Sunday 7 December 2014

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

Brief
Produce a 30 second clip to exhibit a scene on TV with the manipulation of basic film production techniques (lighting, sound, editing etc.) as well as employment of match-on-action, the 180-degree rule and shot/reverse shots. The narrative of the scene should include a character opening a door and sitting down opposite another character with whom they exchange a couple of lines of dialogue with. 

Planning process and pre-production
The planning consisted of devising a storyboard which fulfills the role of assisting the director to achieve a particular visual look of the film and gives an idea of the mise-en-scene to include when filming, as a result giving ideas to formulate a shot-list to refer to while shooting. The script is the most crucial part of pre-production as it establishes the narrative result and what the director must film in order to tell the story. 

Strengths and weaknesses 
The most prominent qualities of this production are the selection of shots and the editing. This includes the interesting close-ups such as that of the gun, as well as well as the footstep featured in the second clip of the sequence. Shots exchanging between close-ups of the character reaching their hand towards under the table and the rival reaching into their pocket effectively develops enigma codes of what they are about to obtain, following onto the action code of a gun which establishes the peak of climax and tension. The editing assists this particular scene especially because of the rapid cuts and the match-on-action to show continuity of the guns being approached as well as the unveiling. Editing allows exhibition of the 180-degree rule effectively due to exchanging angles between the two conversation participants, in conjunction to the accuracy of filming and maintaining consistency of following the 180-degree rule to engage the audience.  The sound was also impressive as well as the overall background non-diegetic soundtrack which connotes suspense and drama. A scene when the sound was used to effect was the footstep shown at the start of the video, as well as the guns cocking simultaneously. The selected background track was timed in effect to the fluctuating tension of the on-screen actions, beginning with a lover volume beat with a slower pace, developing onto a louder and faster beat at the peak of the tension - resultant to editing of sound to be compatible with the timing of action in the scene. The lighting was also impressive with the low-key lights to display the two characters and creating a setting of secrecy because of the surrounding dark room. However this calls for the weakness that the character with the black/red leather jacket being poorly lit during the majority of the second half of the scene, from which it can be learnt that it is important to position lights  Another crucial weakness is related to the script which includes long lines of dialogue provoking the audience to lose the pace of tension and become caught up into one individual clip of a character talking. Overall, the editing, acting and filming were exceptional traits of this video however details such as lighting lacked consistency and script manipulation should be considered in the future to ensure dialogue maintains attention and the desired effect. 

2 comments:

  1. Mark: 7/10
    Grade: B
    WWW: Some excellent points using media language confidently throughout. Clear appreciation and thought.
    EBI: Your layout doesn't help you here - one block of text for the strengths and weaknesses means you lack clarity and depth in places. Paragraphing is essential even in a 500-word task. You also could offer more on the weaknesses - including the one you miss (not meeting the brief - no door opening).
    LR: Complete the following tasks:
    1) Using this assessment, your last interim and the film language test, write what grade you are realistically working at in Media currently. Are you happy with this grade?
    2) Choose ONE specific aspect of your evaluation that you will try to improve for the real thing next term. Next, explain HOW will you improve it.
    3) Write a list of ALL Media work you need to do over the next three weeks - for both coursework and exam lessons.

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    Replies
    1. Learner Response

      1) Using this assessment, your last interim and the film language test, write what grade you are realistically working at in Media currently. Are you happy with this grade?
      - I am working at an A grade in AS Media Studies and aspire to achieve the highest mark possible. A B grade (current preliminary exercise evaluation grade) is evidently insufficient but still poses a starting point from which I can learn and develop to achieve the A grade. This is similar to the A I've obtained in the film language test as I can yet achieve a higher mark to secure my possibility of achieving this in the real exam by strengthening my exam technique.

      2) Choose ONE specific aspect of your evaluation that you will try to improve for the real thing next term. Next, explain HOW will you improve it.
      - Level of depth in analysis is definitely an aspect I will improve for the real evaluation. I can simply improve this as I feel the effort deposited into the preliminary exercise evaluation was no where near the standard I would apply to the real assessment. The analysis should include chronology of events supported by film language and theory to affect the audience via this particular media text.

      3) Write a list of ALL Media work you need to do over the next three weeks - for both coursework and exam lessons.
      Exam
      - ALL Introduction to Media concepts and theories (MIGRAIN)
      - ALL Film Language work (Mise-en-scene, camerawork, sound, editing)

      Coursework
      - Script, storyboard and shot-list for opening
      -Improve research & planning post

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