The document discusses the filming and production of a preliminary scene and subsequent main task scene for a film project. It provides details on: 1) Choosing to film a scene showing the protagonist isolating herself from friends to establish context in the preliminary. 2) Meeting technical requirements like match on action, shot reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule in the preliminary filming. 3) Facing issues with sound quality during preliminary filming due to a squeaky tripod, and solutions taken in post-production. 4) Carrying over casting, costumes, and location choices between the preliminary and main task to maintain continuity. 5) Applying the same technical skills like 180 degree rule and shot reverse

1. { Preliminary

2.  We chose to film this section for our
preliminary because one of the ideas we had in
mind was that our protagonist had distanced
herself from her friends, and because she is
isolating herself, it is only natural for her
friends to get worried, So this scene is
supposed to express her friends’ concern for the
protagonist. We would want this sequence to
appear more to the middle of the film, after we
show more information of the deceased
characters and the protagonist’s connection
with them.
Why did we chose this
section

3. {
The technical
requirements for the
preliminary task were as
followed; match on action,
shot reverse shot and the
180 degree rule.
Firstly, we met the task of
match on action after re
filming the girl entering
the room. The camera
position was in the right
place and overall it looked
very smooth.
Success of the product

4. {
Secondly, we stuck to the
shot reverse shot technique
when all girls were talking
to each other, we had the
protagonist sat by herself
and on her own to connote
isolation and also to
reinforce how she is
distancing herself from the
people who care, this can
also be seen in the
dialogue. I think that we
could’ve done better with
the dialogue as a lot of
what the protagonist says
is very abrupt, which we
wanted, but it didn’t sound
very good in the end, I will
go into more detail in a
different slide.

5. {
We stuck to the 180 degree
rule because it is
conventional and wanted
to stick to conventions, if
we did break it, it would
be exaggerating the
disorientated feel we
wanted to achieve.
Although we wanted this
to happen, especially in
the opening sequence, for
this particular scene I
think it would’ve been too
much and a bit over board
that it would look fake.

6.  We had quite a few issues with the first time filming the
preliminary because we struggled a lot with sound. Our tripod
was extremely squeaky, although this was our fault and we
should’ve checked all the equipment before filming. So this
effected the dialogue when the protagonist sat down. In the end
we had to re-record the sound on the H4N by holding it in front
the actors in a quiet room and then add the sound onto the video
in post-production. This caused even more issues because the
dialogue we got from the actors from the H4N didn’t match their
mouth movement in the actual preliminary. So to resolve this we
used the original dialogue that was picked up from the camera
for the 2 girls sitting on the sofa and then used to separate sound
from the H4N and added that for the protagonists voice. Because
we did this, it didn’t look very realistic as there was no
background noise for the parts where the protagonist speaks so
in the most updated version of the preliminary, we added the
sound track used in the main task, and I think this improved it
quite a bit.
Technical Issues

7. {
We used our recourses quite well in term of
location. We decided to use the boarders
lounge in school because it had a couple
tables and sofas so it was a very relaxed
setting. We also wanted to reflect the class
of our characters as it isn’t common for
there to be a lounge area specifically for
students, that isn’t a common room. This is
reinforcing that the characters go to a
private/boarding school. By representing
the character's as quite wealthy, we are
rejecting the stereotype that all rich people
have an easy life, as it is clear that this
group of friends are having a lot of trouble.
We wanted to make it as real as possible
and so we thought that as the girls are in
school uniform, it would be the best option
to have the scene set in school. I think that
this was the best choice for locations as it is
more realistic in terms of the plot line rather
than to have it at someone’s house per say.
The reason for not having it at a house is
because we wanted this scene to reflect on
how distant she is being from reality, and
because of this we thought that in a real
situation, if she is purposefully distancing
herself, she wouldn’t go over to a friends
house or invite people to hers. To improve
on this shot, I think now we should have
adjusted the exposure on the camera as this
shot is quite dark compared to the shots
where the protagonist has sat down. This is
due to their being lights right above the
protagonist.
Location

8.  In terms of the cast, We definitely chose the
right protagonist, as the preliminary was
supposed to be another scene within the film
and so we chose the same protagonist that was
going to be in the main task. As for the 2 other
actors, we didn’t have a lot of time to ask
people who we thought were suited so we used
myself and Alex who is also from our group.
We both are the same age as the protagonist so
it would be fitting that we were all friends
within the film itself.
Cast

9. {
For our costumes we decided
to use school uniforms as this
was only fitting as the
narrative is set in a school. We
are all wearing suits, implying
that we are in 6th Form and
also in private education, thus
relating to our secondary
audience of B-C1. The
iconography of the uniform
and the private education is to
further reinforce the
stereotype that not all wealthy
people have it easy. We are
subverting the the ideologies
about the safety of wealth and
privilege as this is indicated
by there being a supernatural
threat after her, no one can be
safe and it doesn't matter how
much money you have.
Costumes

10.  There are only a few similarities from our preliminary task that appear in our main task. This includes the
choice of protagonist, costume and a similar location. Although we were definitely more ambitious in our
main task as we wanted to film underwater. This seemed a lot more difficult than it actually was as it only
took us 1 hour.
 We decided to stick to the same costume that the protagonist wore in the preliminary. The location was also
similar as we chose to film on the school’s premises.
 Overall we were more organised and efficient in our main task as we had planned set times of filming e.g.
“we are going to film the woods scene in 2-3 hours.” but we actually managed to do it in less. Same for the
bedroom scene, we had planned to get it done in just over an hour, but once we had set up equipment, it took
us 15 minutes! I think this was also to do with that our group is very close as friends and so we can definitely
get stuff done quickly and motivate each other if needed.
Main Task

11.  As for the technical side of our production. We used the same skills in our preliminary
as our main task. There is a video on this in question 6 of the tools we used when
editing. With the camera skills, we stuck to the 180 degree rule throughout the entire
production as we wanted to make sure that we weren’t going to confuse the audience.
We also used eye line match in the forest to show continuity when the protagonist was
looking at the characters, however, this presented a few challenges as we had to make 2
shots look like 1 continuous shot. To make this work I held the camera as steady as
possible and tracked round the protagonist’s head about 180 degrees. Then I had to
hold the camera still in the exact same place whilst the other actors got into position
and then carry on tracking round. In post-production I found it hard to connect the 2
shots together as they didn’t turn out perfect and I didn’t want to re-film it because we
had poured water on our actors when the weather was absolutely freezing for starters,
so I ended up adding in a dissolve effect between the shots which casted a beam of
sunlight that masked the jolt between the shots ad it worked very well.. In addition, we
used shot reverse shot in the corridor scene as she was walking to indicate the direction
the girl was going and also we wanted to imply that someone was following her, we
did this by shooting from behind and by having the protagonist looking back.
 We were definitely better in our main task than our preliminary with the mise-en-scene.
We improved on our location by including more than one place to film. We improved
with the lighting in the main task as in the preliminary, it was very dark as we only
used one studio light, whereas in the main task we used ambient light.
 We had also learnt different things that weren’t part of the preliminary, such as in
editing we saw that the lens flared out as we tracked round the protagonist, this was
accidental, but left a nice effect and helped when we wanted to merge 2 shots together.
When we tracked left whilst the protagonist was running, we originally thought we
would walk/jog with the camera on the stabilizer but this was an very bad idea as it
was impossible to do. Instead we took advantage of our surroundings and we asked a
friend’s parent who was parked behind us, if we could sit in the back seat with the
camera stuck out the window and this got a much smoother and steadier shot.
Main Task

12. Our new Preliminary

13.  We didn’t feel the need to re-film
our entire preliminary again as
there wasn’t much to improve on
and also because of the sound
issue, we had to re-record the
sound multiple times. So to solve
the issue that we found in the end,
which was awkward moments of
silence, we added the score we
used in our main task on top. This
filled the gaps where no one was
talking and where there was
actually no sound at all because of
the ADR. We think that this
worked well as it made the scene
more effective.
Changes we made