My Evaluation

During the time of Filming and editing i have learned a lot that i didn't know before. Before this exercise i didn't know how to use a video camera properly. I thought it was just the push of a button and you were filming immediately. Know that i have been taught how to use a camera properly i have realised that there is a lot of processes you have to go through first to get the camera to perform properly. For example, I didn't know anything about white balance prior to this task but know i know how to do it and why it is important to make sure the white balance is set otherwise you film will not have the correct colour levels and it will not look professional.
Also while filming, we found light to be a very tricky and hard part of filming. Because we were filming on different days and different times of the day the light was frequently changing. We found this part of filming very complex and it was a tough, but necessary part of the process to make our film look the best it could. After nearly half an hour of trying to figure out how we could change the lighting and make it consistent throughout our filming time, we decided to use a "Red Head" which is a big filming lamp used to create more light when and where it is needed.
During the editing section of our product, me and my group used a program called iMovie on a Macintosh computer. Prior to editing i had never done any editing before or used this program. I found it frustrating at times but at the same time i found it fun to use. The iMovie program is quite complex but once you know what you are doing you can get started straight away and begin editing without any problems. Because i didn't know how to use iMovie before the task set, i was quite nervous as i thought our film was going to look really bad and unprofessional. After being taught how to use it i learnt how to upload my video onto the computer and how to cut different pieces of footage to create a smooth final piece. I also learnt how to add affects and sounds. The affects were quite simple but choosing the right ones for the footage was tricky and sometimes took more than i had hoped.
Throughout this project i had many different roles. As part of the research for our film we had to do some location scouting and find out when different rooms were available for us to film in them. Me and Jess D'Alvarez went from room to room searching for somewhere suitable and practical to film in. we also needed it to be away from any popular areas of the college as we did not want to pick up any background noises during filming. We also had to ask a few teachers who taught in that section of the college when the room was available. Fortunately, the room was hardly ever used and always open during the day so it was ideal for filming in as we would have no interruptions and we wouldn't have to wait until the room was free.
Another one of my roles was Camera Operator. Being the camera operator, for me, was an important job as i knew i had to get the filming look good enough for our project and the shot sizes and angles correct for what we wanted to achieve in our product. Whilst setting up the camera i found getting the right heights, for filming different sections, to be quite difficult and each tripod leg had to be the same length otherwise the footage would look slightly tilted and could also create a sense of unease which is not what we wanted.
I was also the Director of filming which was a good role alongside camera operator as it meant i knew the shots i wanted already and i didn't have to be told by someone else and then end up getting it wrong. As director of filming i found it useful as part of filming as i could tell each person where they had to be in relation to the camera. This proved to be quite useful and helpful in the process of filming.
Another part of my personal input was as a storyboard artist. I did all the rough planning on shot sizes and angles on one storyboard so that we had a base of what we wanted our film to look like and then someone else went and made it look better and also to improve on different things.
To create continuity in our project, which was our main goal in this filming task, we had three different areas of continuity editing in which to put into our film. To produce a piece of work with three areas of continuity editing in we had to demonstrate a match on action shot, which is where in editing you have to cut form one shot to another view that matches the first shots action. Another area was shot/reverse shot which is when you show one character looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the original character.
Another piece of continuity was to incorporate the 180 degree rule in our work. This rule is when two characters in the same scene always have the same left/right relationship to each other. To create each area of continuity we filmed the same scene from different angles numerous times so that in editing we could choose the best pieces and fit them together to create continuity.
For our main task, as a group, we will be constantly looking through our filming booklets, and our own research to make our final product the best it can be. Because we have now done this once already, i believe that in the main task we will find it a bit easier as we know what we are doing now and we now know how to use all the equipment provided in a professional way. Also i thik we will work faster and we will be more productive in the time that we are given.

Mathew Garrett