Planning: Preliminary Task - Miss Begum

What is Preliminary Task? Why is it important?

A Preliminary Task is when a group is given a camera to film and edit a sequence without too many instruction to follow. The aim of this task is to familiarize with the camera as well as the process of editing and filming your own sequence. It also allow all your group member to have a role and participate in something that is done together, improving team work and building confidence. The criteria that was given to us was to:

• film a sequence of 30 seconds
• use a variety of cinematography
• editing on action

Furthermore, Preliminary task is important because it prepares you when you are filming your own thriller sequence, providing you the basic knowledge on how to treat a camera and his functions. This also allows us to have experience and learn from our mistakes.

The Preliminary Task:

Scenario of our Preliminary Task:

Within our group we created a simple scenario that will fit the 30 second criteria.

• The scene begins with Bibi who is peacefully doing her homework in an empty classroom. This frame holds for a bit in order to reflect the peace and precision/effort that is placed into her work.

• She is interrupted by her fellow classmate, Gulustan. The medium long shot allows to see Gulustan fully as well as the door that she as entered in.

• Gulustan sit next to Bibi who is willing to help her out so they can both complete the set work. The two shots shows they are classmate and keen on helping each other.

• As they both sat down and begin to work, Gulustan notices Bibi's bracelets. Continued two shots shows both students and their reactions during the conversation.

• Bibi explains that she brought it last Friday. Zoom in is used to put emphasis on the bracelet and show that this is an objects of significance within the narrative.

Group Roles:

While filming and editing this sequence, we have given each members of our group a role, so we will stay organized without creating too many issues. We have assigned the roles by preferences and personal strengths to create something good. I was in charge to take part on the sequence as actor and  also of the location as well as lighting. Whereas, Gulustan has taken the role of director as she gave the group good ideas throughout the scene making and support everyone, and also took the role of acting as well. Natalia had the job to film the sequence as she is interested in the camera work and cinematography. This helped us because we were able to gain experience for the actual product, as all of us took part of the editing of the preliminary task. 

Lastly, for our final product we have decided to change some of our roles. This is because we realize that some of our group members were brilliant in other roles. For example, I will take the role of editing with Natalia as I enjoyed and feel confident when doing it. Additionally, Natalia will take care of the Mise en Scene which are necessary when filming, as she know how to convey meaning ans response through them. I will take the role of the producer as I am well organised and willing to help to guide my group members in the production stage, thus making our final product look best as possible it can be. 

Difficulties encountered during Filming:

• First off it was difficult to zoom in/out. This is because the button was sensitive, hence you had to be extremely careful in order to zoom in slowly, otherwise it would smudge the image and look unprofessional and unrealistic. This was resolved by trying to practice using the zoom in/ out button and try to get the right take.

• Another difficulty that we have come across with was the fact that we were unaware of how long the footage was lasting. This is because each new take has started with a count from 0. This was resolved by filming few more takes in order to have more material that was cut out later on, during the editing stage.

• A difficulty that we had to tackle whilst filming was the lack of knowledge about editing stages. We didn't know exactly what is available in Final Cut Pro because we were unfamiliar with the program and weren't aware of all of its features. This was resolved by deciding to take short and simple footage which wouldn't cause a problem to edit.
• Lastly, the difficulty that we had to encounter was the other people that came across our way while we were trying to film our task. Some people tried to enter the class room or walked past causing a distraction for the actors. This was tackled by really trying to put our full attention on the task as well as trying to ignore others.

• The ‘start/stop’ button had some delays. Hence it was hard to end the filming at the appropriate time. This was tackled by cutting out the unnecessary footage during the editing stage.

• It was difficult to hold the camera still, it made the image look shaky and unclear. We tried to tackle this by making slow and precise hand movements however it think that this issue could be solved with a use of a tripod.

• We were also limited by the lack of battery which meant that we had to film while charging which made the camera movement harder and distorted. This needs to be taken into consideration when creating the opening. The camera has to be charged, otherwise we would be limited in movement and could potentially miss out on better shots.

Difficulties encountered while Editing;

• It was difficult to get started. This is because we were unfamiliar with the program and had to check out all of its possibilities and features. This was resolved by trying to work out how everything works and just practising with different frames. We have used simple cuts which allowed to complete this preliminary task. However for the final production we will be able to use the best edits and transitions.

• It was hard to remove the unwanted footage because sometimes we had cut it too little or too much which made the scene look distorted. This is necessary to know because we have tried to leave the best examples and get rid of the rubbish ones. For the final production we will have to film for a little bit longer so it would be easier to erase the unneeded film. We will also need to be very careful when we edit.

• Another difficulty that we had to tackle was to edit the footage so it fitted the 30 second criteria. This was hard because if something was removed we had to make sure that the rest of material flows and works well with one another. In the final production this would be tackled by clearly planning our filming. Therefore it was very important to create a detailed storyboard so we will know exactly how long each frame should hold for.

• In addition, another difficulty that we encountered was the process of saving the footage into a safe drive so we could access it later on. This was resolved by making a copy which was placed onto a USB and desktop. For final production this shouldn't be a problem because now we are confident in saving our footage.

What have you learned during the filming of this Preliminary Task?

This task allowed me to learn new skills. Some of this were acting and be responsible of the location that was used for the sequence of the Preliminary Task. This task allowed me to familiarize with my untalented role of acting  which is not easy as it looks. Also as I was responsible of the location, I was able to suggest the setting which was quite easy as it was in school. Furthermore, this task helped has to improve our team work and learn new skills like cooperating, team-work and support each other. This also strengthened our group bond, which will beneficial for when filming our product because it's important when working in a team to cooperate and stay focus on the task given.

What have you learned during the editing of this Preliminary Task?

During the editing stage I have learned how to develop the sequence that my group made. I have also improved the team work skills and communication as we were left to edit our own sequence by ourselves. During the editing we familiarize with the program 'Final Cut' and his features that it provides. This allowed us to have more knowledge and possibilities that we could use with our opening scene. The features that it provides as transition are fade to black, dissolve which we plan to use with our future opening. Moreover, this task allowed to make familiarisation with the program. I realized that the program is not that difficult but very time consuming. Lastly, we have the process of editing and it's function.

Conclusion:

In closure, after completing this Preliminary Task I am more aware of my skills, strengths and weaknesses. This helped us to prepare for the real process making, and role giving. My strengths were that I was able to suggest ideas for the location and the narrative of the sequence. Whereas, my weakness were that the editing was quite challenging at the beginning as I wasn't to familiar with the program, but I will try to acquaint some further knowledge from members of group. Additionally, the task has given us an idea of the filming and editing process which was exciting as well as interesting. I also think that some role would change, for example Natalia will take the role of editing because she understood the program quickly and clearly.  Overall, I think the Preliminary Task was hugely beneficial as it assign the roles of each individuals without creating chaos while you will film the real product ending up with something unprofessional. I also have a much clearer view of what adjustment that may need to be made for the opening thriller as I am more aware of what I need to be careful while filming.