Storyboard for film noir opening

The Exchange Evaluation

My responsibilities in the group assignment ‘The Exchange’ were firstly writing a storyboard as the rest of my group had to do as well, pre-production work such as the call sheet, then as an actor in the shoot, filming some of the and part editing the final sequence.

 So firstly each person in the groups of four were assigned a storyboard and then all the storyboard would be put together and the best parts of each one would be used for the storyboard of the sequence. The storyboard was important in many ways to the sequence, it helped everyone to think about a setting for the shoot, it helped to established what type of shots were to be used in the shot, described each shoot and what was happening in it. For the task groups were required to have around twelve shots in their sequence and the storyboard should reflect each shot used. My storyboard after being feed back to the group helped to establish the setting for the shoot which was within the college groups on steps and down an alleyway. Some of my shots from the storyboard were used in the exchange shoot also such as a few of the close-ups and shots of the character which was me as the actor walking down the alleyway. So therefore I think my input to the group in terms of the storyboard was quite effective.

 Also I filled in the call sheet and location sheet which were along with the storyboard part of the pre-production work for the exchange shoot. The call sheet set out the roles within the group for each person and contact number and the location sheet said where the location is as well as general information surrounding the location.

 So as well as being an actor in the exchange I shot one of the shots in the sequence, this shot was where the character was standing on the steps waiting for the exchange, this shot I feel went well and I feel the introductory task using the camera which we done before helped when shooting this footage.

 Lastly in the group it was important to share around the responsibilities when we editing together the footage from to shoot to create our final sequence. So my roles in editing the exchange footage were to capture some of the shots as well as to edit part of the final footage after rendering the shots. I edited the opening few shots when the character in standing on the steps which moves into a close-up of the character. I think the edit when generally well, the experience of using the software on the Macs of Final Cut Pro in the preliminary task definitely helped me when editing in this project, and therefore I feel that my skills have improved over the two tasks, I found it easier to capture the shots and easier to use the timelines when editing this time around when compared to the first time using the programme. However despite there being improvement in my use of the software I feel that further enhancement to my skills can still be made in using different tools on the editing programme for example using the tools to make the length of clips slightly more accurate may save time when editing in the final task of the year for the film opening.

 Additionally I think my performance and contribution within my group of four was good, I felt hast I got my point and opinions across when discussing the possible options the shoot within the group, however there are still I feel areas where I think I could improve greatly upon such as a filming different shots and expanding my editing skills. So I think that next time within my group I would think to have more responsibility in these particular areas of the next task.

 I feel that I have learnt many new skills from this projects when compared to both the start of the course and from the first group task we were set. Firstly I think I have been more productive as I mentioned before within my group[ however as I also suggested there is still room for improvement but it is important to note any problems at this stage before starting work on the final project. So the new skills that I have learnt are framing in particular in terms of filming shots and this was helped by not only the previous project which was the first time I had used a video camera to shoot anything before but also from better understanding of camera placement for shots so it is evident to the audience what the important part of shots are and so there is a better finish to shots when shown in the final sequence. Also as I mentioned in terms of editing I think that better understanding of capturing and rendering clips as well as using the timeline was gained through this project along as I also suggested there is still plenty of room for improvement from me when it comes to editing.

 The technical quality of the video was largely satisfactory we used a number of different shots and I think the end edit sequence was good. Also I felt the framing and camera placement in general was good. Although was a minor error which I will go onto explain there were no major obvious errors were made for example breaking the 180 line rule or anything in the sequence so this was good. There were an area which when editing we thought as a group we could have dealt with better in being showing what exactly was exchanged more clearly so viewers could make out what was exchanged between the two characters. This was perhaps the most clearest error in judgement but when compared to our previous project, where nothing in particular was focused upon expect the facial recognition on camera of the character when exchanging dialogue, the lack of experience in realising how to focus more on the shot was why failed to realise the unclearness of the shot to the audience when watching when we shot it.

 Editing throughout the exchange was good there were a lot of sharp cut from character to character involving the three actors involved which we decided to use a we thought this added tension and made the scene more dramatic as film noirs themselves are typical examples of doing this as well as also using a fade out edit to end. The continuity was decent throughout along it may be said that some of these rapid cuts we which were created when edited could have been slightly slower so the audience were perhaps more surprised but nevertheless as I said this can work either way in making it fit the style of a thriller or not a being too quick. However generally otherwise the editing was good and as a group we were pleased with the final production in terms of this particular area. The titles were shown at the beginning and end which fitted quite well using just white text on a black background which was formal and I feel was both simple and effective for the task.

 With the cinematography of the sequence we used a range of different shots to add the mood of it such as close-ups to show the emotion of the character and mid shots and long shots to establish characters as well as set the scene also. The use of a number of different shots not only added to the tension but avoided there being the same shot used over and over again throughout the sequence.

 Mise-en-scene in the exchange was aimed to be in fitting with typical noir scenes where there is a sense of mystery and some wrongdoing occurring imminently. There are two characters wearing dark coats which is in fitting with the classic noirs and the other characters shown wearing more casual clothing which we chose to do so it looked as if he was hired by someone to deliver item to the shady character in black. This also worked well in perhaps creating a conflict between a more classic style noir character and maybe a more contemporary noir character. This we thought was a good mix, the character waiting for the exchange on the steps has jeans on as well which further helps to make this more of a contemporary scene, with both noirs era styles mixed in and freshening the style up as well.

 The sound used for the sequence was gentle slow starting music which built well to the action taking place in the shot throughout the scene for example when the character approaches down the alley as he is first seen entering into the shot the music picks up and gets more dramatic which we thought worked well. So I think the sound worked very well to the action it started of slowly then picked up at a significant time then died away again at the end.

 Narrative in the exchange I think was clear for viewers to understand and accurate in terms of meeting the criteria for the task.

 The genre was also I feel easy to see from watching the sequence. The thriller type mood was met well by both the action and the sound throughout.

 Representation on our production as the setting worked well I feel and gave us freedom to shot some great long shots for instance with the character holding the phone at the end the location allowed us to be able to frame this shot well and give the perspective view of the character also. We were able get some brilliant shots of the character approaching the one on the steps as well which we were pleased with. So the overall representation I think was satisfactory as we were able to get some great shots and scenes which presented the narrative of the sequence to the audience well.

 In the final production of the exchange I think our ideas came across well that we had from planning and the setting helped us to produce great shots. From what we had planned we were able to get on with the shooting quickly and still be accurate with the shots and get across the narrative well so it was important that our plans before were able to help us to do this. Next time we could improve upon maybe planning more similar shots of which we could pick the best ones out of to give us more choice when editing as we did encounter a few minor problems as I mentioned when editing this task.

 Before shooting the piece we decided the target audience for the sequence would be teenagers upon finishing the project each groups’ tasks was screened to the rest of the class. Our feedback pointed out both good and bad things about the production which is helpful going forward for the final film opening task of the year. The class suggested that the framing and camera placement was good in the production but did say that as we found upon editing that it was unclear what was exchanged. However this does work in two ways as we were only shooting an exchange scene so if it were a full film you would likely know later on in the film what was exchanged so again mystery was added by not showing exactly what was exchanged. Feedback revealed also that the music may be slightly too dramatic in general but particularly on the entrance which was both interesting to learn and helpful as well because as a group we felt it matched the mood but feedback revealed that this may not be the case in actual fact. So I think from this we discovered that more research may be needed for music in the next task, it was a last minute choice of music though although we thought it worked, in the next task we need to budget more time for finding music and maybe split up when editing to do this or find it out of class.

The editing and titles were said to be solid upon feedback however which was pleasing to learn along with the class ageing that the narrative was good. In other areas the class said it kind of felt like a film noir/thriller type sequence so perhaps more focus on noir traits is needed in the next task. The class did agree there were good technical production values and storyline shown though which again was good. Therefore the feedback I felt was important for us as a group to receive as it helped us to understand exactly where we went right and wrong and mistakes that we may have missed when filming and editing.

 In terms of our noir comparing to examples of noirs and thrillers I think we did largely manage to make our sequence fit this mood but as feedback revealed there is still room for improvement. A possible thing which could be done in the next task which another group doing this task done was put some of the sequence in black and white in order to enhance the feel of a film noir and make the visual representation more interesting for viewers.

 In conclusion I feel the production of the exchange did go well and there has been definite and evident progress made when comparing the two projects. I feel the planning needed to be and was more in depth for this project as the shoot was longer so required more thought. There were a few mistakes again in this project as with the preliminary task but this is perhaps to be expected when you consider this was only the second group project. Making mistakes at this stage means you can learn from them ready for the final project which I feel more confident about going into it as the next project now also. So much has been learnt in this project as along being largely satisfactory at times it has been troublesome also as I mentioned with editing etc. but the mistakes made and feedback received from the class on the task should definitely help in the final project.

The Exchange brief

 For the task The Exchange students were required to work in groups of 3-4 to shoot the exchange of something between two characters. There was a maximum limit of 12 shots for the sequence which was required to be no more than two minutes long. The item could be anything such as an envelope or package etc. The sequence is to then be shot and edited to add music and titles to fit the style of a thriller. Additionally the exchange setting was required to be around the proximity of the college campus. In addition the equipment required was a camera and tripod. The microphone on the camera was to be used to record sound but the shot required there to be no dialogue from the characters involved.

Evaluation of Preliminary task

 In order to effectively carry out the task it was important to make a sufficient storyboard and plan the shots well as there was a maximum of eight shots for the sequence. As a group we decided to use some close-up shots along with more obvious shots for the scene such as the over the shoulder shot during the exchange in dialogue. The close-ups were used to show a hand of one character opening the door as well as to focus on the legs of the character walking which also used a panning from right to left. Another panning shot was the character walking down the corridor this was shot using another right to left pan.

 Throughout the project it was important to improve efficiency and to make sure everyone knew how to carry out the tasks required for as a group to balance out the workload. So to do this we shared out the shooting the six shots for the task with each person in the group shooting their two one after the other. Also each person would hold the microphone which was recording the required sound while one of the other two were shooting we rotated this task also. It was important to share the workload during editing so we could get used to using the editing software. So we took turns extracting the shots from the camera and editing precisely what we needed for the final sequence.

 For the sequence I shot the part of the sequence were one character walks into the room to meet the other and sits down at the desk. Also my second shot was the dialogue exchange which was edited to be shown at the required parts of the sequence to ensure fluency. Further to this I edited the opening three shots where the character walks down the corridor, a close-up of the legs walking and the hand opening the door. I extracted the clips before editing the opening part of the interview also.

 Moreover I think that I made a satisfactory contribution to my group and the task in general. As much of the tasks we completed shared the responsibility I feel I contributed equally to the final end production of the sequence.

 I think my standard of the tasks I completed and the shots I shot for the sequence were to a decent standard. However as it was only the second time I had shot during the course there is still room for improvement I feel to my work. For example when shooting the character entering the room and sitting down, it took me three takes to get the shot correct, though I had not shot a similar tracking shot previous to the one for the sequence. Despite this I was relatively pleased with the shots I took for the sequence and shooting new shots is a helpful experience for working towards the next and eventually final tasks. An area I feel I could improve on in terms of taking shots is panning the camera to take shots, as this was the reason it took three take to get the sufficient take however I feel it was a decent result in the end, next time when shooting this kind of shot to help myself I will probably focus more I my framing to make sure I accurately capture what I am aiming to in the shot.

 In terms of editing it was the first time that I had used the Mac software so therefore it took me a while to get used to it. I still feel as though I need more practice on editing however since I had not previously edited before this is understandable for this to be the case. The edit of the shots which I carried out were completed to a satisfactory standard I feel although I feel the area which caused the most problems was the capturing and rendering of the shots. This is an area which I feel as a result I can improve on and will be important for me to gain adequate knowledge of it by the time it is needed for the final filming task of the year. I think that the task I have before the final one will provide me with the opportunity to practice upon my editing helpful and will be helpful for me.

 In addition from the preliminary task and the tasks which had be completed I think that many of my skills which are linked to filming improved. One example of where this applies is in completing the storyboard for the task. It was crucial as this was the first task I had completed which required a storyboard to make an accurate one which will be satisfactory for the shooting of the task. So therefore it was important that the storyboard for the task included what shots were to be used and in what order.

 Further skills which were enhanced through the task were camera skills, shooting a panning shot which I had only briefly practiced previous to the task, as well as shooting the meeting between the two characters which was easier. I think the camera skills which I obtained through the task will help for the next project and the final project.

 As I mentioned previously it was the first editing on the course for me in the preliminary task. So the skills I gained such as learning how to extract clips, render clips, edit scenes fluently and add effects to sequences will be crucial to the tasks I partake in the future.

 The technical quality of the video was generally well presented the sound throughout was good in set a realistic mood for the meeting. However there were some problems encountered when editing the sequence as we did not film enough shoots so that both people in the exchange were seen saying there lines on camera. As a result of this happening one of the lines of dialogue in the final footage is behind the back one of the actors. This presentation of the sequence would have looked better if we were able to have the face shot of the dialogue however I feel that otherwise the editing went well. For improvement when shooting my next task I think focusing on satisfactory framing of shots and leaving handles for editing before and after each shot would improve the technical quality of the next sequence for this one.

 I felt that the editing of the sequence was satisfactory and the final piece was to a good standard. The cinematography was also good I thought as there was a range of shots used although the sequence is only 0.26 seconds long. Also the mise-en-scene we decent but in order to achieve a greater representation for the audience the costumes and setting could have been worked on more and this obviously is more important for the later filming projects not so much for this one as it was more about getting used to using the camera equipment. The sound was recorded using a microphone and I think captured the mood of the sequence well although when editing next time I think the sound can be adjusted more so that it focused more on the important sounds. For example in the sequence when the actor is walking down the corridor instead of hearing the noise from his jacket maybe focusing more on the footsteps as he moves towards the door.

 I think that the sequence although has areas for improvement was a decent first attempt for a filming. In future shoots it will be important to focus on making sure the more aspects are thought carefully about when editing and filming such as sound and shooting enough shots. However as this was essentially an introduction task there was always likely to be areas where improvement could be made, so therefore I think generally the project went well, and with greater planning in costumes and setting etc. and more thought on the final piece the piece project should improve greatly when compared to this one.

 The project when finished I think did reflect the planning and research completed previously for the project. We were able to get a good amount of shot in an only a short sequence although we missed an important. As a result I think that editing went about as well as could have been expected.

 The target audience which were teenagers responded largely well to the sequence. Although they did point out that the face dialogue shot was missing but the general feedback was good for the sequence.

 As I mentioned before I think the sequence we shot in the group did look well quite well presented and reflected a realistic visual representation. This compared to other film and video of the kind where you see a meeting between to people was not too bad considering it the first attempt at shooting so therefore I was satisfied with the end result of the project.

 In conclusion I feel the overall the project went well and there have been many things which I have learnt from the shooting of this preliminary task. Even from such a small sequence as this there were evident areas where I feel improvement can be made so it is important to realise these areas before completing the next and then final projects which remain. The project was a good learning process for me and I feel that the lessons learnt should help me in the future to avoid making similar mistakes and realise how the visual you see when shooting the footage for a sequence can at times differ from the end outcome after editing, as with the dialogue mistake which was made by my group in this project, which was the fundamental mistake and most notable out of the mistakes which were made.

Perliminary task brief

For my preliminary task we were required to work in groups of three to produce a short sequence in which two characters exchange two lines of dialogue each to another. The characters in the scene also were to be shown coming into the room and sitting down as well as one of them walking along the corridor.