Targets

I will need to meet these targets next time I am to do a task like this, there were several points I picked up on.

1. We didn't use a script, we made it up as we went along, next time we need to use a proper script.

2. We did not fully understand the equipment we were using, we should have found a way to turn off the fade in/out or waited a little longer so our camera angles didn't always have a white shot in them.

3. My storyboard was not very accurate, and it was worded wrong, next time it will need to be of a much better quality.

Evaluation

During this task I have learnt about continuity editing. It is a mix of camera shots and angle, edited to make the sequence seem continuous, the viewer should not notice the camera angles, if they do, then the editing or camera shots may be a little wrong. There are several key rules, you have to use a 180 degree rule, which means to keep one person must always stay on the same side of the camera shot, so if one person starts on the left side, they have to stay on the left side in the camera shots.

To take the photographs for our storyboards, we took photos using Digital SLR cameras. They were fairly simply to use, we only used picture taking and uploading the pictures to our computer, using a firewire cable. It was easy to use, much easier than I expected, I was very worried about breaking the camera somehow.

I have learnt a lot about organising filming. Mainly through our own faults, I realised we weren't very organised, we lost our script, we weren't knowledgeable about the cameras and we didn't generally plan it out very well, these were the main faults in our task.

We didn't know very much about video cameras, as is obvious by the fact we were unable to even turn off the fade in fade out feature on it. We only used the normal filming feature, on top of a tripod. We were all unsure about using it, especially after hearing it was new, we were terrified of breaking it, as with the camera.

To upload the files from the Digital Video Camera, we used Adobe OnLocation, a program which allowed us to upload each clip we needed from the tape bit by bit. Once we did that, we were able to get all the clips saved so we would be able to begin editing using Adobe Premier, which would allow us to make it all continuous.

I have learnt how to edit using the Premier software, however, due to the filming before, we weer unable to edit out the white fading without losing too much valuable footage, so we had to go with it, so we were a little taken aback, but we still continued and the final cut wasn't too bad, it wasn't brilliant, of course, but it worked. We will have a better knowledge for how to do it next time.

To get our video onto Youtube, we had to convert it's file type, which was simple enough, using Premier also when we saved it. Using blogger during this activity has helped us greatly, we were able to organise our work and put what we have done into perspective much better. We were able to present it well and it helped us well.

Post Production

The editing went fairly well, obviously, we had a few shots where we could not remove the white light, but the second half of the video was all pretty good, so we were able to edit it to a fairly decent quality, even through Georgia's terrible high five, we managed to edit out the bit where she almost fell straight from her chair in her... weird high five. The first few takes weren't' brilliant but they're the best we could get them, we would have retaken them but we were all wearing different clothes and it needed to be continuous, it would have been bad continuity if Alex had been wearing a different jacket or no jacket in the different parts. Other than these setbacks it all went well, and we all took part in the editing process.

Production

Production went fairly well, but wrong in some places, if not many. When we took out our camera to go film, we spent about fifteen minutes trying to get it all working well, the tripod and the actual camera itself, which still had a fade in and out every time we started filming, so at the start of the filming, there is occasional clips with a fade in and a fade out. It was a new camera, so even Lars was a bit unsure on how to turn it off. Also, we ended up losing the script, which was our own fault admittedly, so once we started filming, we simply did it shot by shot, which was the wrong thing to do, we should have filmed the entire sequence from one angle, then the other shot, then put them together.
So all in all, it didn't go brilliantly, but it could have gone so much worse, so we just hope it'll be up to scratch.

Pre-Production Tasks

Before we began filming, we had to do several tasks. First of all we had to do a health and safety report (a risk assessment), to explain what could happen, the chance of it happening and how bad it would be if it did happen. Afterwards we began to create a storyboard and a script for the actual piece. After being unable to think of anything else, we decided to write the script on the weather. We used a camera for our storyboard, which explained what shots we would use and generally when. We scouted out to the hall, deciding to use it as it is generally empty and fairly open. We decided to cast ourselves in it, as we were a group of three.