Preliminary task - the editing process and finished outcome:

On Wednesday the 13th of October, we were given 100 minutes solely to edit our footage, in order to create our final product. Harry was absent for this lesson, therefore I carried out the editing process individually. Our task was to finish the editing in the time provided, and I managed to carry out a large majority of this task without any major problems; however, there were parts that I was unsure about, therefore I waited until Harry was present to hear his opinion.


Using Final Cut Express
Using 'Final Cut Express', I edited the footage that Harry and I captured in the previous lesson. As I did GCSE media, using Final Cut Express is very easy for me; therefore, I did not struggle with this task. As Harry was absent, I took responsibility for all areas of the editing, however  (as I mentioned previously), Harry and I checked our work once more when he returned, to make sure that we agreed on the finished production. Overall, the editing process using Final Cut Express was very straight-forward, as I have experience in this particular area of media.


Changes made to the Storyboard
When creating our storyboard, we knew that we would have to make a few minor changes when it came to the actual filming process (hence the fact our storyboard wasn't drawn in huge amounts of detail). Storyboards are set in place to provide a foundation to work from, in order to keep you on track whilst filming, so with this in mind, we included things that would be beneficial to us - a drawn image of the shot, and all the necessary information we would need; for example, the shot type, the shot number, the dialogue/sound, the timing, etc. Although we had originally planned to make a few changes to our storyboard whilst filming, we didn't actually make that many huge changes. The changes that we did make, fortunately, looked better than what we had planned in the first place.

• Shot 4 - Rather than using a close up shot, we actually ended up using a medium shot. We did this in order to establish the surroundings more easily, and so that the viewers could actually see what was happening.
• Shot 8 - On our storyboard, this frame is drawn as a medium shot; however, we decided to change this to an extreme close-up. We did this to create tension, and raise the level of suspense. In shot 7, an extreme close-up shot is used to show Imy's evil glare, so using the same technique in the next shot keeps the level of tension high, therefore hooking the viewers.
• Shot 9 - In shot 9 (on our storyboard), our female character sits down at a table, where our male character is already seated. However, in our finished piece, our character places the bag on the table as she takes a seat. This action was meant to take place in shot 12, but fortunately, this minor change wasn't very noticeable.
• Shot 12 - Instead of using a medium shot in this frame, we decided to use a long shot. We did this to include both characters, in order to show both of their reactions and facial expressions.
• Shot 16 - The dialogue in shot 16 was originally going to be "give it to me"; however, we changed it to a sentence that we thought would be more suitable for the character. We tried to portray our character as a mysterious, slightly intimidating male, although at times he seems slightly nervous. Changing the dialogue to "hand it over" makes the character seem more demanding, and eager to get his hands on the money. Also, we added in the "180 degree rule", in order to allow us to shoot the upcoming shots from a different perspective.
• Shot 22 - For this frame, we were originally going to use a close-up shot; however, during the filming process, we decided to use a medium close-up. We did this so that we could really show what was going on in the shot, rather than just having a close-up on the facial expression of the character. Our male character is shown holding up a handful of money, and then throwing it viciously towards the floor. The medium close-up shot enabled us to capture the money, as well as the character's facial expression.
• Timings - When creating our storyboard, we noted down an estimated timing for each shot. Obviously, these timings weren't going to be exact when it came to the filming and editing processes, but we did it to help us to fit our frames with the music. For example, we guessed that shot 1 would be 3 seconds long; however, when it came to the filming and editing processes, this shot actually ended up being 5 seconds long.

Accompaniment created on Garageband

In the lesson where Harry and I put our animatic together, we also used a small amount of this time to create the music for our production. We did this so that we could add it to our animatic, and so that it was ready for the editing process. We used a mysterious-sounding bass riff, which we thought worked very well with the intended mood of our piece. It was very easy to produce the sound, as we used a program designed especially for macs - Garageband. This program enables users to easily create very realistic sounds, in a short amount of time. I know how to use Garageband very well, as I used it a lot whilst studying GCSE media. When it came to the editing process, we simply imported our bass-riff sound file into Final Cut Express, and dragged it to the places where it was necessary. Overall, the Garageband process was very straight-forward, and also a huge help  to Harry and I.

Problems whilst editing

Honestly, I did have a few minor difficulties whilst editing our final production; however, these problems were resolved in no time. 

The first problem I encountered was to do with the natural sound in our captured clips. As I mentioned previously, we decided to film in Eds Place, where music is playing constantly. As the staff in Eds Place couldn't do anything about the music, we just had to go ahead and film anyway. Initially, I thought that fixing the sound on these clips would be quite easy, which I was right about; however, it did take longer than I had expected. I did manage to decrease the sound levels on all of our frames, in order to allow our backing track to be heard. Although this was effective, the music in Eds Place can unfortunately still be heard very quietly. I quite like it though, as it give our finished production more of a realistic, natural feel. The music in Eds Place is not too distracting for the audience, so in my opinion, I feel that my job was well done. Also, we decided to record the dialogue using the built in microphone on the mac. We did this in order to allow the audience to really hear that our characters are saying, as the dialogue is a very important part of the plot.

In conclusion, I feel that the editing process was definitely a success. Despite the problems that we faced, we still managed to create a finished piece of work that both Harry and I were pleased with, and all in the time provided - job well done, I think.

Preliminary task - the filming process:

On wednesday the 6th of October, Harry and I filmed our preliminary task. We had one lesson to capture the footage, and we achieved this aim with a good amount of time to spare at the end of the lesson. 


Before the lesson, Harry and I had to make a number of arrangements regarding our task.We planned our location, costume/props and actors prior to the lesson, which left us with 100 minutes in the lesson to focus solely on our footage. Harry and I discussed our plans together, and after some minor disagreements, we came to a final decision for our location - Ed's Place. 

• We chose Ed's Place, as it is a casual, everyday setting, which supports our story-line very well. Our plot consists of two characters taking part in a slightly dodgy financial scenario, in which one character gives fake money (monopoly money) to the other character. The set-up of the situation is made to look very subtle, and relaxed; therefore, using a location which is very normal helps to reflect our aim. 

Imy Harvey



Zander Fletcher

• Harry and I also agreed on the two actors we would use - Zander and Imy. Originally, we wanted two male actors; however, after a small discussion regarding our characters, we both agreed that having a female as the dominant character would add a bit of variety to our production, rather than having the typical male lead role, which may seem sexist to a large majority of people. Also, (as I mentioned in my last post) the music we chose to use sounds very mysterious, and slightly seductive; therefore, having a female as the dominant role adds to this level of mystery and seductiveness.
• When it came to our costume and props, this was something that Harry and I had to discuss in a lot of depth. In fact, I think we may have discussed this more than any of the other areas. We had to think very carefully about what we would need, and how our costume choices would affect the overall reception of the video by our audience. We decided to have our character's dressed all in black, in order to link to the mysterious look that we are trying to achieve. Black is a colour that doesn't automatically get paired with a certain mood (for example, red represents anger, or love), so this also helped us hugely, as the audience won't associate the characters with a particular mood. We only needed two props throughout the whole filming process (monopoly money and a bag to place the money in), but these things were very easy to obtain.

(Notice the figure to the right)

Overall, Harry and I didn't find any major difficulties whilst filming. Obviously, there were a few minor ones, but these problems were sorted very quickly. One problem which we did find it hard to solve was the fact that people kept walking through our shots, or near the camera whilst we were filming, therefore causing a lot of noise. There was nothing we could do really, so we just had to patiently wait, and then film as quickly as we could when there was a moments silence. This  only happened on a few occasions, and it didn't affect any of our footage too much, so this problem was resolved. Although we managed to solve our first minor hitch, there was a recurring problem that we found hard to fix - the fact that music is constantly playing in Ed's place. At first, we thought that this would be fine, as we planned to simply asked the Ed's place staff to turn it off for a short period of time; however, they then told us that Mr Barton is in charge of the music, therefore they could not turn it down for us. Admittedly, we did panic for a minute or two, but we decided to just power on through, and adjust the sound levels on the computer. 

Despite these issues, the filming process was a successful one! We managed to capture everything we needed in the time limit, and overall, everything went pretty much to plan. Hopefully when we begin editing our footage, we find that the sound problem in Ed's place actually wasn't that much of a big deal; however, if we do struggle to fix things, I'm sure Harry and I can find a solution in our free time.

For future reference - DOs and DON'T

• DO organise everything you need prior to filming (i.e. location, actors, props/costume etc.)
• DO tell the actors what they must do before filming, as communication is a very important part of the filming process.
• DO be prepared to improvise. If a shot needs changing, don't panic - just adjust what you need to adjust, and reflect back on this when it comes time to analyse your final production.
• DO give yourself enough time at the end to solve anything that may have gone wrong (for example, if voice overs are needed using a microphone, or if certain shots need filmed again)
• DON'T dismiss the storyboard! Story-boards are crucial when capturing large amounts of footage, so keep this close to you, and look back at it after every frame has been shot.
• DON'T leave anything until the last minute. Organise props, costume etc. before the filming, as this prevents anyone rushing around.

Preliminary task - the story-boarding process:

"Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule."

Story-boarding is a crucial part of any filmed production, no matter how large or small the project is. Although things may be changed during the filming and editing stages (for example, shots may be removed/altered, etc.), story-boarding your work provides a foundation to look back at throughout the entire process. When creating our story-board, Harry and I annotated each frame with important information - the shot  number, the shot type, the camera angle, the mise-en-scene, the timings, and the sound/dialogue that would accompany each shot. 


Overall, our story-board consisted of 22 shots, a lot of which included at least one of the four continuity shots that were needed in our story-board as part of the brief. 

• Shots 3 and 4 contain an 'eyeline match'. In shot 3, our female actress is shown walking towards something that she is looking at. Shot 4 then switches to what she is walking towards/looking at - a door handle. This eyeline match is used to draw the audience in, and inform them as to what is going on in the scene.
• In shots 3, 4 and 5, Harry and I also included a 'match on action' shot. Match on action shots give an impression of 'continuous time'. It cuts from one shot to another, creating a smooth transition from shot to shot - in other words, creating continuity. Our main character walks towards a door, opens the door, and walks through the door - all shown from a completely different perspective. We did this to add a bit of variety to our work.
• Shots 7 and 8 contain a 'shot/reverse shot'; however, this could also be classed as an 'eyeline match'. Shot 7 shows an 'extreme close up' on our female character's face, staring at something out of the frame. The atmosphere  then swiftly changes to an 'extreme close up' of our male character, who is shown staring back at the other character. Using these techniques really creates a tense atmosphere, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve.
• Shots 10 and 11 contain another 'shot/reverse shot', which could also be listed as an 'eyeline match'. These frames are very similar to shots 7 and 8,  as we wanted to continue to increase the level of suspense.  The only difference is that these shots are 'big close up' shots, rather than 'extreme close up' shots.
• Shot 16 consists of the '180 degree rule', which we only used once overall. We only used this technique once, as we felt that it wasn't necessary to use it any more than this. Harry and I used it in order to allow us to film shots from a completely different perspective, rather than filming all on one side.
• In shots 19 and 20, we decided to add in a 'match on action' shot, to show the scenario from a different angle and perspective. Also, (as I mentioned previously) we used this continuity method to add variety to our work. I think it does this successfully.

In conclusion, the story-boarding process was definitely a success. Harry and I agreed on an idea to base our work on, and then we completed our story-board to an acceptable standard. Next lesson - filming!


Final animatic:


Here is our final animatic, which we edited using iMovie. Harry and I used Garageband to create a repetitive bass riff, which sounds mysterious and alluring. This music really reflects and supports the sly, suspicious feel of our small production, which is exactly what we aimed for. Using iMovie, we set the right timings for each frame, and we also recorded  the dialogue for shots 15, 16 and 22. Enjoy!

My understanding of the continuity techniques:

For our preliminary task, we were given a simple brief to carry out in pairs - to film and edit a short sequence, showing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines of duologue. The main aim of our task is to include the continuity techniques that we learnt in one of our previous lessons, and to demonstrate these techniques effectively. 

The 180 degree rule
The "180 degree rule" is where the camera has to stay on one side of the line which cuts the shot in half. If you want to cross this line, you must show the transition in which the camera is doing so. This is used to orient the viewer and give a sense of geography. The video below explains this technique very clearly:

Shot/reverse shot
A "shot/reverse shot" is a shot commonly used when conversations between characters are being shown; for example, one character is shown looking at another character, usually off-screen, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing each other, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. Here is an example of a short clip where this technique has been used:

Eye-line match
An "eye-line match" shot is a shot to enable the viewers to see what the characters in the scene are seeing. For examples, a shot could begin with a character looking off screen at something (say, a picture), then the next shot will show the picture that he/she is looking at, in order to inform the audience of what is happening. 

Match-on-action
This is cutting from one shot to another, using a view that matches/carries on the previous shot's level of action. This technique gives the impression of continuous time, and often, this technique isn't even noticeable, as it is just so subtle.

Previous filming experience:

Throughout the course of year 10 and 11, I produced numerous coursework projects, either individually or in a small group - for example, two of my classmates and I created a short TV advertisement, advertising our own brand of chocolate. This TV advert definitely taught me a lot more about filming and editing, therefore allowing me to develop these skills even further in the future. I took the opportunity to develop these skills when the time came to produce our music videos, where I worked in a small group of 3 (shown above).  During this task I improved my skills, increased my overall media knowledge, and learnt how certain angles and shot types really do affect your final outcome. The skills that I learnt are certainly skills that I will be using again.