Task 1: Preliminary Task

The first assignment towards the Media Studies Coursework was the Preliminary task. The task was to learn how to execute the 180 degree rule, a match on action, a shot reverse shot and an eye line match and then these techniques were needed to be to incorporate into a short video.
One of the techniques we as a group had to perform was the 180 degree rule, it is when two characters in any type of filming have to always have the same left/ right relationship to each other. If this is not done and the camera crosses the imaginary axis then it is known as crossing the line and therefore the shot becomes a reverse angle.

This diagram portrays visually how the 180 degree rule works. The two characters; one in blue and the other is yellow are stood opposite one another, the camera can be positioned on both sides so in this case green and red. If the camera is positioned on the red side it can only reach up to the imaginary line which reaches the green area visa versa. If the camera crosses the line the angle position of the two characters changes, breaking the 180 degree rule and it is confusing to watch for the viewers.

Match on action was also integrated into the short film by the key. This technique is when something happens in the scene but when there is a cut shot, the movement/ action continues, so the action never stops. This is also associated with continuity editing. Another filming technique that had to be included in the film was a shot reverse shot. This is when two people look at one another, for example character one looks at character two, character two then looks back at character one. Eye line match is when the audience want to know what the character in the scene is seeing, if the character is looking at another character their eyes have to line up otherwise the shot will look odd and it will not make sense.

Me and my fellow group members incorporated these techniques into our short film using a HD hand held camera and a tripod to ensure shots were not shaky. Me and Lauren Mcmanus volunteered to act although we had no experience and Abbie Price did all the camera work. Once we finished filming we all edited the shots on iMovie and created a film, we included sound, a main page and credits.

In my opinion the strengths of the short production was the sound and the techniques we had to include. The sound worked well with the piece as at the start; the main page there was a mysterious vibe and it complimented the story line title. There was sound throughout the piece fading in and out at different parts, this was done to give the production a tense atmosphere, a mysterious vibe and make the audience worry about what is going to happen next. I also believe we did the filming techniques correctly such as the 180 degree rule, a match on action, a shot reverse shot and an eye line match, we did not break the rules and it fitted into the production quite well.

Although there were positive areas in our production there were also some weak areas such as the place where we filmed. We decided to film outdoors and at the back of the academy as we felt the piece would seem more dodgy and we liked that the wind added to the natural ambient sounds. However the wind was very strong and this affected our piece as it was hard to hear the characters speaking so we had to increase the frequency of our voices. Due to filming outdoors the lighting affected one of the shots making it unable to view the shot however we did some editing on iMovie and made it able to view.

Below is the finished task production