The Preliminary task

To start the prelim task I organized a group of four. Myself, Fred, Indie and Zel. We went to the studio and began preparing the Sony NX-5 camera and a tripod. There was already a set for us to work on with a door and a sofa. As a group we looked over the story board and decided what order we would shoot the task in. We numbered the different types of shots: Long shot, close up, over shoulder 1, over shoulder 2. We planned to shoot the whole thing in five takes. In every take we would read through the whole storyboard as to give us more to choose from when editing the piece. We were able to shoot the three long shots in one take, like wise the three close ups and over the shoulder shots. I think this worked well and made the filming process a lot quicker which gave us freedom to add more shots that were not included in the storyboard.

Storyboard

Fred and I were the actors for the compulsory part if the storyboard, with Zel as the Director and Indie as the camera operator. Of course we all had an input in how each shot should be filmed and how the camera should be positioned each time. Our communication skills were good and we worked well as a team, this was surprising considering we don't usually work together in class assignments. Before shooting we placed white markers down for our feet so that we would know where to stand in each shot, this helped us to have good continuity throughout the shots.

We ran through the shots methodically, starting with the long shot. When we filmed the over the shoulder shot we noticed that we did not need to reposition the camera in order to film the close up on my face, we simply had to zoom in. This was useful as it saved time for us to be creative at the end. 

To make our short production more interesting and unique we used a prop. Fred held a gun to his head throughout the scene, this made the scene very dark as the dialogue suggested that he should kill himself.

storyboard

Although we did not break the 180 degree rule, which was our main challenge, our group did come across various problems while shooting. The first problem was that it was difficult for Fred and I to learn our lines. This took up time in the beginning and we as a group were worried that we would not have enough time to make our short production compelling and different. However as a group we learned our lines and got on with the shoot. 

     Throughout the task our group came up with a variety of different ideas while shooting that we could have possibly used  after we finished the storyboard. For example an extreme close up on Fred's finger on the gun trigger, and an extreme close up on Fred's eyes before he kills himself. Also a panning mid shot on me entering and leaving the room on set. 

       We did shoot a further scene to conclude our short production. This consisted of the two extreme close ups and the mid shots i spoke of beforehand, a long shot of Zel, Indie and Fred lying dead on the floor, A low angle shot of me raising the gun up and pointing it at the camera, and a panning close up of my feet as i entered the room. 

    These final shots were not planned in detail beforehand so our group spent a little time perfecting and adapting these ideas which detracted from the overall amount of time we had remaining at the end, we did debate these ideas as a group and ended up with some good shots however in the future i will look to find a more effective method of communicating with my group to analyze each others ideas faster.

        Our short production was well shot and i look forward to editing the scene.