Evaluation

As a whole, we were happy with what we produced as the final video for the coninuity task, as we believe that it covered every aspect that was required. However, there are a number of things we could have improved upon to inprove the quality of the video. For instance, in a number of places during the video, the camera was slightly shaky, which we did not intend. To avoid this from happening in our final piece, we will need to ensure that the camera is loose enough on the tripod to manouver, in order to produce a fluid tilt/pan. If this was still not possible, we will use the method of cutting between shots, instead of filming a continuious movement. This will avoid any shaky cam issues when filming a pan or tilt. Due to some comments we have recieved of our video, we are informed that there is a slight breaking of the 180 degree rule. In our final piece, we will ensure this rule is not broken, by fully revising the concept of the 180 degree rule, and practicing it further. We are also aware that the fade we used during the conversation between the two characters implies a passage of time, which we did not intend. This has been noted, and will not be used in our final piece if we do not intend to create the effect of the passage of time. The framing in our piece is an issue at times, as at one point the actors head is cut off slightly. Although this isn't a major problem, we will ensure that this does not happen in our final piece, in order to create a better overall effect. In terms of audio, there were points in which the sound wasn't very clear. In order to avoid this in our final piece, we will use edits such as cross fades to make the sound clearer, and flow more smoothly. We have also noticed the fact that the zooms in our video haven't come across as good, as on the cameras we are using the are often quite jerky, and therefore we will not be using zooms in our final piece unless it is absolutely necessary. Apart from these errors, we are happy with the effect our camera techniques and shots have created overall, and are therefore generally happy with our final piece. The errors we have made during this continuity task will be taken in to account, and practised, in order to avoid making the same mistakes in our final piece.

Continuity Task Final Video

This is our final video for the continuity task. Overall, we're happy with it. We've aimed to include all three of the criteria (180 degree rule, action match and shot reverse shot). We also aimed to make it more entertaining, and therefore decided to add music to the final piece. We had a lot of editing to do after the footage was shot, for example cuts and fades, but we managed to succeed in the end and achieve what we wanted.

Log Sheets and Hand Drawn Storyboard

In the next couple of days I will be scanning/photographing and uploading the evidence of my planning, including the log sheet and the storyboard. The log sheet helped a lot, due to the fact that when it came to editing, we immediately knew which clips we needed, and which ones were useless. This helped to speed up the process of editing, instead of having to go through each video and watch them separately. The storyboard was also a huge help when filming, as we knew exactly what shot came next.

Editing the Footage for the Continuity Task

We have just made edits to the footage we shot, and it's now rendering. If we find that any more edits need to be made, we will make them, and then render the footage again. The edits we made today include:
- cuts
- dissolves
- fades to black

Uploading Footage to the Media Server

We have just uploaded the second lot of footage to the media server, and have found from out log sheet that the following files have no use to us due to reasons such as actors laughing, wrong dialogue and wrong actions:
- file 0120
- file 0121
- file 0122
- file 0124
- file 0125
- file 0126
- file 0127
- file 0128
- file 0129
- file 0130
- file 0131
- file 0134
- file 0136

The majority of files were discarded due to bad acting, and had to make sure we shot the scene numerous times in order to achieve what we imagined the shot to be like.

Script

Script

Holly Embleton

Location: classroom, corridor, common room

Actors: Holly and Chloe

Camera woman: Hannah

School bell goes, pupils run down the stairs.

Holly walks down the corridor and opens a door into the classroom. (action match)

Holly walks across the classroom and sits down at a desk next to Chloe. (180 degree rule)

Chloe is in detention.

They begin talking. (shot reverse shot)

Holly: Hiya.

Chloe: Hi.

Holly: What are you doing here?

Chloe: I’m stuck in stupid detention.

Holly: Oh, well I’ll just wait for you in the common room then.

Holly walks out of the room and in to the common room and sits down.

She puts in her ipod. Camera zooms in on ipod, volume of music increases and then fades out.  

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Week 1 (20^th October)

Book the camera on Friday 22^nd for week beginning 1^st November.

Begin basic planning.

Week 2 (27^th October)

Finish planning (location, actors etc.)

Week 3 (2^nd November)

Shooting over the full week.

Update blog.

Upload footage on to the media server by the end of the week.

Week 4 (9^th November)

Shoot version two.

Upload to the media server.

Edit the footage.

Complete and upload on to blog by the end of the week.

Week 5 (16^th November)

Present task, and evaluate.

Update blog.

Review of Shots

We have reviewed the shots we created last night, and have come to a desicion to film again, due to the fact that we are aiming for a high level and want to create a higher quality piece of video. We ticked the boxes in terms of what we needed to include, however we would like to extend our film, and therefore we are going to film on either Monday or Tuesday night. We found that file 103 is completely useless to us, as it wasn't how we imagined it to be. The actor, (me) started laughing, and also as the camera was filming the door it was very shaky, as we didn't use the tripod. The majority of the clips need improving, as the camera wasn't as steady as we wished it to be, due to the lack of the use of the tripod. On Monday/Tuesday we will aim to:
- use the tripod when appropriate
- include the three critera of the continuity task (action match, 180 degree rule, shot/reverse shot)
- we will have changed our script and production schedule slightly, as we are aiming to add more length to the clip, and more of a storyline, therefore we will need to choose another day to do more filming
- we will create an extended video with more conversation and a range of shots

Shooting

We successfully shot the footage for our continuity task last night, and are about to upload to clips on to the media server. If we find that we aren't happy with some of the shots, we will rearrange our production schedule and find another time to re-take our shots. However, if we are happy with what we have produced we will begin to edit them in order to produce a short clip displaying continuity skills.

Xtranormal Storyboard for Continuity Task

This is one of the storyboards we have created for this task. It only shows the conversation element to the continuity task, and demonstrates the use of shot reverse shot. We will also be creating a storyboard on paper to show the full duration of the clip, demonstrationg camera angles etc.

Planning

We are currently finishing off our planning, which includes the script, the storyboard and the production schedule. We have the storyboard left to do, which will be done on xtranormal.com. Tonight we will begin our shooting, and then load the footage on to the media server and proceed with editing the clips.