Students are required to complete a short film or film extract as part of a group project. Each group member must take on a specific role such as director, editor, or sound operator. The director will focus on shot placement and performance, the editor on editing and post-production. Groups must consider narrative structure, genre conventions, and the ordering of shots. The project involves three stages: pre-production including planning and storyboarding, production including shooting, and post-production including editing and sound. Effective planning is essential as the project can be time consuming. Basic shooting and editing rules are provided to ensure consistency and clarity in the final product.

1. FM1 Assessment: Analysis of a Film Extract
Complete Short film/Film Extract
Students are required to shoot, edit and produce a short film sequence. The sequence can be either a
complete short film or an extract taken from a finished film. This creative project must be completed as
part of a groups and it is essential that each group member take a responsibility for a particular micro-
element relevant to their role. For example, one group member should be chosen to be director, and
they will focus on (shot placement & performance). Another group member will be chosen to be the
editor, and they will focus on editing and post-production. Below are just some of the micro-elements
your group should focus on:
Mise-en-Scene (Cinematographer)
Performance and shot placement (Director)
Sounds effects, music and dialogue (sounds operator)
Editing and construction of sequence (editor)
Your group must also focus on how a narrative structure is to be created and how the ordering of shots
within a piece of work is of vital significance to how a spectator will make meaning from it. The genre of
your film must also be considered; use the codes and conventions of your particular genre to help
structure your work and ensure that the spectator views it in terms of other, similar films.
The making of a video sequence can be divided into three distinct areas:
Pre-Production – Planning/Script/Storyboarding/Casting
Production – Shooting of the film
Post-Production – Editing & Sound
Planning this short sequence can be a very time consuming activity therefore it is essential that each
member of your group is fully aware of their role within the group.
Basic Shooting Rules
Always use a tripod to support the camera (unless you have a specific reason for wanting to
shoot handheld (e.g. Documentary or ‘shakey’ cam chase sequence)
If something goes wrong in a shot, call ‘Cut’ and retake the shot
Always adhere to the 30° rule (shot that are intended to be joined should be shot from camera
positions that have at least 30° between them
Avoid cutting when the camera is in movement – let the shot ‘rest’ before cutting
Let the camera run of approx. 5 seconds before shouting ‘Action’ and after shouting ‘Cut’
Always adhere to the 180° / ‘Fourth Wall’ Rule – the camera can travel anywhere on a 180° axis
as long as it does not cross the line (do not turn the camera round more than 180° as this will
cause lots of confusion in the editing process)
Page | 1

2. FM1 Assessment: Analysis of a Film Extract
Basic Editing Rules
Dissolve – gradual appearance of a new shot as an old shot gradually disappears (one image
fades out as the next fades in)
Fade – gradual appearance or disappearance of a shot (often to black. The duration of the fade
can suggest particular meanings to the audience)
Graphic Match – Two shots can be connected through shapes within the frame
Match on Action – Two shots can be connected by the replication of an action (character puts
drink down in a American bar, and cuts to a drink being picked up in another bar) or a cut which
splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement,
making it seem to continue uninterrupted.
Montage – this represents the juxtaposition (placing images side by side for comparison or
contrast) of images to create ideas not presented in either shot by itself.
Page | 2