Editing the Main Exercise

Andy James was the designated Editor, but since the filming at the secound location he has not turned up to any lessons. Because of this I have tacken quite alot of responsiblity the editing and have done the majority of it.

Once we finished filming we produced a Two Paper Edits:

• March 10th



• March 17th

As a group we decided on which shots we would use for the edit. Once we had done this I put it into the right order acording to the script. Because of the length of shot with them doing thier hair we decided to cut the 2 shots into 4 so it would flow better. This meant that there was 2 extra shots.

Because we used Diegetic tittles we had to ensure that a 'normal' person would have time to read the tittles. This was a problem as holding the shot longer made it look shaky and look out of place. To combat this problem we took a still of the opening part of the shot, held it for a couple of seconds before the actual shot begins to play. This gives the audience a chance to read the tittle before it moves back to the narrative of the opening sequance.

Looking at the quality of the colour of the film compared to other films from the chick-flick genre. It looks alot duller than of actual films, which look like the colour intensity has been turned right up. Because of the equiptment that we are using it would be very hard for us to produce our film with this colour quality. It requires high intensity studio lighting and make-up and clothing to compensate for this light intensity.

Filming of the main exercise

After completing our final script we decided on our two filming locations. Once these were decided we completed two recce's.


Location 1- Filmed on 10th March Location Recce













We used this as our first location, where we filmed 'girl 2', who is the more privileged character. We decided on using this as it has the mise-en-scene relevent to the character. All the rooms except from the bedroom are neutral cream colours, which supports the idea that she is more privileged that the other character. When we filmed there was nothing else in the dining room other than the table and chairs. The room is also light which aided the filming as we didn't have to use alot of artificial light. This was a similar case when it came to filming in all the other rooms as the rooms we chose to film in were bright and had large windows.


Filming in the bathroom was the hardest part as we had to position the camara so you couldn't see the camara operator in the reflection of the girl, so this took us a little longer to establish a shot that was appropriate. I was responsible for props and this mean't that i had to cook a poached egg for one of the scenes. The actress was having difficultly cutting it and having it on the fork so i cut the egg and toast and we made sure that when we edited it it was cut as the knife came down so this wasn't obvious. It also supports continuety and cutting on action.

Location 2- Filmed on 17th March

We used location two for the less fortunate girl. We decided on this because of the decoration of the house. The hall way had wall paper with half torn off, in the kitchen it was small and looked like it fitted the mise-en-scene that we wanted to forfil. The bathroom was small with plain walls and the bedroom was small and looked young. Because of all of this we thought it would be appropriate to represent the house of the secound girl.

We had some problems when filming because of the small amount of space in all the rooms. This made it very difficult to set up some of the shots. For example the shot that she is brushing her teeth in, the camara person had to stand in the shower cubicle. Also the shot of her walking out of the door we had to place the tripod on top of a table, setting up the shot and then pressing recourd before leaving the camara. This made it hard to set up the frame in the right way, despite this i think this framing was quite successful.

The First Reflective Main Exercise Blog Entry Thing

During the preliminary exercise my group was quickly able to decide on one idea quickly. The decision of the genre and idea for filming for the main task took alot longer. We finally decided on using the Umbrella genre of "chick flick". We spent alot longer on the initial ideas blast, this mean't that by the end of it we all had a clear idea of what we want the final opening sequance to look like. Despite this we still haven't definatly decided on the name of the film that it will be for. I think that this will be the most difficult thing to decide on.

From the intitial ideas blast and Genre Research we produced a Draft script. This script was basic in the way that we haven't described in depth what will be seen visauly. We decided to base the whole initial sequance on music having no diegetic speech at all. Also from looking at other opening sequances such as Se7en we decided that it would be interesting to make the tittles Diegetic, including them in part of the film. This means that we are going to have tittles for example on books as they put them in thier bag and scralled on mirrors.

For the main task it is more important to make sure all the pre-production paperwork is complete to a high standard. Each of our group are going to do some of the paperwork outside of class. By doing this we should be able to achieve the paperwork to a high standard and all the research should be indepth.

One of the opening sequences we looked at was New York Minute. It has a similar feel to what we want to achieve because it aims to reflect two charactors parrallel lives, even if they are both in the same house. It uses split screens, but this would not be possible to achieve because of the equiptment available to us. The use of sound is key in the opening sequence and we plan on doing this by using music as the main sound.

We also looked at the Devil Wears Prada opening sequence. This was the closest opening sequence to what we aim to produce for our film. The main sound is non-diegetic music. It shows successfully what is happening in several peoples lives in parallel. It does this to show what is different between the 'mode' girls and the 'new' girl. This is something we want to achieve, showing the difference between the 'poor' girl and 'rich' girl. This format will be appropriate for this.

A stumbling point in the preliminary task was the editing of the film. The person who was the Editor missed alot of college after we filmed. This meant that between the other 3 of us we had to edit it. This time we have discussed it as a group and we are now all aware of how important it is to have good attendance. Hopefully this will mean that all of us will have a productive input into the editing of the film.

I want to improve the standard of editing of the main task. In the preliminary task the editing was quite loose. This was partly to do with the fact that we had never edited before. Anouther thing i want to improve is the organisation of the shoot. For example establishing camara positions for a whole set of shots as in the preliminary exercise we made the mistake of trying to shoot the shots in the order of the edit. This made some of the over the shoulder shots look from the wrong prespective. Because we now have some experience in using a camara she shots should be steadier and less shaky.

Filming and Editing of the Preliminary Exercise

Today we filmed the Preliminary Exercise 'The meeting'.

We had some last minute problems when the person who was meant to be playing the teacher pulled out in the morning before we were shooting. We were able to find a replacement at the last minute but this meant that elements of Mise-en-scene did not completely fit as he was not expecting to be acting. For example he was wearing a hoody which does not fit the dress codes and conventions of school teachers.

When we were sorting out our final props we discussed what the student should wear, we decided that she should not wear a school blazer as by identifying the specific school displayed on the badge could be considered false representation of pupils from that school.

When we arrived at the room we decided to move the tables around so that it would be easier to film and would make the shots run more smoothly, for example when the student walks into the room, by moving the tables we allowed her to walk directly to the desk with out having to walk around any tables which would affect the atmosphere, drawing out the shot making it too long.

I was the producer and director, meaning I was responsible for the correct shots to be taken and making sure that the actors were on cue. I felt like i did this well as we managed to get all the shots we needed and were able to quickly organise ourselves. I assisted with some of the camera work too as I helped Naomi set up framing's so that the actors were positioned in a way that fitted the Genre. The story board and script helped with this as it helped me imagine the shots and so help instruct Naomi where to place the camera.

When we began filming the over the shoulder shots we almost crossed the 180 degree line as we set up the camera over Lea's right shoulder. I realised immediatly that we had crossed the line and so we corrected the camara set up before we began filming. We had already established the 180 degree line by panning right to left from that side of the room.

One problem that we had while filming was when were doing over the shoulder shots from behind the teacher. The gap behind the desk was very narrow and this made it awkward to set up the tripod. This was combated by setting up the tripod and filming all of these shots without moving the camera.

First skills audit for the G321 Foundation Production

When we were set the coursework I was worried because I have very little knowledge of using a camera. I hope that through the Preliminary Exercise I will be able to develop my basic camera skills so that in the main exercise I will be able to help with the filming with more confidence.

During the planning my group discussed different ways in which we could approach the Preliminary task. We decided that it would be easier if we filmed at college as it will be easier for us all to get here. We then discussed Genre's that would be appropriate. After some discussion we decided that we will produce a scene from a school drama. This means that we can use a classroom at the college and this will make the Mise-en-scene more accurate. We also have a school uniform which will make getting hold of Props easier.

We looked at other school dramas so we could become familiar with the codes and conventions of this genre. We looked at a range of different programs including 90210, Waterloo Road and The OC. From looking at these we decided that 90210 and The OC portrayed an unrealistic representatin of life at school and appears more relevant to an American audience. We decided that Waterloo Road was the best example of a school drama relating it to a UK audience. Waterloo Road appeals to a broad audience as they show both a pupil and teacher point of view because of this we decided it was important to show the emotions of both participants of the conversation.

We decided on our production roles within the group:

Script Writer: Sara Trowbridge

Camara: Naomi Kelly

Editor: Andy James

I am the director.

As the director I am responsible for the overall look, sound and style of the film. So far I have helped create a Draft Script and I also drew the Storyboards.

This is a Test

This is a Test