Preliminary Task Evaluation

Overall, filming our preliminary task went well although we encountered some problems. This included the difficulty of finding a place to film; we knew our setting would have to be an office environment, as we planned our preliminary task to follow the script and storyboard of a job interview. With limited space and time to film our preliminary task, we started filming it in an empty classroom. However, we encountered an unused office and with the permission of its owner we filmed it all again. This is definitely something that needs more thought when finding settings for our film opening.
It was also difficult to fit both the people in the frame, and often it was difficult to pan the person walking through the door because they had little space to walk. However, the finished product proves we managed this successfully in the end.
We did encounter some technical issues whilst uploading our preliminary task to edit. Whilst importing the tape, the computer froze a number of times- however with time and patience the project uploaded succesfully.
We found that most of the shots we had on the tape were not needed, so this probably contributed to the technical problems we encountered. We learnt from this to concentrate on the task in hand instead of producing useless footage. However, it is important to remember that with a wide range of shots it is easier to create more variety in the project, and where one scene might have gone wrong there will be plenty of back-ups. It was useful and extremely relieving when we found we had shot 3 different versions of one scene, as only one worked well for our piece.
Another issue we encountered whilst editing was use of props. In our task, we have a close-up of a clock that reads the time as 1:05. However, during one of the scenes we were going to use we noticed that the clock read 12:50. Luckily, we had a version of the scene where the clock is out of view; but this is definitely something to watch out for when we come to film our main task.
Additionally, we found that in order for our continuity task to flow, we had to carefully cut the end off some of the scenes where the dialogue had finished and silence was left.
We added some edits to our task including a fade in at the start and a fade out at the end. All in all, this made the piece flow a lot better. Also a fade in from a white screen to the close-up of a clock indicated a lapse of time, which is what we intended to do.
Watching the task, we believe we demonstrated match-on-action, the 180-degree rule and used shot/reverse shots well. In order to abide by the 180-degree rule we made sure we kept on one side of the room at all time, which helped our shot/reverse shots flow extremely well too. Match-on-action was demonstrated throughout, as no action was left uncaptured.
Also, we followed the storyboard and script as planned, aside from taking out a close-up of the door handle as we decided our piece flowed better with one panning shot of the door opening and the person sitting down. I believe we had a variety of camera shots in our piece, including close-ups, medium shots and over-the-shoulder shots. We decided only one camera movement was necessary; the panning shot, as it was only a very short piece and adding too many camera movements would be confusing and destroy the continuity of the task.
To conclude, if I could change one thing about our task it would be to add costume to our piece. We thought a lot about the setting of a job interview, but little about the smart attire that would be required. One rule, we found, for producing a continutity task is simplicity is key. A complicated storylines and 'artsy' camera shots and movement will complicate the piece and miss the aim of the task. Therefore, we are proud of our preliminary task and believe we met the requirements.