My Evaluation- Ed Boyce

The process of creating our Preliminary task has been eye opening experience in what its like to create a film in the media industry. I have learnt lots of new skills with using the camera and the equipment with it, and also with editing the captured video.


I was new at using video cameras. Apart from a small exercise we carried out in class I had little experience in using the. Whilst using them with this task i learned a lot about them. For example, I didn't know anything about white balance prior to this task. After forgetting about it on occasions and seeing the outcome on your film I soon learned the importance of setting it. I also wasn't sure how to set it, this is something I learned with this task.
I also learned a lot about imovie as I was almost completely inexperienced with this. I had used it a small amount in the past but with this task it required a lot more editing- and more difficult and therefore learned a lot. For example small things like cutting clips, the effects you can add to clips and the effect they have and also keyboard short cuts that can save lots of time whilst editing. This brings me to my next point, I am new to Apple Macs and the software they use. In this task I also learned about using them.
We had a lot to consider when choosing our filming location. We wanted a place that would suit our film context and we also had to consider the availability of the place. In the end we found a small hut that suited us well. The hut was never really used so it was a positive that we would never be interrupted or be unable to film because of people using it. We experienced problems with this location though, the hut had windows and this made it difficult to keep continuity. When we were filming a lot of the time it would be different times in the day compared to the previous footage we captured. To over come this problem it ended in us shutting the windows to avoid this change in light with different clips. We also had to go back and re-shoot some footage. After covering all windows we feared that the room would be too dark to film. We brought in a redhead for artificial light but in the end it was not needed. Another thing we did to keep continuinity was make sure props had not changed in the background. Whilst filming from different angles we noticed that different props were in the background, we made sure that we moved these before filming and checked that continuinity hadn't been broken. Also we stuck to the 180 rule, and made sure that we didnt break continuinity in that way.
The input i had into the project mainly was being an actor in the film. However there were other inputs i had. First off it started with the group creating the storyboard and planning our project.
As a group we discussed possible ideas for our film and where to film. This then went down on our story board. I think our planning of our project was good and done fairly, with all group members present. My main input was acting with Jess. Acting was rather straightforward but i am not used to acting or being filmed at all.
In this task there were a few things we could improve on. First off we broke continuity a few times. This was either a prop in a shot that wasnt it before, or Mise en scene (clothing).
We will focus on not doing this again.
Another thing to improve is our location of filming. WE will think carefully about choosing a location and incorperate light into our decision as we found out this is very important.
After creating just one small film, as a group we have all gained experience in the process of creating a film and whats needed. In our next task we will be better than before at this process, in choosing location, acting, filming, and editing.
Ed Boyce.