Evaluation of the preliminary exercise.

The key to success in the preliminary exercise was about working together. By sharing information as a group we were able to develop our understanding of real world practice and create our own. However not everyones knowledge has the extent to which another within the group may understand, so therefore with the input of the whole group, everyone knew what they were doing and how the end result would look like.

Research was an important part of our production, using Youtube we were able to find a really reflecting video from Causality (Research Link) which has a direct link to our brief, “Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue" This is also a really close match in terms of mise-sn-scene, Casualty's larger focus is on the clothing of their actors and how they are represented in the real world. We tried to create this too, by using such things as Lab coats and a recording studio (Props) which had to the audiences understanding - one way glass. This would help us to create and represent the legitimacy which we needed to make the production believable.

From studying the causality extract (Research) We can gather a great understanding of how camera work, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene are used to create the production of the clip. Additionally i have viewed the the film, One flew over the cuckoos nest:

which is about a state mental institution, now i was not worried so much about the storyline, but dedicated my time to understanding how camerawork and mise-en-scene work together to create this brilliant production.
As it is clear within the extract i have linked, they have included a lot of white clothing, within our group on the first day, brainstormed that we would like for there to be lab coats etc, also in the extract a large part that is used is the flooring, is is shiny and very ideological of a mental institution. In terms of editing, it can be viewed around 0.54 seconds in to the clip, but there is a pan used to follow the acton of one person through to the action of of the persons it is affecting. Within our preliminary exercise we have tried to recreate this as well, there is a pan running from the doctor on the left to the gentleman on the right, following dialogue. This was created to develop an understanding of spacial awareness and to show where the dialogue was was being directed - a way of enhancing the continuity aspect. However due to positioning of the desk and room size we struggled to fit the camera in a position whereby it could produce the pan not to close and not too far away from the actors, as to reduce the continuity aspect.
I have to say that the causality clip and the extract from "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" have been really inspirational towards development of our understanding towards mise-en-scene editing and camera work, it has really aided us in the production of the preliminary exercise.

The room we chose was deliberately used because of its layout (Recce location 2). there is a semi-circular table in the centre near the glass divide. The table aided us with the right guidelines for bringing in prospectus the 180° rule, with this we were unable to cross it and ruin the continuity aspect. Similarly the window acted as a mirror and so the room on the other side had the same layout. We wanted to make it so that the eye-lines were around the same, so as we could develop the power levels and hierarchy position. The gentleman was positioned right of the centre, key lighting made it so that he was shaded more so than the doctor to reflect a personality trait but also reflect the mood.
Legitimacy is key and that is why we wanted to make a believable production that works at understandable levels. We searched the college for places of interest which would pose as a possible scene that could be used to contrast a state mental institution. The music and Drama (Recce location 1)department was was seen as an ideal location to build the continuity and set the initial scene. In term of mise-en-sceneit was just what we needed, plastic floor, which was smooth and reflective, long corridors for wide angle shots and close power supplies to charge the camera as batteries had run out. However it was not until editing that we saw an initial problem, Phillip Howarth was in charge of flickering the lights to create an erie effect, half his body is in one of the shots for a few brief seconds which has ruined the legitimacy effect which we hoped to achieve.

Editing did not go as well as i had hoped. We went over to see a man who would burn the tape to a digital version which could be save to our external hard drive (number 2). However However my self and Philip Howarth did not read the brief correctly before leaving, we were expected to produce a digital copy of each individual shot which could be named and allocated its position from the storyboard (1) (2) (3). However we did not. We produced an overall copy of the whole of what we recored, which we then shortened or lenghted to fit the still on the storyboard. i am aware that this is not what we were supposed to do, however we are aware of the mistake and are set to amend it for the real production.

The allocation of sound to the production was not difficult, as a group we went up to the library to find copy right free material which we could use with in the preliminary exercise. We hired out a CD player and sat in the corner to listen to the individual tracks which we felt would suit the Drama. Having chosen the tracks we felt would be acceptable for the production we imported them to windows movie maker whereby they could be placed over parts of the production to create the atmosphere we were after. There was a minor glitch which we needed to overcome and that was, whilst we were filming the final shot, the camera tripod creaked creating a louder noise than anticipated on the final piece, luckily we were able to mute the creak and apply the sounds gain from the library.
The preliminary exercise has been a deliberate learning curve to develop our skills in media production, researching what it is we wish to produce and understanding real world practices on Camera work, Editing, sound and mise-en-scene. All that i have learned will be applied to the real production.

List Of Links.

Initial Ideas and brain storms for roles within the group.

Prop List.

S.W.O.T Analysis.

Production Schedule.

Call Sheet - Page 1.
Call sheet - Page 2.

Script - Page 1.
Script - Page 2.

Story Board - Page 1.
Story Board - Page 2.
Story Board - Page 3

Recce Location 1
Recce Location 2

Risk Assessment - 1
Risk Assessment - 2
Risk Assessment - 3

Research

The Meeting - FINAL EDIT.

Filming and Editing the Preliminary Exercise

The filming ran as anticipated, Actors, Actresses attended along with rooms and props being made available to us. However there was a small communication error, which prevented a member to the team being contacted. This was due to a mobile number being entered incorrectly. As a result the individual was unable to participate with the filming of the preliminary exercise, but the decision was made to continue as planned, due to the fact that equipment and rooms were booked. We had extras who would be acting within the production, turn up at college in their free time to help us out, we could not turn round and tell them to leave.
The production worked well because everyone stuck with their allocated roles, i played the role of director and tried my best to organise the shoot with the best of my ability, so that it ran smooth and everyone was aware of their positions. Holly Bash was in control of camera work, which was performed well as we can see through results in the editing. Angles are well met, following rules and terminology, such as the rule of thirds and 180° rule. The group is aware that examiners are judging the camera work, not the acting. So therefore deliberate attention has been made to follow scrip and focus on the story board.
We are aware that mistakes have been made, however as Lee has told us, the preliminary exercise is a learning curve which we intend to use as a correction for the the real exercise, worth more than 85%.
Following research in to producing the film, we studied scenes from Causality;



focusing on our continuity project. Reminder: “Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue". This was a scene from Causality, where by a man enters a room, crosses it, sits down and exchanges dialogue. The clip has a direct link to our project, and i feel that it was relevant research to aid the production of the preliminary exercise.
However with the production we did encounter some faults which had to be manoeuvred around, our story board was matched thoroughly, but when shooting we found that different actions were more appropriate for setting the scene and following the continuity rule. For example we changed between shot 11 (Mid-shot) and shot 12 (Close Up) for a pan between, Doctor and Gentleman, so that the social positioning can be acknowledged. Thinking in terms of Hierarchy, the gentleman is apposed the dominant character within the clip, The doctor asks the questions and the gentleman answers, he is knowledgeable and is found for answers. The patient is set back in the screen and lower than eye-line, meaning his power is not on par, and he has a reduced social status. By following practice for part A of the exam, all aspects have been taken in to account, for example there was a high focus on Mise-en-Scene Props We really tried to make it so that the environment was clear and what we were trying to represent was legitimate. Lab coats, straight jacket, heart beat monitor were main props in setting the mise-en-scene.
We did have quite a large flaw in the editing, as the brief said we were meant to cut the clip in to individual frames, whereby we could name them and allocate selected frames to meet the story board. Our clip was not cut up in to individual sections, but the whole shoot. In order to edit we had to cut and paste the whole clip and then shorten it to fit the continuity aspect. We as a group are aware of the problem and are going to amend it in the real exercise. Non-copyrighted music was acquired from the College library, the group selected albums which we felt would fit our criteria in fitting the clip, then listened to them, took notes and recorded which tracks we liked and felt fit for the edit. The sounds were then added to the clip where needed, starting and fading out for setting change, from corridor to observation room.