit together well. Another good example is when we filmed the actor walking through the door. She walked in and was filmed from behind walking in then we had to edit it so it immediately swapped smoothly to another separate shot of her entering the room through the door from the front. This had to be edited smoothly to create the effect we were looking for. The single shot effect.

Sound: After had had completed editing we decided to experiment with sound. We first deleted all sound (except the speech which we kept in the original filming) from the original film so every other surrounding noise was taken out. This was a good base to start adding our sound effects to Garage Band to add sound to our work again. At the start of our film we added soothing music to add a sense of calm to the filming and to keep the viewer interested for the finale. We also added a creaking door to the film to add more suspense. We did this to make the viewer feel excited and feel the actors emotions. We thought it would help the viewer feel part of the film. We added fades to the music so it wasn't a sharp stop to the music but a gentle transition out when the characters dialogue started. The sound we kept was the speech which was originally there from the first filming. We decided not to re shoot this as the speech was clear.

Our film:

Evaluation:

"A character opens a door, walks across a room, sis down opposite another character and exchanges two sentences." - Our brief.

Our brief was very clear and very simple to stick to. The hard part? The rules. 

Our preliminary task rules:

1. 180 degree shot
2. Shot reverse shot
3. Eye line match shot
4. Match-on-action shot

On all the rules we met each one in different parts of our film.

The 180 degree shot was used when the two characters spoke to each other. This kept the camera on the same side on both characters and created geography for the viewer. 

Here is how we used it:

 

As you can see in both shots the camera stays on the same side of both characters. This stops confusion for the viewer and keeps geography in the shot.

We also met the requirement for the shot reverse shot rule. This used the same scene as above. This was used to show the viewer that even though a character is off screen each time that the are still looking and talking to each other. 

Eye line match shot was a different scene from above. 

Our example:

As you can see, the character is shown looking at something off screen. The camera then flicks to what she is looking at to show the audience. 

Our last rule was the match-on-action rule. This was a good rule to help you learn a good standard of editing to create a smooth continuous edit and so the shot is scene as one clear shot not two separate ones. 

Here is our example:

 These two shots were separate when filmed but added together to create one smooth shot. The editing had to be exact to make the shot look clean and smooth. The effect of this was to show our editing skills and make the shot look like it was only shot once. The shot gives the impression of continuous time when edited.

Me and Lucy have, I feel, met the brief well as we included all of the rules in our filming and editing and made sure our editing was smooth and created the right effects. We added in the correct sound effects and music for the theme which helped to create emotion and feeling with a hint of suspense.