2. Section 1 : CAMERA WORK
Throughout this task, I took on the role as the main cameraman, and so I tried to carry out
the camera work to the highest of my ability
3. Steadiness of Shots
When watching through our opening sequence,
there were no shots that ever stood out to me
as being overly unsteady. I tried to avoid these
unsteady shots by:
4. 1. Taking time to set up the tripod when on
uneven ground, such as on the school field. By
taking time to make sure each leg was adjusted
properly, it ensured there was no wobbling
when filming, and shots were framed on a
horizontal plane.
Flat
5. 2. Limiting the number of pans used, as to pull
these off effectively it must be completely
smooth and at the correct pace to follow the
subject.
6. 3. When performing a pan shot, I would ensure
that I took enough takes so that I could use the
steadiest one. For example, the pan of the girl
running out of the driveway and up the road
was taken several times, the so the steadiest
could be used.
7. 4. Avoiding carrying out zooms. By zooming in
manually on the camera, we would not get a
steady zoom, and it would take time to adjust
and focus. For this reason we used close ups to
emphasise certain aspects rather than a zoom.
8. Variety of Shots
In our planning sessions, we tried to include a
mixture of shot types. These were…
- Establishing shots
- Moving subject shots
- Long shots
- Medium shots
- Close ups
- Extreme close ups
- Low and high angles
- Pans
9. The shots that I thought worked best were the
establishing shot of the corridor and netball
courts, and the close up of the girls PE shirt
tucked into her knickers.
What I did not think worked so well were our
low and high angles, and also our extreme close
up of the girls note on her hand.
10. The Establishing Shots
I thought both of these shots were quite
effective, due to the framing. The
corridor shot is centrally aligned and
also a slight high angle (due to placing
the tripod on a chest of drawers). This
means you can see straight down the
corridor in the centre of the shot,
emphasising its chaos.
I also think the netball courts shot is
framed well, as we can see the
courts with the team in the
background, as well as our main
character running towards them.
This establishes not just the setting,
but also the people involved in this
scene.
11. The Close Up
The reason I thought this shot was effective was because it
emphasised a feature that was there throughout the whole
scene, but may not have been noticed until this point. It is then
followed by the girl running off, so offers another chance for the
audience to see this element of humour after it has been
emphasised to them. Its off centre alignment also makes it look
like we are not making it too obvious, but just highlighting it to
the audience.
12. Low and High angles
Although these were used on several occasions, I do not feel they were as
strong as we would’ve liked. Our high angles were restricted to the tallest
height of the tripod in most cases, and so I think these shots were not
extreme enough; for example, the high angle from the teachers POV looking
down at the student. We could’ve tried to place the tripod on a table or chair
for extra height, but this would’ve meant I would’ve also had to balance on
something for the extra height needed to get behind the camera, causing a
health and safety issue.
13. The Extreme Close Up
The purpose of these shots is for emphasis, and we wanted to emphasise that
the girl was incredibly late for her mothers birthday meal. We therefore
attempted to carry out an extreme close up of a reminder the girl wrote to
herself on her hand. However, I do not feel that this shot emphasised enough,
as the resolution was not overly high and so the note on her hand was slightly
unclear. To improve this, I should have repeated the shot and tried to change
the lighting in her room so it would be more clear what im trying to
emphasise.
14. Section 2: MISE EN SCENE
Mise en Scene was something that we thought about thoroughly
in our planning sessions, and takes into account the continuity of
our costumes, settings, props and lighting and how this was all
put into the frame. The Mise en Scene also had to be relevant to
our plot and genre.
15. Costumes
This was something that had to be well thought
out, as recurring characters had to be wearing
the same clothing throughout as our opening
sequence was showing events through the
course of 1 day. The clothing also had to match
that of a school environment.
16. Main Character
Our main character is a sixth form student, and
so we decided on clothes that would be
appropriate for a school environment. Filming
took place on many different days over about a
3 week period, and so she would have to wear
the same outfit for these filming sessions. For
this reason we chose leggins with a jumper (and
a coat when outside), because even if she
wasn’t wearing this exact thing on the day, she
could bring a jumper with her to wear over the
top without having to change her whole outfit
in school time. This clothing also matched the
weather, as it was clear when filming outside
scenes that this is not set in the middle of
summer. The one outside shot when she was
not wearing a coat is the final one of her
running up the road, but this was intentional as
her forgetting her coat shows how rushed and
unorganised she is. However when filming the
netball scene, we provided her with the school
PE kit to wear. This made the scene more
realistic, as she fit in with the rest of the team,
you knew she would be playing netball as soon
as you could see her clothing.
17. The Best Friend
Similarly to the main character, she is a sixth form student, so
should be wearing clothes to represent this. However, this friend
is only in two different scenes, and so we did not have to worry
so much about choosing ‘easy’ clothes, but just clothes that
match the time of year the main characters clothes would be
worn in. This character therefore appears in coloured jeans, a
top and a coat.
18. Extras
The Class – clothes to represent a typical class of sixth formers (casual/smart)
The Teacher – again casual/smart, to fit the stereotype of a teacher and make it
obvious that this is what role she is playing.
Busy Corridor – mixture of lower school, sixth form and teachers, their usual clothes
were worn (uniform or casual/smart) as this is a true representation of school life
Netball team – school PE kit and netball bibs, as this is realistic and the bibs with
clearly marked positions on represent what sport is about to be played. This film is
aimed at girls and nearly all girls have played this sport, so the bibs will be easily
recognised.
Couple on the field – the boy wears a smart suit being from a separate school, as it is
clear this opening is set in an all girls school. The girl must be wearing casual/smart
clothes like the other sixth formers, and a coat to match weather conditions.
19. By forward planning and having continuity in
mind, I think we were successful in representing
the characters and the surrounding environment
through costumes, and by using very
stereotypical costumes (netball bibs with
positions written largely across them), we could
clearly represent niche groups of people within
school life.
20. Settings and Lighting
We filmed at several different locations for our opening sequence, and
these locations were:
- A classroom
- School Corridor
- Outside school walkway
- Netball courts
- School field
- Friends house
The main issue with filming at several locations, is continuity in the
weather (for outside locations). Although weather can change
throughout the course of a day, we did not think that it would be
realistic to have one seen when it is raining, and another in clear
sunshine. This is why we struggled to stick exactly to filming at the
times planned.
21. Classroom and Corridor
These were easy locations to film in, as they were not weather dependent.
We chose a classroom to film in that has many windows and so a great source
of natural light. This meant that we did not have to rely on artificial lighting,
which may reduce picture quality. However, the corridor we wanted to film in
is across the other side of the school, as the corridor is the biggest and
busiest. This meant that when we filmed the girl exiting the classroom into
the corridor, we had to film at an angle such that you couldn’t see into the
classroom, so viewers would not be aware that this is in fact a different
classroom to the one they had just seen.
22. The School Walkway
When we filmed this, there was a light cover of
cloud but nothing too heavy to restrict lighting.
This was also helpful, as this was not an extreme
weather condition so could be matched with
most other weather we may encounter.
23. The Netball Courts
This was the last location we filmed in, because it took us lots of planning to find a day
that we could all make that would tie up with when a netball team would be using the
courts. Then, when we found one, it rained on that day so weather conditions were
not appropriate for us to take the camera out into and film in. When eventually we did
find a day, there was again a light cloud cover, providing good lighting and also linking
with the previous scene’s weather conditions, which was meant to take place just
moments before. This link shows strong continuity, and makes this sequence all the
more realistic. I also think we were fortunate to have on site netball courts, as netball
is a stereotypical sport for girls of this age.
24. School Field
When we originally filmed at this area, it was dark and drizzling, and
therefore we had to make do with very dim lighting. It was also out of school
time, and so there was no one else there, which may have not clarified to the
audience that it’s a school field. However, when we re-filmed, it was sunny
with just a few clouds, providing great lighting. It also made it look as if the
clouds had cleared since the morning, without the difference in weather
being too significant. This clearing of clouds was also useful, as very much like
the ladder, it could symbolise something (in this case her day may start to get
better as school has finished and she is on the way to her friends house).
25. Friends House
Although filmed at a completely different time to the school field scene, we were lucky enough to
have very similar clear and sunny weather conditions. When watching our footage back, we
noticed that the low sun (we filmed quite early in the morning) produced ‘diamonds’ of sunlight
across our shot as the girls entered the house. Although this was unintentional, we loved the
effect that this gave, and so left it on the shot. However, once in the house, I struggled to find the
correct angle to film from due to the light coming straight through a large window at the back of
the bedroom. The girls were sat with their backs to this light, and so their fronts were quite
shadowy. This made the correct angle to film from difficult to find, and so this part was very time
consuming. The light through the window also reflected on the phone screen when we tried to
film the missed calls appearing, and so Shannon had to film this separately at her house when we
realised the screen could not in fact be seen. This didn’t really provide us with a continuity issue,
as the phone shots were close ups and so you cannot tell they were filmed t different locations. If
I could redo this section of filming, I would’ve chosen a time of day in which the sun would not be
directly behind my bedroom window, as we would still have sufficient lighting but would not have
to worry about shadows.
26. Props
We used props as subtle ways of making the
overall scene more realistic, and also for
symbolic means.
27. Books and folders
When the girl is woken from her daydream, she has the book in
front of her that she was daydreaming from, showing that this is
where her voice over came from. This book also reappears when
she drops her folders in the corridor, so this reappearance is a
reminder of what just happens, and shows how she has just left
that class.
28. Ladder
This is the most symbolic we prop we use. We took the
idea of how walking under a ladder brings bad luck,
and used this to represent the bad luck that is to follow.
I really like this subtle hint, and audience feedback
upon showing our sequence suggested we used more
ideas like this in our sequence.
29. Netball Sign
We stuck this on the wall after passing under the ladder, pointing in the direction of
the courts. It was quickly drawn up on lined paper and so was slightly messy, so we
found time to re-film the shot of the sign but printed one off of a computer to make it
neater and more professional. However, we were faced with a continuity issue in that
this did not match our original sign that could be seen in the corner of the shot of the
girl walking under the ladder. After a lot of debating, we decided that using our
original, messier sign was better than having an obvious continuity issue. Although not
ideal, we did not have to time to re-film this whole scene with the new sign, as the
caretaker had to be available to supervise the use of the ladder. Although the sign was
only roughly drawn up, it was still clear to read, and many signs put up around schools
(ie. reminders on classroom doors) are quickly written up by hand, and so this sign
actually fits a hectic school environment.
30. Facemasks
We included facemasks, as this is another popular
stereotypical idea of what girls do when having
sleepovers. It was a way of showing the girls beginning
to relax and have fun together at the end of a school
day, before the final rush and chaos of this girls day
begins.
31. Mobile Phone
We used an iPhone to show the missed calls on, as this
has a clear format of showing more and more missed
calls growing. The iPhone is also the most popular
smartphone, so the majority of viewers would
recognise its format as soon as they see it, and be able
to make an instant link.
32. Section 3: EDITING
Editing our work was a long process, and we
made the most of all our time we allocated to it
so that we would end up with the most clear
and effective outcome.
33. Transitions
We decided against using transitions between
cuts, as we had seen several examples of this
being used and we thought that they give an
‘amateur’ effect to a film. We wanted our
opening sequence to look as professional and
real as we were capable of making, and so we
decided that that use of transitions would not
be appropriate for our sequence.
34. Cuts
Taking time to decide where to cut different shots was essential in making our sequence clear to
the audience. We also wanted to vary the length of our shots, with some longer shots and some
very short and snappy, to give a sense of chaos. An example of these short and snappy shots that
I was very fond of were the shots of the netball hoop missing the hoop on multiple occasions.
These were cut very short and placed next to each other, so images of a ball missing a hoop from
various different angles kept being played. This highlighted just how useless the girl is at this
sport, and subtly enhances this point to the audience. However, one point made by the audience
when we showed our sequence was that we could have benefitted from using more of these
snappy shots, to keep up with the fast tempo of the soundtrack we used. Although this would’ve
significantly outweighed the number of longer shots, it would allow our sequence to keep up its
high-energy pace throughout the whole 2 minutes, and it would flow more.
35. Match on Action
An example of the use of match on action was during the scene in which the girl
wrongly thinks a boy is waving at her. We took time in cutting these shots at exactly
the right place to that they flowed into one another, and did not lag behind or skip
ahead. However, we had a continuity issue the first time that we filmed this, in that
our extra’s hood was up as we filmed her walking towards the camera, but had blown
down when we filmed her walking away from the camera. It wasn’t until we put these
cuts together on the editing software that this mistake was realised, and so we
decided, considering we had enough time, to re-film this section. Although we could
not use the original extras again, we found a new person to play the boy, and I
stepped in to play his girlfriend. The second time we filmed, we made sure to keep
continuity in our heads at all times, and checked the footage before wrapping up that
scene.
36. Shot-Reverse-Shot
This was used in our very first scene, between our main character and her
teacher. We wanted the facial expressions of our characters to be clear for
these shots, and so we did not cut them too short. This allowed the audience
to realise the confusion between the pupil and her teacher, rather than
cutting too soon for it to be noticed. This was also incorporated with high and
low angled shots (the pupil sat down and the teacher stood up) from each of
their point of views, so we could enhance the power the teacher has over the
girl who has clearly got herself into some trouble for day dreaming in class.
37. Fades
We used a ‘fade to black’ at the end of our sequence, so that it did not just
come to a sudden end. This fade shows that this opening section of the film
has come to an end, and the moment of darkness would provide a fresh start
to when the film restarts in a different location and with the initial sound
track having ended. However, we did not fade into our fist shot from the dark
screen with the voiceover. We wanted this to start suddenly and abruptly, to
show the unexpected awakening of the girl from her daydream.
38. Split Screen
We used a split screen on one occasion in our sequence, and this was when
missed calls were appearing on the girl’s mobile phone from her mum as the
girl was oblivious to this and having fun with her friend. Using this split screen
with the girl laughing and giggling on the left side, with cuts of more and
more missed calls appearing on the right, really enhanced how clueless the
girl was, as the concern of her mother through missed calls contradicts the
fun we see the girl having at the same time. It also makes the audience feel
like they are more aware than the main character, as we can see the calls
when she couldn’t, exaggerating just how unorganised she is.
39. Titles
We had our titles playing spread out over the shots, as our audience is young teens. If
we had all the titles at once and on a blank screen, then our younger audience would
most likely lose interest and not read them. However, by making the titles slide onto
the screen throughout our sequence in a simple but bold font, our audience would be
more likely to take them on board, and their attention would not be lost before the
film has even started. My favourite title is that when the name of the film appears. We
place this on a freeze-frame of the girls face as she runs out of the house in a state of
panic with her face mask still on. This is most likely her unluckiest moment of the
sequence, so having our title ‘Just My Luck’ appear at this moment shows the clear
link between the title and the film. This freeze-frame also adds an element of humour
due to the facial expression of our actress, and gives time for the title to be read and
taken on board.
40. Section 4: SOUND
We have used a mixture of both diegetic and
non diegetic sound in the opening sequence,
through the means of voiceovers, soundtracks
and sounds obtained through filming.
41. Voiceover
This was easy enough to record from home, so
we supplied our actress with the extract she
needed, and she recorder herself reading this
out using the voice recorder on her iPhone. This
was then sent to us, and we cut what we
needed out of it, and ensured that the end of
the voiceover tied in with the girl awakening
abruptly from her daydream by being hit with
paper.
42. The School Bell
When leaving the camera on record between lessons for our
establishing shot of the corridor, it picked up the sound of the
school bell very clearly when lessons ended. This allowed us to
cut this sound out and use it to end the classroom scene. We
played this in coordination with the girl burying her head in her
hands in despair, and this school bell then signified to beginning
of the fast paced part of our opening sequence.
43. The Sound Track
Our soundtrack begins after the sounding of the school bell, and at the same time as
the establishing shot of the corridor starts. It gives a new feel to our opening
sequence, going from quite serious to fast paced and upbeat, as we begin to learn
more about a day in the life of this girl whom we have just been introduced to. Many
of our shortly cut shots are in time with the beat of this soundtrack, such as the shots
of the netball missing the hoop. The song also comes to an end with the ending of the
sequence, with the phrase ‘Lucky Strike’ being repeated in the final shot of the girl
running up the road. This contradicts her unluckiness, and suggests that when the rest
of the film begins we may see a turn of luck. The music also fades out with the final
shot, so that a completely fresh beginning can take place next, indicating the
beginning of the rest of the film now that the audience have been introduced to this
severely unlucky girl.
