The Use Of Camera
Getting the shots right was the main priority for the making of this video and I think we all did very well in the way we handled the camera. Following the basic procedure of applying the battery, putting in the tape and setting it to camera, we set everything up in order so that we did not miss anything out. Furthermore, the use of the tripod was also important as we needed to know all the functions of it to get the best shots for our video. Also, the other functions of the camera like setting the white balance, focus and even putting on the grids to help with the composition was important to help us shoot the best possible shots.
I think that as a group we were able to hold a shot steady, without fault or much error of our own. If we did think something was wrong with the shot, we would simply review it and reshoot if we thought we needed to. Framing the shots was also important and I think that we did an excellent job in framing. The location or background of the shots needed to be good as well because if we framed in a different location, the shot wouldn't look the same. I believe that we did use a variety of shot types, for example long shots, close ups, extreme close ups and high angle shots. To add, I think that we used shots like panning and zoom very well which also shows our ability as a group that we will try more difficult shot types.
The part of the camera we used the most though was the composition grid. This way, we could set the actor/character up in the best possible position against the location, so that the audience could enjoy the video more.
Use of Editing
Continuity editing is one of the most important things to consider when shooting because a video or film that appears 'jumpy' will not please the audience. Having a plan is the best way to tackle this problem. Using a story board is what we thought was the best way to help show continuity editing. This way, you can know exactly what you're shooting without worring about 'jump' shots. I thought that our video was good at showing a flowing film. We were always thinking about making and showing how shots flow during shooting so that we could make a good video. Most of the shots in our video did flow quite well however, they could be improved. Reviewing our video, I did think that we could have improved our shots more, using continuity editing, to make the video flow better. On the other hand, we have only had a few times of using coninuity editing and I would think that we would get better at it in the future.
Editing as a group is much better than doing it individually as you get more opinions on how you could edit your video for the better, by the use of transactions and sounds. I think that using transactions and sounds improves your video and definitely helps make it flow better, although we didn't use transactions I think that they would have further improved our video. We did, however use sounds which proved a very good asset when reviewing the video. Using sounds like wind, rustling and a scary accent helped make the effect of the video better. Overall, I think that our use of editing was good as we used contiuity editing and sounds for improvement, although it could have been further improved by adding transitions.
Selecting of content
When reviewing the video I thought that our use of costume, make-up and props helped show the genre of our video. Horror films of today have modern costumes to help portray to the audience that it could happen to them. Our costume that we used was also modern to show this effect. Furthermore we only used one prop which was the pendant. I thought that the pendant was a very good prop to use because it's kind of mysterious and shows itself as a psychologically scary object. On the contrary we didn't use any make-up because we thought our 40 seconds of video didn't need any. Because of the 40 seconds we chose we didn't include or show any villains or monsters that could have had make-up on, however I would like to think that when we shoot our final film we would use make-up to show a horrific effect.
Location was also an important factor in the shooting of our video. We shot at the Arboretum on the outskirts of Nottingham city centre because this was the original location of the film we chose, however we didn't shoot in the same place as the original horror film. We chose to do this because we didn't want to fully copy the horror film and thought that another setting within the Arboretum would be better. Furthermore, we thought our location suited the genre of our video because some of the features within our location ,like the canons and the old stone statues looked menacing and were good features to have in our location.
Acting is also another part of making a film. During our film we only used one actor, myself, to play as the main character in the video. We chose a male actor because the original film, of which we used the 40 seconds included a male main character. Although I didn't use speech in the video I thought I did ok at acting however, the extreme close-up of myself wasn't a very good one. Overall I thought my acting was above average however if I chose to follow a career in acting I would definitely need to improve!
Self assessment
My biggest part during the making of our 40 second video was acting. I appeared in most of the shots of the film and used expressions to help complete the film. Towards planning we all contributed the same amount as we all helped in choosing shots, actors and location for our video. I thought my contribution to the planning was good as I thought I had some good ideas about shot types and location. When filming my main part was acting, however when I wasn't acting I was using the camera to help show my ability to control the camera. I used zoom and focus when shooting the shot of the swinging pendant to help create a horrific shot type. I thought my performance when filming was good, as I contributed a lot as we all did when in control of filming.When editing again we all contributed the same amount comparing different ideas and opinions on how to edit the shot. I thought I contributed good ideas of how to use sounds when editing, choosing sounds that gave a rather chilling atmosphere.
I thought our overall attempt of shooting a horror film was very good, however nothing is perfect and improvements could be made. The main improvement I thought we could have made was to spend more time editing and viewing different sounds and transactions to help create a good effective horror video. Furthermore I also think I could have improved my acting skills as personally I thought I could have done better! On the other hand I believe that our horror video was a good effort.
Finally, I think I have learned a great deal whilst shooting this horror video. Putting what you've learned into practise is a very good way of learning. In the future when doing my final assessment I will definitely apply some of the techniques like continuity editing, composition and shot types and more techniques that I hope to learn whilst studying media. Things that I will improve on when doing my final assessment are to definitely check and keep checking work that you have done so that you can spot mistakes or errors without needing to re-shoot or re-plan.
By Alex Rowbottom
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