When receiving the Preliminary Exercise it seemed masses of paperwork, and appeared complicated. When as a group worked through it, it became less complicated through working swiftly but being organised. When doing initial idea blasts we had already depicted what our main ideas were it was just expanding on it and putting pen to paper. From this I was able to expand and develop my skills through using internet research appropriately such as You tube where we were able to research clips where we studied technique codes; Mise-en-scene, editing, camera and sound with clips similar to the ones that we used with the situation of ‘The Meeting’. From background knowledge I remembered watching TV series like One Tree Hill with similar camera shots.

Filming Blog

Primarily before starting filming we had to complete a risk assessment sheet; this would analyse all the potential hazards to our group and actors. We rated them as a high, medium or low risk by doing this we could depict what hazards we were at greater risk to mainly being environmental hazards or personal risks associated with the activity. After completing the risk assessment, we had to ask permission from our lecturer Lee Hodgkinson; the only problem that arose was the use of a weapon and the potential violation of the (VCR) Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006; using an imitation of a firearm. Therefore to overcome this situation we had to use a gun from the performing arts and have the imitation firearm checked and approved to use.

After completing the written production as needed so far, we had permission to film. We had already previously booked a provisional date Thursday 28th January at 4.30-5.30 therefore we needed to do was collect the tripod, camera, and tape. After being taught how the equipment worked by our lecturer we only had one problem, one of our actors could not make it due to the distant of college and his home addresses therefore we did not take this into account in our (SWOT) analysis. However we managed to get somebody else Alistair Mitchell to take the part as the male gangster; the leader, with a very abrupt and violent personality. Jaz D'avola played the role of the female assistant; however we portrayed her as defenceless and seductive. We felt as a group the portraying these characters like this would be interesting with the task we were set 'The Meeting' and played with the use of authority and hierarchy.

By using the photography room we felt it was ideal due to there already being a backdrop and spotlights there for our use with permission. Nina Wheeler was allocated the role of using the camera; we all complied as a group because it was all interesting for us to work on what we felt less confident about doing. Using the tripod maintained steady and balanced shots however it was awkward to move due to the shape and weight of it. Using the camera in Nina's hand she felt that it was imitate and more personal shot however it was not as steady as using the tripod. The main problem was continuity; because we were using hand controlled spotlights when I rearranged the lighting for another shot we found that this affected the continuity of the shots however we tried to maintain and degrade this problem as much as we could.

First skills audit for the G321 Foundation Production"

Primarily the original brief was ‘The Meeting’ this involved filming a short film using the technical codes, camera, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene. Our initial ideas blast we were able to choose a topic that we all had shared interest in, a ‘gangster’ theme also orientated with a ‘Mafia’ circulating the idea of crime, violence and authority figures. After depicting our theme we were able to start written production; by deciding on allocated roles within the group through observation and discussion. Shortly after deciding on our theme we conducted a storyboard which was part of our written production from this we could visualise what the final product would be like. I chose sound and editing as I felt I could improve on editing as the best way would be to improve on my weaknesses. We then did a written analysis of all aspects including a SWOT analysis where we considered weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats of internal and external factors. Having knowledge on the technical codes from previous experiences in Media Studies as a group we felt confident in proceeding in the task. We all had allocated roles and as we had previously worked as a group together we were able to generalise the equality and knew each other strengths and weaknesses. By examining this we were able to carefully do risk assessment because we had a clear idea of what factors could influence the filming.

Through research we could study the use of camera angles (180 degree rule) and editing (continuity) and we carefully analysed other clips of films that used this technique. We got a generalised idea of what we wanted it to be like; therefore we were able to depict how we wanted the short film to be like. Working together and sharing ideas we could get through the paper production swiftly and start filming by sticking to our provision dates therefore using good time management and meeting set deadlines.

We then produced a draft script in dual column format; we then set a provision date for filming which was Thursday 28th at 4.30-5.30 decided to do it in the evening due to the room being high in demand and everyone in the group and the actors having lessons throughout the day. We used a room in the college in Chesil Block; C032 which is photography we purposely chose this room due to the equipment being readily available (for example; lights, black back drop, and the room being reasonably sized)