Evaluation of Practical

For our practice at making a film, we were shown a clip of Eastenders, the first minute and a half of the episode, and were told to storyboard it. Then, in groups of 4 or 5, we had to go and get a camera, find somewhere around school and recreate the scene we watched. I worked with Chanan, Jack, Catherine and Will, and we all took on various roles. The aim of recreating the scene was to practice working with types of camera shots (eg. long shot, mid shot etc), and get familiarised with the cameras.

The scene was a typical T.V soap scene, because it was set in the upstairs of a pub, and pubs feature in nearly every soap. Also, the way the actors performed gave it quite an action packed first part of the episode. This is to make sure the viewer stays interested, and doesnt turn off the T.V.

Most of the types of camera shots used in the scene were mid shots, long shots and two shots, and there were two over-the-shoulder shots. This is because it made it so the viewers could see most of the characters bodies, and therefore we could see their body language, which meant we knew what they were supposed to be feeling or doing.

Our recreation of the scene was fairly accurate, although we had to make do with using a computer room, so we had limited space to work with, and struggled to make space for some of the longer shots. The script was as close as to being accurate as we could make it, and we tried to stick to it word-for-word.

Something I think went well was how we included everything we had to, as in script and camera shots. Also i think we improvised well when it came to setting out each scene, for example how we used a load of chairs for a bed for Jack, and using coats as bed sheets for Will.

On the other hand however, i don't think we did very well when it came to padding out each shot. The shots all had the very minimum in each, we didnt have any shot-type variety, which made it quite boring to watch back, even after we'd edited it to remove all the mistakes and faults.

In terms of Mise On Scene (everything you can see in a shot), I've learnt that its extremely important to carefully plan out objects in the background, as they really add on to the tone of the scene, and make it much more interesting to look at.

Lighting in our film wasn't used to great effect, in fact the only time it was used was when Catherine came in and switched on the light, which was used to show it was early in the morning.

I think our film showed that continuity is very important, because our shots didn't really flow well, and the changes from one shot to another weren't very smooth. If it had been done better, it would have been much better to watch.

Next time I come to do some filming, I'll think more about how each shot leads onto another, and how i can include more shots (eg. close ups) to pad out my film and make it more interesting to watch. Furthermore, when it comes to editing, I think my first attempt was quite good, but i need to better select my shot transiton effects for best effect.