islawatt5

[islawatt5]

Exercise 3

For the final assessment we had to recreate a scene from a film of our choice. Immediately we discussed and watched various different scenes from films that we had all suggested. At first the film 'Eternal sunshine of your spotless mind' was first choice, but we weren't able to find a scene that we could match up with a location that we knew of, the editing also seemed very advanced. We chose the ending scene of 'Sound of Metal', as it was a film that we had all recently watched and were familiar with, it's also a challenging scene to recreate and we had a lot of fun experimenting with the scene.

Location wise we needed a park and originally, we were set Princes Street gardens. However, the location was not accurate enough and gaining permission is very difficult. We settled on the meadows.

We walked all around the meadows trying to scout the perfect place to film, nowhere was completely accurate but what i learned it this process of filming was that it was the atmosphere of the scene that we needed to capture rather than the accuracy of the mise en scene. Mise en scene is still vital and we did the best we could with the location that we had but we put all of our efforts into recreating the angles and sound and overall feel of the scene.

This being said, watching back the scene there are aspects that I would definitely change. I think if we had calculated where the sunlight was going to for the filming some of the shots would not look as different or as overexposed as they did. Aswell, some of the angles were not completely accurate to the original scene and i would have tried to focus on this more if I were to do it again. We also included a handheld shot because we did not have a dolly and although it was not the same as the original shot, it turned out to be my favourite.

However, I thought that the sound design was really successful and the method in which we used worked really well. It captured the atmosphere of the scene perfectly. We recorded as much sound as possible that day and were successful in not having to use any sounds online. The actor that was in the scene also managed to capture the original characters emotions and this made the process of creating this scene a lot easier. I never realised before how much impact good acting has on a film.

The editing process was difficult because of the sound and the amount we had to layer. But it turned out well and it was consistent all the way through. The length of each shot was pretty much accurate to the original scene also.

Overall, this was a really fun exercise to do, and it helped me learn a lot more about the equipment.

[islawatt5]

Exercise 2

For the next exercise we were told to make a film made up of 8 shots of one location. When we were first assigned this task, we had a long group discussion of location ideas. We needed to find somewhere that could be captured from many angles and still look interesting. I suggested a museum, gallery, gardens etc. We settled on a pub. A pub is a good indoor space with lots of props and people that would look interesting on camera. We were however aware that this would not be an easy location to shoot in because of permission.

We emailed a lot of different pubs for permission, but no replies were successful. We also visited some to not only ask in person but to have a look at what sort of location we would want to use. Unfortunately, this idea fell through, and it became too late to work on this idea.

On the day of filming, we still weren't completely sure where we were shooting. we walked around Edinburgh experimenting on different locations and eventually started filming at Richmond terrace. The location was diverse enough for 8 shots and we discovered so many different aspects of the location whilst filming. Although it was not our first choice the film turned out nicely.

The editing was simple as all we had to do was cut some length out of some of the shots. However, sound was more challenging as we had keep it consistent throughout the whole film.

[islawatt5]

Exercise 1

When first assigned the task of creating a short 1 minute film that follows 1 character completing a simple task, we brainstormed the initial idea of writing and posting a letter. This idea caused complications because the film would not have enough time to develop what is being written in the letter. All we knew was that we wanted the closing sequence to be of someone failing the task at hand, for either comedy purposes or dramatic effect. We then thought filming someone making a meal then dropping it on the floor, but most of us were still attached to the letter idea. Therefore, we decided to use a package instead, as it is easier to establish the contents of the package in 1 minute.

Then it came to deciding what should actually be inside the package. We went with Russian dolls as the item because we initially wanted to go with a box within a box idea but thought that an actual item would look more interesting. Because we wanted to incorporate the letter plan, we used a note in the smallest doll to add more depth to the storyline.

When it came to filming the shots, we noticed that there was a bit of a recurring colour theme of red. The dolls and the letterbox made for more interesting shots as they are brightly coloured. This was completely accidental but made the film look more put together. It also correlated well with the centre framing we used in the second version. The rule of thirds helped focus the colours in the frame also.

Editing the film was trickier because we had to cut down a lot of footage in order to for the film to fit within the time frame. We decided to make the cuts choppier to create a fast pace and a sense of urgency. Because of the colour palette we slightly filtered some of the shots with a warmer tone to match the red. Overall, the process of making this short film was helpful because it made me aware of the importance of framing shots correctly and how it can affect the meaning and response to a film.