Question 7 - Evaluation - Miss Georgiou

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The preliminary task was created in order to allow for the gaining of knowledge about how the camera works as well as the tripod to learn how to film different shots which is essential when filming for our final thriller piece. The task consisted of recording a short clip of a conversation taking place in which one person could be seen walking toward the other and had to be between 30 seconds and 1 minute. Five different shots had to be present which included: Panning, zoom in, close up, midshot and over the shoulder.

One strength I had with this was being able to set up the tripod and film some of the shots required, my partner and I were especially successful with both over the shoulder and panning shots. As I knew to set up the tripod appropriately, many of the shots achieved were in focus and looked very professional which was a positive outcome from the task.

However, as there were only two of us in the group, we found it difficult to press the record button and ensure that the camera was in the right position as we couldn't see, we believe it would have been easier if we had a third person in our group therefore we would not have had this problem. Because of this, it was especially difficult to film the over the shoulder shot as if we had mounted the camera in the correct position, the shots would then be slightly out of angle due to the camera showing the shoulder instead of having the camera directly behind the shoulder and therefore not being able to see the shoulder.

During the task, we learned how to properly set up the tripod in order to achieve shots that were in focus and looked professional. For my partner and I, this was difficult to do at first due to not knowing how to extend the tripod so that it was equal on all four legs therefore the camera was sometimes tilted which we then had to rectify. After this, we learnt how to extend the tripod properly and were able to film shots that were of the height level that we wanted as well as the smaller parts on the tripod which helped us in knowing how to angle the camera and achieve shots that would be especially hard to perform on a tripod, such as a canted angle.

We also learnt how to operate the camera in the correct way. In itself, the camera was hard to work at first due to my partner and I being completely unfamiliar with it due to not having any previous experience with filming therefore we had to figure out a way to work the camera by pressing several buttons on the camera and discover what they do until we understood how to use different features of the camera such as zooming in and out which aided us in achieving shots and be able to film with more ease. Another thing we learned from the preliminary task was how to play back footage that  had already been filmed previously which helped us in being able to immediately identify what had gone wrong or right with the shot and allow for this to be redone if needs be. This saved us time as we wouldn't have had to keep going back to Final Cut watching back the footage, deciding whether or not it was good enough and then having to go back to the filming location and re shoot.

We also gained a profound knowledge in the process of editing and including sound in our piece. By using the software, Final Cut Pro X, we were able to edit the many clips that we had filmed together to achieve a professional looking final piece, which aided my partner and I significantly in knowing how to use the software correctly when we had to edit our thriller opening sequence. We also learnt how to add several sound to our productions without the sound skipping or freezing at certain points which fitted the images perfectly, something that helped us considerable when planning for our final thriller due to having to add in a lot of sound effects to make the opening as realistic for the audience as possible.

Overall, we learned several different things when partaking in the preliminary task involving the production stage and how to do this properly in an efficient manner. We learned how to properly set up and use a tripod in order to gain better stability for the camera when filming. We knew how the camera functioned and although we continued to struggle with the tripod, we managed to persevere and in the end, produced shots that were in focus and looked professional. We also learnt how to manoeuvre the camera in order to gain specific shots essential for filming the final thriller such as a canted angle and over the shoulder shot.  Looking back on this now, I am glad we were given the opportunity to carry out this task as it helped me a lot in developing my technique with the camera. If I was to do this task any differently, I would have improved my skills with using the tripod by asking for help of how it is operated as well as ensuring both Kate and I were in shot most of the time.

When carrying out the final filming process, we ensured that we were able to fix the camera onto the tripod correctly as well as setting the tripod up at appropriate heights for the specific shots we were trying to achieve. For example, for the canted angle shot, I made sure that the tripod's legs were only extended a little bit to allow for the tripod to be set up on the floor nearly at the same level as Harry who was playing the role of the hit man. I then tilted the camera sideways using the navigator pole situated at the front of the tripod before starting to film. Also, for the POV shot, we allowed Harry (hit man) to hold the camera and film it himself and ensured that the camera was not shaken about too much however there was some movement which showed a realistic use of this shot.