With this task, I have learnt more about camera angles and shots, as well as editing techniques, especially about the 180* rule when filming. We used this technique when a phone conversation happened between two characters in two different locations. I found this rule interesting, as I have never thought about the significance of direction, and how that affects how realistic characters' interactions look on screen. I also learnt about how to actually use the cameras, for example looking through the view finder rather than a screen makes controlling the camera while filming easier. Also, I have learnt how to record, zoom and pan across a location. In editing, using Pinnacle Studios HD15, I learnt how to cut specific frames to 1/24 of a second, as well as add full screen and motion titles, which will help make my future pieces more interesting and technical. We also included a couple match-on-actions, one with a character going through a door, and another where one character walked across a room to another character. For the first example we put the camera on one side of the door and filmed the actor go through the door, and then repeated the filming only on the other side of the door, and then cut the frames so they ran continuously after each other. The second example was a very similar process, only, we had the actor walk past the camera twice, and each time the camera was a different position.
While filming, our group was very efficient, because we had decided early on to place different people in different roles, and then swap every couple of shots so each person had a go at doing everything. We had a list of all the shots we needed and we managed to include all of these, and complete the task quickly. When editing, we managed to edit the two match-on-actions, as well as a shot-reverse-shot: one character was talking to another, and the first actor had their back to the camera so we had a clear view of their shoulder and the full front view of the second actors body, without breaking the 180* rule. We found the match-on-actions quite difficult to edit at first, especially the first one, as we wanted the footsteps to run in sync, so that took some time to perfect.
To improve our piece, I think we should have taken into account the wind insourcing outside location shots. This could have been prevented by using a zoom microphone or the wind reduction option in the menu on Pinnacle. We also could have improved our first shot, which was a pan of our first location. As it was the first shot we did, it was a bit shaky, as we hadn't got the hang of controlling the camera. Wet cried to make this less obvious by using the image stabiliser effect to slow down the clip in editing, however I think that with a bit of practice we could and will improve the quality of our camera movement.
The most productive part of working in a group was that we could help each other when using the different equipment and during the editing process especially, as some people in the group had worked with the editing software before, which meant we were able to finished siting quickly, while learning along the way. However, the least productive part of working in a group would be that while filming there was always someone who wasn't doing anything. We should have had someone operating a zoom microphone, which would have improved our sound and meant that everyone always had a task.
The thing I have learnt the most is that sound quality is very important, and that so many things can change that quality, so I need to be careful, especially when choosing a location for filming, and take into account all of the extraneous variables that could affect the frame.
Overall I was really pleased with our final piece, and I was really happy with our editing; I thought all off the scenes ran together very well and the transitions were smooth. I think we worked well as a team, and were very productive in the short time we had to film and edit the piece. My main role in the piece was as an actress, although I also helped with everything. I was pleased with how both of the actors in our piece performed.
