Preliminary Task - Evaluation

1. What camera and editing techniques and codes did you use in your film and how do they influence the audience's understanding of the film? (e.g. camera angles and shot types etc; Match on action, Shot/reverse shot; 180 degree rule) We kept our preliminary film fairly simple and easy to watch, with lots of eye level medium shots, long shots and close ups. We experimented with zooming in and out and using different shots, as this was our first time using the digital cameras. We incorporated the 180 degree rule when the conversation takes place, so that the audience doesn't get confused with who's talking at which point. We also used the match on action technique when the character was seen walking up to the door of the house from outside and then shown walking in from inside, to keep the sequence continuous and being the best way to change location with the audience being able to follow easily.
2. How did you use new technologies in your construction, planning and evaluation (e.g. digital cameras; non-linear editing software; Youtube and blog) and what skills do you have at using this technology? (Strengths and weaknesses e.g. steady/shaky camera; variety of shot types; smooth/clumsy transitions; independance when using technologies...)
We were able to use the digital cameras before shooting our Preliminary film, so had already learnt the basic camera shots and movements, however we were still very shaky when holding the camera, but we overcame this problem by using the tripod yet we still had problems when zooming in and out too quickly creating the clumsy transitions. During editing, some of our cuts became to quick, but we didn't realise till it was too late. However we had managed to cover some of these quick cuts up with transitions on Premiere Elements such as fade in and out. After completing the editing, we signed up to YouTube with our own group name, uploaded our film and then transferred it to our blogs.
3. How successfully does your final product meet the brief?
Overall, i think our Preliminary film wasn't particularly brilliant, but it was good for a first attempt. It was successful in terms of us including the 180 degree rule and the Match on action technique, however it could've been better if we had included a soundtrack and used some different camera angles. If we'd had time to re-do our film, we would have taken more time over it, and included a soundtrack and used some better transitions during editing.