Sams evaluation

Our finished work shows us that we can record using a camera and a tripod.  We used different shot types and angles to add interest and not to make it plain and boring. One of the shots we used was an extreme close up of the clock at the start of our re-make and another one is a long shot for when Sam rolled over the bed right before the scene when he opened his eyes. We used the extreme close up of the clock to make the viewer know that that’s when the scene took place and what time Sam started to wake up. We framed every shot using the rule of thirds and to hold it steady we used a tripod for every shot to make sure the scenes were nice and steady. The only scene that wasn’t steady was when Sam was putting his slippers on the camera was a bit shaky because the shot we were copying was filmed from the floor therefore we also filmed with the camera on the floor and it may have been knocked and moved a slight bit.

To ensure that we had continuity in our re-make we use the 180degree rule using this rule we made sure we used a straight line to film on, the 30degree rule, everytime we use this rule we made sure we moved the camera more than 30degrees. During editing we realised the clock we used on the first scene tuned off for the 4^th scene. Another mistake that we realised we made was on one of the scenes the door that Sam opens at the end of the re-make was open and at the last scene when Sam goes to open the door its closed we only realised this when we was editing therefore we couldn’t go and re-shoot because we had no time.

Our remake doesn’t jump between the shots because we use the 180degree rule and 30degree rule. We recorded from a straight line so the viewer’s eyes don’t see the jump from scene to scene. On this re-make we didn’t have to use any make up at all, all we used was a dressing gown that Sam puts on at the scene when he opens his wardrobe. The location suits the film fine because in the original film it was also filmed it a bedroom therefore I don’t think there was a location that was better. In our group there’s only two people Sam and Aaron, Aaron is more comfortable with recording and Sam is more comfortable with acting so it was quite easy to choose an actor between Sam and Aaron.

What I did to contributed to the re-make was that I was the actor and I helped Aaron with decisions if a scene should be kept or removed. The improvements that could have been made to finished film is that we could of kept an eye out for the clock for when it turned off and we could of made sure that the door where Sam opens at the end could have been closed from the start. What I would do differently when it comes to my final coursework I will look at the environment around me and make sure that nothing is moved or misplaced once the filming has started.

Aaron evaluation

In our remake of the student made film Reflection, we used a tripod to keep the shot steady, the tripod had a spirit level in it to show if the tripod is balanced or not, we used this to make the shot steady, there is only one section where the camera is shaky this is because we couldn’t use a tripod because the camera needed to be on the floor because the tripod would have made the shot too high. To make sure we framed the shots correctly we used the rule of thirds, this breaks the camera viewing screen into nine even squares, this allowed us to put the camera in the appropriate area to put the attention to a certain object or person. During the re-make we used a lot of different shot types, we used an extreme close up of a clock, a long shot to get sam’s full body in shot and a mid shot of sam reaching into the wardrobe. These where picked because the all put focus on the suitable subject. Every shot that we filmed we had to white balance every time the camera moved so that the colour of everything was as natural as possible, also every time we moved the camera we needed to re-focus the camera to make the shots look clearer and to put focus on a subject.

While filming we had to use the 180-degree and 30 degree rule, this means that we couldn’t move the camera any less than 30 degrees round a straight line, if we didn’t do this our film would be jumpy. During editing we realised that the clock in the background had changed time and at one point it had turned off, we couldn’t change this in editing, if we where to re shoot we would make sure that the clock would be the correct time for continuity. We also found that the door in the background kept changing from closed to open and in-between we could re-shoot and to fix this but we had no time. All of our shots flow well together because we kept with the 180-degree rule and the 30-degree rule this made the shots look better because there was no jumps between cuts it just flowed.

We chose the characters for the re-make well because the filled the roll of the other character (from the original film). We also used an appropriate costume, Sam was dressed in night cloths and a dressing gown, this was an appropriate costume because it fitted the film well and it didn’t standout as different or weird. The location for our film was chosen well because we needed a bedroom, sams bedroom was a good choice for the film as it provided a good amount of light and just enough room to set up the camera and get the actor moving.

During the planning stage it was my job to story board the re-make, while watching the original film so that I could pick out details for the shoot, when it came to filming I was working behind the camera setting up shots and adjusting white balance and focus, I was also directing sam and telling him how he needed to be so that he could be ready for the next shot, during editing I was going cutting the clips and putting them in order with Sam, after this we made finer cuts to make the film flow better, once the film was done we started looking for audio and lowering the levels of the sound on he film. The improvements that could be made to the film are for continuity, if we could make the clock and door the same for the entire film it would improve the film, we could fix this by cropping the film but this would stretch the clip and ruin the film. We could also re shoot the shaky scene on the floor; this could be improved by making sure no one hits the camera during shooting. When the time comes to make the final coursework film I will be more aware of continuity errors in the background, I will also be able to film at appropriate angles and use proper shot types.

this is the re-make of the student made film called reflection.
An evaluation will follow after this post.

This is the plan for our re-make of reflection, this includes a plan of the room showing where the camera could be set up, it also includes a story board and a shot list.

this is sam's recee sheet, this shows the location that sam picked to film at .

Aaron's recee sheet, this is a plan for a location that aaron chose to film in

this is the sheet that belongs to the photos of sam as his character in the re-make

this is the first film that we had story boarded, we found that the film ran smoothly apart from the section where sam trys to grab aaron but looks at the camera, we tryed to fix this in edditing so it shows a little jump. the shots where well framed i belive, we used the rule of thirds by using the grid on the camera, we left little out of the shot just leaving some of the background to show location. we used alot of shot types including close up, mid shot, long shot and canted angle.

This is a picture of Sam in costume form for the 3 min film "Reflection"

This is an image of Sam as his normal self.

continuity exercise by Aaron and Sam Questions

we achieved continuity for most of the clip but at one point when aaron walks up the stairs and meets sam there is a slight jump, this is because aaron slows down as he reaches the top of the stairs but the next clip the aaron has a faster pace in his walk, this creates a jump, we tried to fix this by extending the clip to keep them at the same pace. The skills we learnt last week (focus, white balance and exposure)where used in each shot to make it look right. our shots where framed correctly, we used a lot of mid shots getting the wast up shot of the subject, there are a few long shots getting the full length on subject. This short film  could be improved by shooting the scenes multiple times to get the best looking shot.

continuity exercise by Aaron and Sam

this was a exercise in continuity and learning the 180 degree and 30 degree rule, we found that when we did the establishing shot we couldn't fix the transition between it and the next shot, we found that by leting the clip last longer it fixed it but there is still a slight jump, we were not able to re-shoot this as the actors didn't have the correct cloths and the weather would have changed the lighting and the background.

First recording