Testing Split Screen

We decided to film two pots of coffee instead of walking because in scene one the split screen is of alarms not people. Although I used the same shot for this split screen we are using different shots in the opening sequence. The outcome wasn't exactly how we intended but we are still trying to work out how to edit them more effectively.

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we had to film someone opening and walking through a door and having a conversation. We had to include a reverse shot, shot the 180 degree rule and match on action.

This is Mr Buckmaster's example with the brief:  http://marlboroughmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Preliminary%20Task

Below is Bethany, Camille and my preliminary task along with our story board (made with post-it notes), shot list and script. Using these was a great help whilst making our preliminary, however, we had to cut some of the shots and the dialogue in them because they were too short. Doing the preliminary has helped me to see why it is so important to line up the camera exactly at the start so you don't get too much or too little head space (as you can see in some of our shots). It's also helped me understand why the duration and planning of each shot is so important.

Filming A Scene Using My 'Bullitt' Storyboard

In class on Thursday we attempted to film the shots in the 'Bullitt' car chase scene using just my storyboard (see previous post). We didn't focus on sound in this, just trying to position the shots correctly. The video of Katie's, Alex's, Dionne's and my attempt is to above (we accidentally cut out the first shot). As we didn't have a car to use we improvised with two chairs, a table and a bin and filmed clips where we found it impossible to shoot.

The first shot in the video is a medium eye level shot of the back of the 'goodies' head, who is driving chasing the car ahead. In this shot we had to think about the rule of thirds and think about the positioning of the objects. To the right is a screen grab of attempt and what it should of looked like. As you can see the angle of this shot is wrong, it appears to be more of a high angle shot. We should of lowered the tripod to make the shot eye level. We also did not think about the duration of this shot (it should have last approximately 3 seconds).

The next shot was of two people in another car (the 'baddies') driving. It was hard to get the positioning of both characters right in this shot as our actors were different sizes to those in the actual scene which I storyboarded from. However I think this shot worked a lot better than the last (see picture to right). We remembered to think about the duration and angle of the shot.

The next shot was hard to film because I had found it hard to draw on the storyboard, so wasn't an accurate representation of the shot. We got the angle of the shot right however the size and the duration of the shot were a little out.

In the next shot we just filmed the actual 'Bullitt' car chase clip as we didn't have a car available.

We then filmed another clip of the 'goody' driving and chasing the car ahead. although this was a better attempt than the first shot, the angle and positioning of the shot is wrong again (the top of my head is one show). To correct this the camera must of been set up lower and checked that the positioning of my head was the same as my storyboard. However, the duration of the shot was correct.

After that we again filmed the actual clip from the scene again, as it was another clip of a car.

The second to last shot was another shot of me (the 'goody') chasing the car ahead, except the angle was slightly different. Although we showed this angle and the duration of the shot was close, we again got the positioning of the shot wrong (too much of my head is on show).


The last shot is again of me but from the side. I have far too much space behind my back in this shot and above my head in this shot. The angle and duration, however, were good.




Filming the 'Bullitt' car chase scene using just my storyboard made me realise how important and helpful storyboarding is to help you get the right and accurate shot. They also save a lot of time as you know exactly what you are doing when you start filming.

Second Attempt With A Camera

Above is my groups second attempt with using a camera. This attempt was much better than the first as we really focused on the advice Mr Buckmaster gave us such as setting the camera up perfectly before hand, meaning we did not have to move it much when filming. We also tried to remember head space for example on the shot when we paned we did two run throughs before filming to make sure my head was never cut off.

We started by panning a high-angle medium shot (up to 0.08) from the top of the stairs following me walking up them, we filmed this on the science block stairs as we new the lighting was good there as there's lots of natural light from all the windows. In this we really tried to make the panning smooth by keeping the camera on a tripod. We also started filming for five seconds before I started moving, and made sure we had the right amount of head space before we filmed.

The next shot was a birds eye view (0.09) of me sat on the floor, which we again filmed from the top of the stairs, this shot was a lot easier to film as we did not have to move the camera (but we did slightly by accident). To make the shot better we would have needed more leg space/less head space and we should of thought about the rule of thirds instead of making me centre of the shot.

The last shot we did was a reverse angle shot, we started with a close-up of me staring at something and then filmed the back of my head and Sam in the background as if I was staring at him. Sam stood by the window in the shot to hide his face, nearly making a silhouette, to create the illusion he was mysterious/ dangerous. In this shot we thought about the rule of three and Sam and I were never central.
Our last shot was a low-angle shot at 0.24, however, this was not very successful as we did not set up the camera very well so I cropped most of it out.

Our second attempt was much better, although we did less shots they were higher quality.

First Attempt With A Camera

The video above is my groups first attempt with a camera, we took turns to make different camera shots and movements. Our filming wasn't the best as we did not set up our camera very well before each shot so I have put ways to improve and what we did wrong after most of the shots.

We started with a panning long shot up to 0.05 seconds showing most of the field. The movement could of been a lot smother on this and we should have weighed up the ratio of trees in the shot in comparison to the ratio of grass.
We then moved to a medium long shot at 0.07 then a medium shot (two character shot) before filming we should have thought about our head space in both of these shots.
After that we went onto a medium close-up at 0.11, this shot was quite wonky, we ought to of checked this before filming.
We then moved onto a slight low angle close-up showing my face and surroundings at 0.14 and a big close-up at 0.17.
My group then attempted a reverse angle shot at 0.19, however, I thought it did not look very effective as the actress was not really looking at anything so we just filmed a blank space.
Our second to last shot was a another low-angle shot at 0.23, however because the light was behind our actress it was hard to see her face.
The last shot was a high angle shot at 0.25.

Once we had finished we watched everyone's back in class, Mr Buckmaster gave helpful feedback such as:
-Through out our shots we need to remember to keep the camera still (unless panning, tracking, crabbing etc.)
-We also need to position our camera exactly how we want to before we start filming and do a count down from five before filming
-We need to think a about lighting, if lighting behind the character is too strong then you wont be able to see their face
- The last tip he gave us was to think about head space before we start filming