Certain Proposals - Video with Captions

Certain Proposals - Video with Captions

Hi again! This is the video that I have been working on for the past 3 weeks. This video is the same as the Certain Proposals video but it also has captions of when I used an action match, the 180 degree rule and the shot/reverse shot.

I hope you enjoy and please give me some feedback on what you think about it!

BECCA CONTINUITY WITH CAPTIONS vimeo from Rebecca Wilkinson on Vimeo.

Certain Proposals Evaluation

Certain Proposals Evaluation

The audience for this project would be young people and people who typically like soaps because it is a similar kind of situation to what you would see in a soap. It is very over the top, a lot like a melodrama, which is why it would be perfect for this target audience.

Use of the Camera

I found it very useful using the camera with the adjustable lens because I was able to change my depth of field and I could decide if I wanted one shot to be blurry or another to be sharp. I found that when I was filming 'Certain Proposals' I didn't want to use a blurry effect because it would ruin the video and it wouldn't fit in anywhere. All of my shots are in focus on the main action because this is where I thought it would be most appropriate.

One of the shots I use is an over-the-shoulder shot which was really interesting when adjusting the focus because I wanted the focus to be on the mother character and for the shoulder of the son to be out of focus but still there because it is important to see how close he is standing to his mother.

How have I improved from previous projects

In previous projects I have suffered when it has come to adjusting the focus but now that I have used the camera a few times, I have figured out how to solve the problem. After each of the shots I did, I would check them on a larger screen to ensure that the focus wasn't a problem because if it was then I could easily retake the shot to make sure that I got it right. This was very helpful and it meant that editing the video was much easier because I didn't have to retake my shots after I had uploaded them and started editing them.

Problems I faced when planning and filming

I had a few problems when I was planning and filming my project and the biggest one I faced was having to plan another script because the first one didn't work out.

When I planned to film my first idea I had organised everything to be perfect and I filmed it all. However, I checked out the video on the computer after all of the shots I filmed and I found that the focus still wasn't quite right on them. This was due to the lighting in the room, the distance from the camera the actors were and that the camera was slightly out of focus when I was filming them. I also had a problem of the backing noise in the video because I originally planned to film it in a café. There was a lot of backing noise which stopped you from being able to hear the actors lines. I tried recording them on a programme that I am very well accustomed with, Audacity, but there was still quite a lot of backing noise. I tried to record them elsewhere but it was incredibly hard to get the levels right because of the backing noise.

 

I decided in the end that it would be a good idea to re-think my script and to re-do the whole thing to see if I could get the sound and focus any better. I wrote the script for Certain Proposals and the sound and focus was much better. I checked after each shot if the focus was good by watching the video back on a larger screen which helped a lot. I then listened to the audio to ensure that you could hear the actors words.

Editing

When editing my video I always start by making sure that all of the clips are in the right order so I made sure that it all ran smoothly.

I decided that I didn't want to use any music in my video because I felt that it wasn't appropriate because of the seriousness of the situation to two people were in.

Unlike last time when I decided to use an effect on my titles I thought that I wouldn't need to include this because it would look too sinister for a video about a proposal.

I thought that it would be a good idea to only use straight cuts because I thought that an effect between shots might have looked a little bit strange because the two characters are meant to be having an argument.

Improvements for next time

For my next project I will consider where I'm filming and if it's going to be loud or I'm going to have a problem with the lighting. I will then be able to decide if I need to record voiceovers.

I will make sure that I continue to listen and watch each video back like I have done when filming 'Certain Proposals' so that I can check that the sound is of a good quality and the focus is too.


I will take a list of the shots that I want to use for my video and make sure that I use them all because I didn't do that with this project and it would have ran a lot more smoothly if I had planned it out a little bit better than what I did.

Certain Proposals Video

Certain Proposals

Hello! This is my continuity project that I've been working on for the past 3 weeks. I have used an action match, follow the 180 degree rule and use a shot/reverse shot.

A special thanks to Karen Wilkinson and Robert Wilkinson for taking part in the video and a special thanks to Callum Mellis for the help editing the script!

I will be uploading this video again but it will show the captions so you can see where I've used the 180 degree rule, action match and shot/reverse shot.

Enjoy the video!

BECCA CONTINUITY from Rebecca Wilkinson on Vimeo.

Certain Proposals - Editing Update

Certain Proposals - Editing Update

What I've done so far:

I've put all of the clips in the right order and ensured that the focus is right in each of the clips because this is something that I struggled with last time. All of the clips are in focus and the sound runs smoothly too. I've also made sure that I have used my action match and shot/reverse shot in my video and I've made sure that these fit in nicely and run smoothly. I have also made sure that I've used shot/reverse shot in appropriate places.

Plans for the opening credits:

The plans for the opening credits are to be quite smooth and for the words to fade in and out for 'Certain Proposals'. I want to add the names of everyone who helped out in the opening credits during the first two shots that I filmed. They won't use any effects because I want them to stick on the screen and disappear when another name appears.

Certain Proposals - Editing

Editing of Certain Proposals

Plan:

1.) I will start off by making sure that all of my clips are in the right order by following the script through.

2.) I will then make sure that I have used my shot and reverse shot as well as my action match and that they run smoothly.

3.) I need to make sure that the sound is working well so that some clips don't sound louder than others.

4.) I will need to add the opening credits to the video and make sure that they are appropriate.



Plan for My Shoot of 'Certain Proposals'

Certain Proposals Shoot

Plan

1.) I will need to ask my actors if they would be free and give them a copy of the script so that they can see what the story is.

2.) Then I will need to arrange a date when everyone is free to be able to film 'Certain Proposals'.

Risk Assessment

There are a few problems that could occur when I'm filming which I will need to take into consideration:

1.) Someone could trip up over the camera and tripod which could hurt them and damage the equipment. I will need to make sure that no one walks near the camera and tripod so that this doesn't happen
2.) I will need to ensure that no one trips over the chairs when they sit down because some of the shots are filmed when one of the actors sits down to talk.
3.) I need to make sure that there are no other trip hazards such as the door when one of the actors walks through so I will make sure that they have enough space to get in without falling into the door.

ASFF

ASFF

What we did:

We went to York for the day with the Year 13 class to see what people have produced and to have a look around York too. We also got the chance to have a look around St. John's University and attend a lecture where we were shown some of the films of students and what the course is like at the Uni.

Special Effects Master Class

There was a special effects master class that we all attended which was held in the Theatre Royal. This was look into some of the problems that the camera crew face when they are filming, for example - there was a clip from Gravity which is set in space so the camera won't be on the ground all of the time because there isn't any gravity in space. There was almost a floating effect that was given off the way that the camera was used in this scene which was very interesting to see. There was also another showing of a film, Anna Karenina where there is a continuous shot where they are using a steadicam to film the scene. This looked very complicated because as the camera was following one of the actors, the rest of the set was being prepared for the next scene and if anything was out of place then they would have to start again to make sure that they got it perfect. For example, if one of the actors didn't come out on their cue then they would have to start again because the effect would have been lost.

Here are some of the pictures I took while I was in York:



Theatre Royal, York

Theatre Royal, York

St. John's University

Evaluation of The Prisoner

Evaluation of The Prisoner

Shots

I has some trouble making sure that the focus was right when I was filming some of my shots because I found that the close up shots were the hardest to get in focus. However, I also struggled with two of my shots at the beginning of the video and this is because the focus wasn't quite right. This was easily fixed in the editing process because I was able to make these shots blurry which I thought was quite effective. Now that the shots are blurry, you can't see the actor walking down the path which adds a little bit of mystery to the video. It also focuses attention on the names of the actors and the director which I thought was quite useful.

I didn't use all of the shots that I could have done because some of them didn't really fit in when I decided not to use part of the script. For example, I didn't use a downward tilt and this was because it didn't really fit in with any of the lines. I was going to use one at the end when one of the actors falls to the floor but I trimmed this out in the video because I thought that it didn't work and I wanted to leave the ending open.

Trimming the shots was a problem because although I had recorded the shot a few times to make sure that I got the right shot, there would always be a problem with one of them. Sometimes the actors wouldn't take it seriously and they would start laughing when I was recording them which meant I had to re-take the shot. Because of this, I had trimmed some of the shots down too much and it almost cuts off the end of what is being said.

 

Opening Credits

 

I wanted to try using some effects on my opening credits because it was something that I've never done before. I thought that it would be quite a mysterious effect if the letters flashed for the name of the video. This was quite difficult to do because it took a long time making sure that all of the letters had been covered with a black box so that they would flash. One of my letters wasn't fully covered though and this lost the effect that I wanted the credits to have.

 

The names of the actors and director also flashed because I wanted them to follow the same kind of idea as the title. However, when I was doing this I was still unsure about if it would look good because it looks like the words are jumping too much which can be quite annoying when you're trying to read them.

 

Sound

The sound quality isn't the best on The Prisoner and this is because it started raining half way through which meant that the actors had to speak louder. There was also an annoying buzzing noise when I was videoing outside so it would have been a good idea to have muted these shots so that the sound wasn't there and I should have used some music with the opening credits to help set the mood.

 

Editing and Effects

I haven't used many effects in my piece because I felt that if I used lots of effects the shots would have too much variation and it would be difficult to follow what was going on.

There is a fade out at the end of the video which I felt the need to use because of the way that it cuts out. I decided that I didn't want Robert to fall to the floor with laughter surrounding him because I felt that it was so out of place. I trimmed this shot so that you don't see Robert fall to the floor and because of this the ending is left unfinished and feels that something else needs to be said/done.

Things I will consider in my next project:

• Shots - I need to make sure that I have used a wide range of shots and that they all work well with the video as a whole. 
• Focus - the focus in some of my shots from The Prisoner were poor because they were blurry so next time I will need to check my shots to ensure that they are all clear and you can see everything that is going on. I will also consider adjusting the focus in some of my shots to see what effect that will have and this will involve getting to know the camera a lot better.
• Sound and Music - next time I will consider using music in my video because music can help set the mood. I will also need to make sure that the humming sound in the background is less obvious and continuity of the sound from the previous shot is carried on into the next one.
• Editing and Effects - I really liked my opening credits of The Prisoner and this is another area which I would like to become advanced in because this can be really effective at the beginning of a video. However, the credits that follow were weak so I will need to make sure that they are easy to understand.