Barney Flood - Preliminary task - Self Assessment

Does your film use continuity editing so that the sequence of events are clear and easily understood by the viewer?

Yes, I am pleased with the outcome of the film and the way I edited the clips - with credit to some help from Zak. I believe that it is smooth and effective for the genre of the film.

Have you followed the directions in the brief?

We followed the majority of the brief however we did change some bits in order to fit the 180-degree rule and the shot/reverse shot. The things in which we changed and added in were better idea’s, in my opinion, which helped our preliminary reach a better standard.

Have you used match-on-action?

We have used match-on-action at the moment when Elijah opens the door and there is a slow, creaky close up on his hand as he opens it.

Can you explain what a match-on-action involves?

Match-on-action involves an action from an actor in one scene, which is then mirrored in the next seen and it can change the atmosphere of a film. For example in our film, the match-on-action is used as Elijah opens the door. It goes from a normal and casual mood with Elijah being relaxed as he is walking up to the door, to a creepier environment when he enters back into the room to see the woman.

Have you used shot/reverse shot?

Yes we have included shot/reverse briefly when Elijah first meets the woman in the classroom. They exchange quick eye-contact before Elijah makes a break for it and tries to escape her.

Can you explain what shot/reverse shot involves?

Shot reverse shot involves two camera angles, usually involving two actors for either angle. The initial shot is of one actor’s perspective looking at the other person, and then the reverse shot is from the other actor’s perspective looking back at the initial actor. This is shown in our Preliminary when our two characters first meet.

Did you observe the 180-degree rule?

We did not perform a 180-degree rule in our Preliminary; however we did not break the 180-degree rule.

Can you explain the 180-degree rule?

The 180-degree rule is when two characters are in a scene, perhaps one being on the left of the scene and one on the right side. The camera angle will break the 180-degree rule if the people in the scene were seen to swap positions and appear in a different place in the film. For example Elijah was always seen standing by the door when he first see’s the woman which is observing the 180-degree rule.

What role did you play in the making of the preliminary task?

In the making of the Preliminary task, I had the job of being the camera man. I shot all of the clips in the film and then uploaded them to Adobe Premier Pro. As well as filming the scenes, I converted them into files suited for editing and I then edited all of the film. Zak did help me in making decisions for some of the editing and we both together decided what worked well in the film.

How would you assess your contribution to the group?

I thing I contributed a lot to the group as I believe that the editing was very successful and the video footage was also quite good. I am thankful to have had Zak helping me with the editing and I believe he also made a big contribution to our group not only with his part in editing, but his directing when we were shooting the clips also. The final contribution to the group was Elijah and he helped make our Preliminary successful with his acting skills and brainstorming in coming up with key idea’s for the film. All in all, I am very pleased to be part of the team and enjoyed working on this Preliminary film.

What have you learned from the process of making your preliminary film?

In the process of creating our Preliminary film I have learned that organisation and planning will enable us to have a better end product in the future. I have a lot of confidence in our group and am looking forward to working on the main task together with the boys soon.