Planning: Preliminary Task - Miss Begum

Purpose of preliminary task

The purpose of the preliminary task was to get used to and familiarize ourselves with the camera and the editing software. Our group had limited time and therefore had to prepare, film and edit efficiently. This was also a sample for the final film project and how efficient we have to be when we begin to film that.

Video

The scenario

We decided to have a scenario with 2 characters having a conversation that would last 30 seconds. Trang played the role of a girl that has forgotten her homework and Pervin as her friend or classmate who reminds her.

The scene begins as there is a panning shot to show Trang walking and as she walks past Pervin she is stopped by her to be reminded of the homework. As they are speaking there is a medium shot showing their conversation.

As the scene develops, there is then an over the shoulder shot as Trang panics as she has not done the homework. An over the shoulder shot is used to observe Trang's facial expression as she is the character with the dilemma in this scene, with Pervin having a supporting role.

In this scene there is a high angle shot to emphasise Trang's body language to accentuate her problem and she is upset by it.

There is then a closeup shot of Trang frantically going through her book trying to find the homework, the close up shot shows her rapid hand movement as she goes through the book which portrays her as being upset or worried about this.

Towards the end of the scene, there is an over the shoulder shot of Pervin telling Trang to "fix up" as this isn't the first time she has forgotten her homework. The over the shoulder shot puts focus on Pervin's face as she is telling off Trang.

Finally, Trang runs away and there is a long shot to show her whole body and the environment she is in, to show her going off screen so the audience can see she has gone looking for her homework.

Group roles and has this changed

For the preliminary task, I had taken the role of camera operator and director as I have had previous amateur experience with a camera and I believe as director it would be easiest behind the camera in such a small group, and I would develop my leadership skills which will hopefully be transferred onto the final project. Trang and Pervin were actors in this scenario and in our final production, Trang will be an actor but Pervin will not be as she has been chosen to do costume, hair and makeup and be our location manager, which was not relevant in the preliminary task. Furthermore in the final production Trang will be the writer/storyboarder and be in charge of the lighting, this was not relevant in the preliminary task. We decided as we are a very small group that editing will be a group role and will not rely on one person, this will mean that we will also get different perspectives when editing our final productions to make sure the final piece leaves very little mistakes while we all develop our skills to edit.

Difficulties while filming

• As the camera operator, I had to get used to using and turning on the camera, as well as playback to check if there had to be retakes, this was difficult as I was not used to the make and model of the camera and I have had limited experience.
• Finding an appropriate filming location so there would not be many people in the background or a lot of noise.
• Some scenes had people walking past or making too much noise and therefore had to reshoot those scenes 
• The actors were not experienced and kept laughing during the scenes, there was no script and therefore they had to improvise after being given an idea of what to talk about.

Difficulties while editing

• There was a filter on the whole scene when we played it back, after searching for the filter to see if we could remove it, and asking someone with editing experience with the software we could not find it, therefore had to leave the filter which created lines on the shot.
• We were not used to the editing software and under limited time could only produce very simple straight cuts which made the changing of angles look very unprofessional.
• There was also a lot of background noise we were unable to remove which slightly drowned out the speech in some takes.

What have you learned

As the camera operator and the director in the preliminary task, I learnt how to properly operate the camera, and how to make movements look smoother. I also learnt how to use a tripod although I chose not to use it as I think handheld movements would be more effective in my final production, therefore I used handheld movements in the preliminary task to gain experience. While editing I learnt how to merge clips together, and to delete and crop unnecessary clips. This editing experience will be vital for the final production. I also developed my skills to work in a team, as director this will be very important, I will need to tell people where to stand and move, as well as make sure they are portraying the correct facial expressions and body language. The preliminary task has also helped me and my group identify who will be suited for what roles during the final productions, we learnt that some of my group did not want to be actors as they were more suited to lighting and costume hair and makeup.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the preliminary task has been beneficial for me as it has given me a small sample of what the final production would be like. It has developed by skills with a camera, editing and my teamwork and leadership skills, all these skills will be vital for when I need to do my final productions as I am expecting it to be completely different to my preliminary task in terms of quality. I have also discovered what sort of mistakes can be made on a set and how to deal with them quickly and efficiently, as well as how to coordinate actors and positions.