Preliminary Task - Studio Lesson 4

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In this weeks studio lesson, as part of coursework we created a short film sequence in a group of four.

The preliminary task required us to film a replication of a short sequence on a story board. Which told us the shots we needed to shoot and the lines we were to say. We had 2 actors, 1 camera operator and 1 director. Honor and Sofia were actors, I was the camera operator and Jemma was the director.
       We filmed in the editing studio by the doorway, as it was shown in the storyboard.


We used the Sony FS100, we began by holding up a piece of paper with our names on it and zoomed in and manually focused, this is important to have the best quality footage and helps us to get into the habit of focusing before recording. We then recorded the paper for 10 seconds so we can give a lot of time for the viewer to read.








We then began the process of recording the sequence and started with a wide shot. We did this by having the camera on a tripod, and adjusting it to mid height. The frame persisted of the door and the wall, so that we could get footage of Sofia coming through the door and Honor still in frame.
We took at least two takes of that shot, because on the first shot, Honor moved out of the frame. It was essential to shoot this wide shot as not only does it establish the scene, but it also is a shot to fall back on if other shots fail or we run out of time.

We learnt that it is vital to record the whole scene from each angle so that we have a good amount of footage to explore and play with while editing, as well as helping with continuity and structure. 






















  • We communicated well through the use of terminology such as "Standby" and "Standing by", which is what the director shouted out to maintain order whilst filming. This was really beneficial for future projects because it keeps everyone updated on what's happening and that we don't miss anything out. 


  • We made sure that everything was in check, such as getting all the footage we need; before moving the camera. This is essential because if we needed to re-shoot the wide shot but wait for later, we would not be able to put the replace camera in the spot; and therefore while editing the wide shot will be different. 

  • Once filming our wide shot, we moved and readjusted the tripod to an over the shoulder shot. We physically moved the tripod to the actors and made sure they were in their talking position. We repeated the process of zooming into Sofia's face and manually focused before zooming out again. We used rule of thirds for this scene to fill the frame and so the viewer can see all of sofia. We similarly shot the whole scene from this angle. 

  • Once completed, as the camera was already in position, we simply zoomed in to shoot a close up of Sofia. For this shot, we marked the spot that Sofia must stand in for her talking position, by placing an object on that spot. If we were to do this again and had more time, we would mark the spot with an X using tape, so the actor can physically stand exactly on the spot and it's more visible in their viewpoint. 

  • One issue we had was that Sofia's head kept going out of the frame, I had to subtly pan the camera in order to keep her in the frame. At some points I felt I was a bit shaky and jolty with the camera, so for next time I would make sure to transition the pans more smoothly.

  • We then repeated the same shot over the shoulder of Honor, and then shot a close up of Honor. We didn't need to mark the spot as Honor's position is the same place throughout the scene.

  • Once we had finished the brief, we decided to add some extra shots. We shot extreme close ups of Honor and Sofia's eyes. I zoomed into their faces and panned slightly so they will stay in the frame. This shot creates tension and connects the audience to the characters. 

  • We also shot a close up of the door handle opening and closing, we adjusted the camera to a lower angle to achieve this. As well as a close up of Sofia as she walks through the door and speaks her final line "I won't wait for you" From this we have learnt to explore with different angles, in order to create the best cinematography and footage options whilst editing. 

  • We also attempted a high/low angle shot. We wanted to capture a low angle of Sofia and a high angle of Honor. This was to show how important and dominant Sofia is and how irrelevant and submissive Honor is. However this did not work well as in the other shots they are looking at each other on the same level; in order for the high/low angle to work Honor must look up in the high angle shot, and Sofia must look down in the low angle shot, in which they could not do or it would look peculiar when editing.

  • Furthermore, if we had time we would reattempt this high/low angle shot and make the actors maintain eye contact. Perhaps the effect of high/low angle may work even when the actors are not looking up/down but towards each other still. 

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