Ays' Evaluation.

Through out this task i learnt how to use the video camera and the tripod and how certain things such as the height of the tripod and angle of the camera could make a big difference in the shot you take. I learnt that at the beginning and end of each cut it was extremely helpful having what shot it was written on the whiteboard which helped immensely when we came to the editing process as it made it easier and quicker to find the shots we wanted and didn't want. Also the fact that we said 'speed, rolling and action' and then 'cut' at the beginning and end of each cut helped because it gave us plenty of time to edit so that we wouldn't cut off any parts that could have been good. We tried to include good shot and angle types but some didn't work out. For example we wanted to do a dolly shot from one character around the table to the other but we tried it by using a wheelie chair and balancing the camera on it, however this didn't work because the camera kept slipping and the floor wasn't smooth enough making the shot look shaky and un-professional, so in the end we didn't do a dolly shot as it just didn't look good enough to present. Also after we had finished filming and started editing we realised we had broken the 180 degree rule.
For this task my personal input was to find a location and get props, i was also in charge of the whiteboard writing which didn't seem to be very important until we did our filming, i also discussed what shots and angles to used with Tom and Jon so we all agreed on what we were doing. When it came to the editing although i wasn't very good at using the actual software i gave in my ideas and made decisions with the rest of the group. I also spent a good part of the first lesson going round the college with Tom trying to find the perfect place to film and eventually we found a room but had to go ask permission to use it and make bookings so nobody else would disrupt our filming.
because all three of us had missed alot of lessons due to Narnia it was quite hard for us to completly understand and put into practice the three continuity editing strategies. We tried to do the 180 degree shot but we got confused as to where the line was and which sied the camera should have been kept so we got that wrong. We set up shots such as close ups close to the persons face because the zoom made it go out of focus, also we did it at a sideways angle at eye level because it looked more effective when we watched them back. When editing we immediatly deleted the shots we knew were not good enough or the ones we had decided not to use. we then put all the ones we wanted in the right order so we knew what would be connected to the next clip making it easier to edit and fit together.
In our next task i think in our group we will try to get started quicker as it almost took a whole hour just finding a place to film. Also we will take more time on the filming as we kind of rushed them at points because we were running out of time. I think our editing was good and well organised which helped us finish it reasonably quick and had time to fiddle about and experiment on things we could use.