Prelim Blog

Pre-Production

From the prelim task we learnt that the use of story boards helped with planning, and filming. This is because it helped us to see what the video could have been like before filming and help us focus on our ideas rather than making it up on the spot. It helped with film because we had something to stick to and not drift off into things that could have distracted us such as impossible camera shots and inappropriate dialogue.
Before we filmed we spoke to the year 13’s who had done the same task but a year earlier. We asked them for some advice when shooting a video. They gave us this advice:• Keep it simple – don’t use complicated shots and title sequences • Always use a tripod – as shots look amateur and unprofessional • Stick to the objectives – don’t go off task and start filming stuff you haven’t been told to (we had been told to use match on action, shot reverse shot and not to break the 180 degree rule)
To help us with our prelim task we watched some from previous years. To help us further we marked them ourselves and compared them to the mark scheme. We watched five previous prelim videos and in our opinion three of them were A grade videos, one was a high B grade and the last was a low B grade. We later got the actual grades of these videos and found that we were almost spot on with our marking meaning we had a good understanding of the mark scheme and what was expected of us.
From watching the videos we saw that some errors were present. One mistake was that you could tell that the group didn’t shoot all their footage in one day as the protagonist’s hair or their clothes were different. Another was the transition between shots weren’t very smooth and some confused the view. From watching these videos were learnt that we had to take our time and try and make everything as simple but professional as possible.

By Joseph Mulhare

Production

There were some problems when filming, such as: filming in a busy corridor meant continuous interruptions of teachers walking through or using the stairs near by. Also because of the automatic doors the noise of them opening and shutting could have been heard in the background. As we also forgot to use a shot reverse shot we had to go back and film it later, this time we had bags with us and we forgot about continuity and in the conversation shots the bags can be seen on the table, when in other shots they are not there. Jack was of ill the day we filmed the prelim meaning we had to find another person to play his part.
Creating a detailed storyboard and sticking to it helps you when filming. Also film in the order you intend the shots to be in as this helps you later on when editing.
Having a planned and rehearsed script and keeping to it each time. Our script was improvised and varied each time we filmed causing some problems with editing.

By Kerry Sheehan

Due to Jack being ill the day of our filming we had problems trying to find a replacement actor to act in our prelim. Yet it didn’t take us too long to find a substitute as we ran in to Joe Benorthan who was in a free. When filming we forgot to incorporate the shot reverse shot which was one of the necessary tasks we needed to demonstrate. This resulted in us going back later on in the day to re shoot the shot reverse shot. However continuity was lost as bags were captured in the second shooting. This was not realised till we were editing.

By Helen Daniel

Post-Production

When editing the prelim there were problems as it was our first time in the editing room and using the software. We found that one some off the clips we put on to the computer from the camera the sound did not transfer over and the clip was normal except from having sound. To encounter this problem we asked the year 13 student and they said to just simply upload it again. Also when uploading sometimes the software would not take the clip and would freeze this meant having to do it again. To use the software me personally took to it very quick and did not find any difficult challenges whist editing the clips and done it rather quickly as it was fairly simple and we had the right footage.
Overall editing the prelim showed me and the others the foundations to editing we discovered that we can easily edit but it is vital to have the right footage with the right conditions matching what we have done. We learnt how to use special effects and add music and text. We also learnt more advanced things such as how to fade out sound and how to make clips run over one another. This will help us for our thriller as we can make it look more professional to gain a higher mark. It will also enable us to make things more smooth and give us the affect of a thriller.
The prelim task matched our visualisation as we made a story board and managed to gain the shots that were required in the prelim with the match on match shot and the reverse shot and we managed not to break the 180 degree rule. The prelim was edited smooth and everything fits in and there were no so called “bloopers”. The prelim task was also only 40 seconds long which is all that we were asked to do and it gave us incite into how we should shoot the thriller and how we need to manage our time.

By Jack Partridge