Preliminary exercise - Production process

For the main part of our preliminary exercise, we started off with a number of problems...

1. The location - Almost all of the suitable rooms whee taken during the slot where we had time to film.
2. Time limit - Because we had to start re filming after our first week, we now had less time to film.
3. Making sure we didn't break the 180 degree rule.
4. Getting to grips with the new equipment - our filming involved using equipment that I've never used before.

How we overcame these problems:

1. We did this by filming parts of our exercise in different area which where free, and putting them together so they flowed. By doing this, we ensured that not only did we get all the shots we needed, we also saved time as we didn't need to wait for areas to become avaliable.
2. We filmed some shots not in chronological order, which meant that we never had to stop to wait for areas to become available. We where also fairly organised, as we could refer to the storyboard and script, and get on with filming the shot. The camera work was good, meaning we never had to do more than two takes on any one shot. This also sped up post production.
3. Whilst filming, we thought out the shot to make sure it would show continuity and not break the rule
4. We helped eachother with this one, so everybody knew how to work each piece of equiptment. This would of been useful if one of the members of our team left during or before filming, as we wouldn't be stuck not knowing how to work something.

In conclusion...

Overall i would say our filming turned out to be pretty good. We managed to cover all the bases, and stick to our script and storyboard wherever possible.

Preliminary exercise - The Script

Here is the script we used in the final version of our short film:
 

Alex walks to locker, opens it, then receiving a text message, he takes the phone out of his pocket, read the message and puts it back into his pocket. He then walks through a door and down a corridor to meet Alice.

Arrives at door, looks through then opens it and walks into the room, where Alice is waiting.

Alex B: …you wanted to talk?

Alice: Well…It’s just that

Alex B: Well…

Alice: Shall we see 'Back to the Future' or 'Buried' tonight?

Alex B: I don’t care… 'Back to the Future'?

Alice: 'Buried' it is!

Preliminary exercise - Pre Production process

Our group...

Our Group was made up of the following people:

• Me, Alex Bryant
• Daniel Coulston
• Alice Clark
• Alex Griffin
• Georgina Barker
• Livvi Manning

What we had to do...

Our first task which involved filming and media production, was to make s short film demonstrating a few of the key principles to filming, and to show a variety of camera shots. 

• The 180 Degree rule
• Shot/reverse shot
• Match on action

The aim of the task was to produce something which showed our knowledge of continuity throughout the film by using these camera shots and editing techniques.

What we did to achieve this...

The first thing we did as a group was come up with a simple yet different idea to turn into a short film. We came up with a few ideas. Initially, we came up with a story about a boy meeting a girl for the first time, only to find out she wasn't a girl at all.

However, due to the person acting as the main character being away half way through filming, we had to change our idea to a more basic and easier to film one. We came up with a story about a boy who gets a text from his girlfriend, which makes him think she's leaving him. The boy then goes to meet her, fearing the worst, only to find out she wasn't leaving at all, and he made a big deal about a small thing.

This was put onto a storyboard with details of the shot types and what was happening in the shot. This gave us a good idea of what we had to do when filming, and helped to speed up the process.

Another key aspect of pre-production was writing a script. Although due to the length of the task there isn't much dialogue, it was still important as when combined with out storyboard it gave us a clear idea of what we had to do to film.

Slide show:

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Get your own

Here is a slide show of our storyboards, which were drawn by Alice. The first 4 are from our original, unused one (it never got finished), and the remaining three are the ones we used.

All of this preparation for our production made the whole process of filming much easier, and in my opinion gave a better result.

48 Hours of Media consumption

As a first task, our task was to investigate just how much the media plays a part in our lives, by keeping a "media Diary" over a 48 hour period. The diary shows that throughout the day, most peoples lives are influenced by one or more media platforms, often without realising.


Friday
7:50 woke up,checked phone.
8:20 Listened to Radio on the way to school
8:50 Watched a News broadcast in Tutor
10:00 Checked emails
16:00 got home, went on computer to check emails, Facebook and to read the news.
18:00 Watched TV


Saturday
10:00 Woke up, checked phone
11:00 Watched the news on Sky News 24
11:00 Also read a part of the newspaper (Telegraph)
12:00 Listened to the Radio whilst eating lunch
13:00 Went on computer to check emails, Facebook and to read the news.
13:30 Went out to the Cinema to watch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Was awesome)
17:30 Got home, checked Facebook again.
19:00 Watched TV
22:00 Went on the internet again, watched something on 4OD


In conclusion, i would say that my life is obviously influenced by a number of different media platforms, as in a period of just 48 Hours, i was exposed to over 5 different types.