Individual Evaluation-Stuart Kirk

1. Use of Camera

  The is one shot at the beginning that is panning up which is not a steady shot because of the movement from side to side but all of the other shots in the 40 second recreation are steady shots because of little movement by the camera. We mostly used the tripod for the shots however the handheld shots are not steady as there was limited room for the use of the tripod.
  The shot that has flashing lights on is a well framed shot as the character has a little head room but not too much. I believe that all of our shots are framed appropriately as there is enough head and lead room for the character and it looks like there is always a sense of danger. However the first shot could be classed as bad framing as it slightly veers off. This could have been avoided if we cut the shot out all together and changed the type of shot that it was.

 In the finished recreation there was different camera shots from a canted shot an extreme close up and also containing a low angle and high angle shot. This is a variety of the shots we used within it. There was good composition throughout as the main focus was on the four crossing points of the boxes which were split into nine.

2. Use of Editing

There was a few continuity errors. These included when the character went through the door there was no shot from the other side of her going through the door which made the audience a little disorientated. Another one of these is the shots at the start of the recreation which were a little jumpy because of the 30 degree rule which was not applied in this situation. It would have been better in this situation as it would have made the recreation run smoother and therefore would not make the audience suspect what was happening. They may think that they have missed something in the film. It would be better to try and follow the 180 rule and 30 degree continuity.

Even though we did not use any transition techniques we altered the brightness and contrast of the whole 40 seconds. This was to help create an atmosphere for the viewer and make it more suited for the genre. We also use an effect on one of the scenes which was a flash edit. This was to enhance the effect of the lights flashing on and off. This would make it more frightful for the viewer in this circumstance.

3. Selection of Content

The costume chosen was correct for the genre as it is typically a white ghost which means that it was the appropriate for this type of genre. The make-up was very dark or very light which contrast with each other which is good for this sort of genre. The prop which was the book looked very plain which makes the audience feel a bit suspicious of what could be contained within the book which makes it very good for this genre. Also the location props helped for example the old furniture and the empty space which make it appropriate and good for shooting it. It gives that eery feeling that the genre is shown for.

The location in general was a good location to shoot because it kept the viewer on edge because of the empty  spaces in some parts of the house and also the antique look about the house. The actors chosen for our 40 second recreation were appropriate as they had previous acting experience and this helped them to play the part. Also the actors understood what their role was in the recreation and therefore knew how to do that part and when they were required which meant it took less time to get ready for the scenes.

4. Self-assessment

During the planning to the film I helped to choose the 40 seconds that we would be recreating. I thought it would be suitable because for the recreation it would start to get the viewer anxious. I took notes on where there were going to be possible filming locations. I could have done more on this part by completing a recee sheet which would mean we would have had two possible locations rather then just one. I filmed most of the tasks in lessons which meant I could be more prepared to use the camera for this assignment and the final assessment piece as well. I filmed the majority of the 40 second recreation. I also editing roughly the final 10 seconds of our recreation.

To the finished film the following improvements could be made. Firstly we could have used the 180 degree rule to stop the jumpiness of the film and keep it flowing smoothly. Another thing is to make sure the editing done to the final video look effective. Make sure that the framing for the entire film looks correct and make sure the composition is accurate for each of the shots contained within it.

In the final assessment because we will have more time it will mean we will get to review our first shoot and be able to re-shoot to improve and perfect the work. I would also make sure that I know different editing techniques to improve the look of the work and to make it more appealing to the viewer. Also I would use transition techniques to improve the smoothness between the shots. I will also try to make sure that I stick to the tasks allocated to me and make sure they are completed to the best of my ability.

Self Evaluation-Georgie Holmes

Use of Camera

This is an over the shoulder shot of the victim

The majority of shots in my groups finished piece overall were steady. A few shots jumped which meant that the film did not run as smoothly as it could have done through parts. The beginning shot was a close up of the book which then panned up at the victim showing her as weak and frightened. This shot could be improved by using the leaver on the tripod to pan running the shot more smoothly instead of panning manually which causes the shot to jump. Although it would have ran smoother with this shot using a tripod, it was difficult to film because of the limited area we had. One steady shot was the over the shoulder shot of the victim looking through the book. I felt that this shot worked really well because of the timing and stillness which created the tension which was needed for shooting a 40 second horror clip.

  The framing of the shots were done appropriately, we intended to make sure that the spacing was clear and that the shot was looking affective. One shot that we filmed which I felt was a good example of framing was the victim looking through the book. The area above the head is limited but giving her enough space to look appropriate. The victim is centred in the middle which was important to dominate that she is the focus and main target.
  It was important to use as many different shot types as we could, which was preparation for our main horror film. The variety of shots consisted of 'Close Ups' and 'Mid Shots', with these you focused on the body language of the victim showing her insecure actions and expressions. Other shot types we used were 'Long Shots' and 'Extreme Close Ups'. With the different shots changing dramatically it made the recreation more dysfunctional which was intended to create more tension. In a couple of shots we used Camera Movements like 'tiling' and 'panning' to create more of an effect. Using tilting made the atmosphere once again more dysfunctional because it makes the viewer think, why is the camera like that? Using all these different shots helped us to understand and improve on our camera skills which will have a big impact on our final piece.

Use of Editing.


We attempted to make sure that the shots flowed smoothly at all times, but occasionally from one shot to an other they jumped which didn't work to well. An error we made was the shot where the victim in panic exits through the door. Instead of filming her on the other side watching her come out the room, we went straight into her walking up the stairs. This did not look right. If we were to film this again I would have made sure that all shots were clear and that we didn't miss anything out.

This shot and the one to the right, could be
improved by adding another shot of the victim
exiting into the main hall.

 












Although we used did not use any transition techniques for editing as such, we decided that to make the atmosphere more tense and ghostly to change the brightness of each shot, making them more darker and gloomy. I felt that this worked because the darkness created the atmosphere we wanted along with the dysfunctional narrative. As well as the brightness we also used strobe lighting to exaggerate the shot of the girl being taunted by the ghost, (which also is the tilted shot).
   Watching the clip over, it is important that we work on the 180 degree rule along with the 30 degree. We attempted to use the rules but occasionally you can spot an error of where we have placed the camera when filming, which again leads to a jumpy shot take. It would have helped if we had more space to film, as it was limited because of the table getting in the way. Using these rules will improve our film and make it more effective.

Selection of Content.


Because we were only using 40 seconds of someones horror film we did not chose to pick the part where you see the ghost like character. This meant that costume and make up wise, it was a lot more simpler. It was important to portray the victim as a normal girl, to create the sense that this could happen to anyway. She looked weak and vulnerable but keeping tone of her costume and make up down made her look just like an everyday character. We showed that we could use props and make them look effective on film, because the narrative was based around the book therefore the camera shots had to be effective. The only thing is we should have used an older book and damaged it, to create a more tense affect on the viewer. This was not thought of properly and needed have been discussed before hand.
   I think that the location worked extremely well, as it was an old victorian style house which had an impact on the ghostly narrative which was our film genre.
   As well as the location I felt that the characters we used were great. The victim (Ellie Walker) played her role extremely well. She stayed in character the majority of the time, we occasionally see a smile appear but that could have been improved by the editing. But her facial expressions and body language portrayed her as weak and fragile which is always good for a victim of a horror film.

Self-assessment.

My role when preparing and actually filming the 40 second recreation piece was the organiser and director. I arranged after agreement of where the location was going to be, I also found the actors for the filming, discussing with the actors what roles they were going to play and how to portray them. This helped the other members of the group out because it meant that they could focus on their contributions towards to final piece. We all made sure that we had ago at each others role so that we comfortable with using the camera and how to edit the shots.
   Improvements that would be made in the final film would be the use of props. Making sure that before hand we were definitely organised and prepared for when we were filming. I also would make sure we would improve on the shots with framing and 180 degree rule to make sure it ran smoothly.
   In my final coursework film, I would like to use a different narrative, I enjoyed the genre of the film which was ghosts, but just changing the location to somewhere more original and different keeping the viewers on edge. I enjoyed working with both Ryan and Stuart as they worked really hard on the roles making sure that we were not behind on schedule and that our recreation worked well.  

Final Assessment

This is our 40 second horror film recreation

Composition 2

This is a composition shooting which is an establishing shot and then a over the shoulder shot. This had to be framed so that there was not too much room between the characters or fee space outside the shot completely.

Composition

The Head room for each of the characters was not too much or too little and the characters had okay lead room. However during the first scene the camera gave a little too much lead room for the character. We tried to position the characters as effectively as we could by making them be in around the location of the intersection points. We also tried to keep to the 180 degree rule however it parts filming it became a little jumpy which would disorientate the viewer.

Assessment Exercise Original

This is the original piece we have chosen to recreate 30-40 seconds of.

Continuity Exercise 1

We failed to successfully achieve the Continuity Exercise as we had a lot of inconvenient jump cuts which ruined the smooth transitions between a couple of shots. From the shot where the actor walked towards the door and look at his phone, there was a quick jump shot which didn't run smoothly and therefore it didn't look very good. We also didn't stick to the 30 degree angle rule in the majority of shots. You can identify some of the shots as the actor seems to placed in the same position.

The framing next time needs to be improved. With our first practise exercise the focus wasn't right as we hadn't placed the camera correctly and therefore the framing of the shots have not been done properly.

We have included all of the shots that we had planned. We took a lot of time to position the camera where we thought would work for the exercise and meant that we could work on our editing skills with each shot.

Our piece could be improved by the shots and framing which we can achieve next time we have a practise go at filming and editing.

First filming exercise

In our short film, we tried to use a variety of different shot types to create tension and a story line. With the framing we used long shots to determine the location and setting, as well as using close ups and mid shots to show reactions and emotions of the characters. Using contrasting shots and angles helps to keep the viewers attention to the film.

Throughout the filming we found difficulty using some of the shots due to the lighting and exposure problems. For example, we were planning to do a low angle shot of the victim looking up at the stalker to show her as weak and vulnerable but as the exposure was to light it was not effective.

The pace of our film opening varied. As the victim was more vulnerable the pace quickened which created tension towards to audience.

Our project could have been improved if we had a longer amount of time to shoot certain shots as we had problems with people walking through the shot or by having unwanted, sound. It also could have been improved if we had a longer period of time to prepare ourselves to create a more dramatic piece. With the shots we should have used more closer shots so we could visualise more intensely what the victim was feeling and how her body language and facial expressions created the feel.