1) How did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
First of all our group brainstormed some potential ideas for our film after being given the genre of documentary. We did this by drawing a spider diagram as we could put our ideas on this. After deciding what our documentary would be about we decided the roles each person would play between us. We dicided this by each person saying what they think they would be best at out of actor, director and camera man.
How did you plan your sequence? What process did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?
The way we planned our sequence was by usuing postit notes. This enabled us to put our ideas on them and also move them around so we could plan the sequence. Once we were satisfied with our sequence we used a template of a story board to put our ideas on. This story board consisted of images as to what we wanted the scene to look like and also what camera shot we wanted to get. We tried to get Barthes narratives with the setting as we wanted to make it look gloomy like a battlefield.
What technology did you use to create your task, and how did you use it?
In order to create the prelim task we hand to film it. We used the schools handheld camera to film it over a few days. Once we completed filming our task we uploaded it to the computer. From here we loaded it onto premier and we then eddited the shots to make a 1 minute 45 seconds long documentary. In order to present our task we used Prezzie. This was a series of Power Point like slides which allowed us to put our storyline, script, storyboard and plan on it.
What factors did you have to take into account when planning, editing and shooting?
When planning we had to take into account the realities as to where we could film as certrain areas of the school would either be cut off or would give too much away in the background. When editing I had to take the amount of shots that were worthy into acount as we shot a lot of shots so I had to select the specific shots I wanted. The main factor we had to take into account when shooting was the weather. This would play a problem as the lighting would be different on different days. To overcome this issue we had to film on the same day.
How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?
I feel that our sequence was very successful. The sorts of things that worked well for us as a group was our wide range of shots that we managed to get into our sequence. These shots ranged from mid shots to long shots to close ups. If I were to improve my sequence I would edit the school building out in one of the shots as it just crept in the shot. From the feedback we got as a group most people said that our sequence was very successful in creating a very powerful motion that gripped them and made them focus on what was being shown and said. The minor downfault to our sequence was that it needed an intorduction of the character to make it more like a documentary.What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
From completing the prelim task I have gained a better understanding of the different shots that there are whilst making a film. I've been able to gain a better understanding of this as we physically did it which helpt me learn it better. I have also gained a better understanding as to how to edit in Publisher as well as presenting in Prezzi. All this learning will be significant when completing the rest of the coursework as I am more aware of everything which will give me a wider range as to what I can actually do.
