review of my preliminary task for media studies as

1. Preliminary Task Review
By Ethan Wall

2. 1.) How many mistakes did you make?
• My group made three mistakes; The first mistake me made was
using a faulty camera. We did not know we had done this until we
started editing when we learnt the quality of the video and sound
were not usable so we had to record
• The second mistake we made was braking the 180 degree rule. We
realised we had made this mistake when looking at the footage
right after we had taken it. We had to reshoot this section as it
looked as though both subjects were facing the same way,
confusing us and any potential audience
• The third mistake we made was using the faulty camera… again. We
didn’t realise that we had made the same mistake until we watched
all the clips on the editing software. We made sure we didn’t make
the same mistake a third time by using a newer model camera.

3. 2.) How did you manage the group dynamics
and collaborative nature of film-making?
• At the beginning there was some conflict over who was
acting and who was behind the camera. We sorted this
out in the fairest way possible…rock paper scissors. As
we had to reshoot all the footage due to the faulty
camera we all swapped roles so everyone had a chance
doing all the roles.
• During filming we all tried to stay as calm as possible
especially when we had made a mistake or come to a
disagreement on what the scene should look like. We
realised it was all better to get along then to constantly
argue and be stressed.

4. 3.) How did you manage the
equipment?
• The equipment we used was; the video camera, a tape
and a dolly.
• We safely joint the dolly and the camera together so
the camera would be stable and not shaky, as the dolly
has wheels we were able to move the camera around
smoothly.
• After connecting the dolly and camera we inserted the
tape into camera so we would be able to record our
footage.
• We handled all the equipment with care as we did not
want to damage or loose anything as everything we
used was expensive and not ours.

5. 4.) How did you manage the deadline?
• As we were allowed a couple of weeks to finish
the preliminary task we had two options; either
do everything at the beginning in a couple of
hours and then spend time to plan the opening
sequence to our thriller. The other option was to
spread everything out in the couple of weeks we
had.
• We chose to the first option we spent about
three hours editing and recording. The rest of the
time we had we spent brainstorming ideas for the
opening sequence to our thriller.

6. 5.) Were there any health and safety
logistical problems?
• There were no health or safety issues, this was
partly because we did not leave the school to
record our preliminary task. This meant we would
have no issues due to the conditions of the
school. We also did not have any problems as we
were using very basic, safe props e.g. a table.
• As we did not plan to have any health or safety
issues it made everyone a bit calmer as we know
when we film our opening sequences there could
be several possible health and safety risks.

7. 6.) How did you organise your human recoursespeople involved in your production?
• Actors- the actors in my preliminary task were student
from my group (meaning they were 100% committed
and trust worthy), not professional actors. As this was
the case we told them where to go, what to do and to
act naturally.
• Costumes- Everyone in our group were instructed to
dress in everyday clothes as we did not decide who
was acting until the day of filming
• Props- all the props in our preliminary task were
organised by our teacher, the props we used were; a
table and two chairs. The room we recorded in was
also organised by our teacher.

8. 7.) How did you manage your camera?
• For our preliminary task, we only used one
camera. The camera we used was attached to a
dolly so we were able to move the camera about
smoothly.
• Whilst we were shooting we recoded many
different shots to see what would work best and
whether we could edit the shots together.
• While we were recording we had to take several
shots so we could use match on action.
• We also had to make sure that we kept the 180
degree rule.

9. 8.) How did you manage your lighting?
• For our preliminary task we used the lights
from the rooms we shot it. We did this
because we had not learnt about what effects
the lights could make and how they can
change the whole atmosphere.

10. 9.) How did your storyboarding and
shooting script work in practice?
• For the preliminary task we did not make a
storyboard or script as we all knew exactly
what we were doing for the task. If our video
was longer we would have made a storyboard
and script. Because it was so short we were
able to just discuss what we were doing.

11. 10.) How successful were you in
managing your time?
• I think we were very successful in managing
our time as we kept to the time scale we gave
to ourselves for each part of the preliminary
task.
• For example we gave our self an hour to
record the footage. We kept to this time scale,
unfortunately due to the fault camera we had
to reshoot so we gave ourselves another hour
which we also kept to.

12. 11.)How did digital technology enable
you to develop creatively?
• Due to the digital technology we were able to
edit all our shots together creating match on
action shots and developing a conversation
with over the shoulder shots.
• We were also able to use features on the
camera e.g. white balance to improve the
quality of the task.

13. 12.)In filming and editing, how did you ensure that the
meaning would be apparent to the audience?
• We picked a dialogue that everyone could
relate to, a job interview. Due to this we
hoped the meaning would be apparent to the
audience.

14. 13.)What type of people have been
presented in your piece?
• We have tried to create “real” people
• The boss- you can see that the interviewer is
more outgoing and straight to the point,
showing where he stands compared to the
interviewee.
• The interviewee- you can see that the person
applying for the job is reasonable emotionless,
this is due to his nerves making him shy.

15. 14.)What sort of realism have you
presented in your piece?
• We have tried to create an interview between
a employer and a possible employee who is
late to the interview.
• Although the situation is realistic the idea that
the boss (interviewer) is 16 is a bit unrealistic.
Unfortunately this could not be changed as we
did not have actors or anyone older who
would be able to help.

16. 15.) What role do the mise en scene, acting, dialogue and style
of camera work play in construction of verisimilitude?
• The mise en scene has played a big part in the
construction of verisimilitude as it is props
matching the time and setting. As the actors
where young it takes away some of the realism.
As the actors where wearing casual clothes we
suggested the job interview could be somewhere
like a clothes store so formal attire would not be
needed.
• As the acting and dialogue were professional it
helped construct verisimilitude.