Me Vid Evaluation

For this section of the unit, we were allocated a task that was to create a 2 minute Me-Video. We had 2 weeks to complete the whole section including the filming and editing process, this was followed by needing the video to be uploaded on to youtube by Friday the 18th. I was able to expand my camera/editing skills during the time that was allocated to complete the video, which will most certainly become advantageous in the future.

Pre-Production...
To structure and use a starting point, I had created a shooting script which based all the information I needed to know what I would want my video to look like when completed. Without a shooting script, I wouldn't of known how long my video would of been and the pieces I needed to make a video. The shooting script told me exactly what to do and how it was meant to be done as it had displayed guidelines consisting of what shot types/angles/movements I wanted to receive, the number of shots I had in total, the location/actors I wanted to include, the duration of the shots, a description of action to know what was happening in the particular shot, and the type of music. Having these guidelines benefited massively as I didn't have to waste time in camera and editing process as I knew what I was doing. For future productions, I would take into count the shooting script method as it helped a lot and was time worthy as it set me straight into what I was aiming for, even though it was time consuming as it took me a while to make up 50 odd shots. The image below is the example of my Shooting Script I made...

Production Skills...
During the shooting of my Me-Vid, my original plan was to film myself in my bedroom. I found the filming by myself hard as it didn't look consistent and clean, so I had a change of plan and decided to film at school where my two media friends, Prinul and Taylor, helped out by doing the filming. The main shot types I used were long shot and mid shot because all I was doing was saying a short amount of speech in each shot. Along with that, I changed my location in some shots to not keep it simple throughout the whole of the video. For the first time, I used the green screen for my production. It was uncomplicated and manageable. The whole idea of having the green screen for my video was to make it seem as if I was doing a presentation of my favourite films and pointing to the 'pictures' of the films. When it came to the editing, I had inserted the images of Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray and Shrek. I had to make sure I had enough footage before and after the dialogue so when it came to the editing process, it made it effortless for me to cut and fit shots together, enabling the video to stream nicely.

Green Screen

Green Screen in my Me-Vid

Post Production...

During post-production, I used the programme iMovie. Using iMovie was a bonus as I had recently used the software for the previous task (The Encounter), which I picked up on rapidly. As I was familiar with the tools and effects, the editing process was unchallenging and on point. There was one tool that I wasn't too sure on which was adding in the green screen footage, which was fairly straight forward. Using the green screen made the Me-Vid seem more compelling and captivating as it added a different effect.

The software, iMovie, I used

For the duration of my Me-Vid, the skills I have learnt throughout the pre production and the production stages will most likely be used for future preferences and other productions such as the music video. As we work in groups for the music video, our video will have to produce more camera angles/movements/effects, and shots in general. The me-vid was an insight into what will be wanted for the music video, as we were pressurised to get this done in the time allocated and to make it look more productive. The iMovie software is something I am now comfortable with to work with for future productions and tasks. The green screen method will probably be used for the music production, so having a headstart in using it for my me-vid was a bonus as I know how to add the video into iMovie.

Shooting Script

Evaluation of Continuity Exercise

 In my Continuity Editing piece we had to make sure we added the following techniques...

1. The 180 Degree Rule
2. The Rule of Thirds
3. Match on Action
4. Shot Reverse Shot

Using the 180 degree rule in our piece, we thought we successfully did the technique in our footage... until we noticed the faults during editing process. We was too late to re-do the shots as our deadline was close so we had no time to possibly change the footage. We broke the 180 degree rule but managed to fix it by flipping the shots on the editing workshop. We flipped the shots when the two characters were having a conversation so they were on the correct side for the audience not to get confused. The examples are shown below...

Throughout the piece, we made sure we used the Rule of Thirds. At the start of our film, where Jasmeet was running outside, we used the technique when the camera was panning and she came closer and closer until she reached to the far right of the camera. Her eyes were level with the top line and her body was in line with the right grid, apart from her leg that joined into the center grid. We made sure we used the Rule of Thirds here, to get a good action shot. The examples are shown below...

We used Match on Action to make the piece look consistent. We used this where Jasmeet opens the door in which the shot continues to when she gets inside the room and shuts the door. This type of shot conveys a continuous stream between the two shots making it a clean scene. This type of technique can be risky as you have to make sure the character is at the exact same position as they were when opening the door or it would look out of sync in which this case, we successfully made it look accurate and realistic. The examples are shown below...

The final technique we had to include was Shot Reverse Shot. We used this for the scene where the two characters are exchanging dialogue to each other. This shot had to go from one shot of a character talking to another shot of the other character talking back to then the exact same shot that was used before. We used the Shot Reverse Shot in the dialogue of when Jasmeet says, "What do you want from me?!" and then is replied with, "You made me suffer, now it's your turn!" which is then followed by a close up of a paper with the word 'CONFIDENTIAL' on it. The examples are shown below...

While filming our footage, myself and my group found a few things challenging. The room where Jasmeet runs into, we discovered that the shots taken were a bit too dark. Although we wanted a dark and gloomy atmosphere, we had to think about the characters as we could not see their facial expressions clearly. One shot in particular was a bit too dark so we had to open a blind at the far back of the room to expose a small amount of light so you could just see the characters faces. Although we weren't allowed to change the lighting, we made it so you could just about see their faces but without making it noticeable that we changed it. Also, another challenging problem we faced was that Jasmeet had forgotten to put her glasses on as we already filmed her with them on a few days before. Without her glasses, we filmed a few shots. Minutes later, looking back at the footage, we realised she hadn't had her glasses on so we had to re-film the shots again. This definitely taught us a lesson to look back at footage or to check if we've got everything sorted before filming.
When it came to editing our footage separately, I noticed a few issues and mistakes that we made. Where we film Jasmeet opening the door to her running up the stairs, I observed the fact that she had her hands on the right hand side of the handle, and using the match on action method, we filmed her from the inside opening the door, but realised she opened the door on the left, which would of confused the audience. To of solved this issue, I still used the footage of her hands on the handle, but cut out the bit where she's running inside. I cut it to the point where you couldn't see the door, so the camera was panning her until she got to the stairs. Although we made changes here, it still flowed nicely. Another issue was that when Jasmeet is running outside but gets to the door, there was talking in the background just as she passed the camera shot. I cut this when editing which again, was very successful. In spite of the fact that the editing process was fortunate, if I had the chance to edit my piece again, my main priority to create a good piece of footage I would of re-filmed the shots again so I understood more about the basic camera angles/movements that we had to do and making my editing issue more easier so I could've had more time to work on the editing process.

The strength of my piece was the creativity and flow of the shots we made. Even though myself and my group have never done media before, we attempted to make a great piece of work which we both thought came out successfully. We chose to do a chase-like story as we thought it would add more entertainment and thriller/action. So in order to making it tense, we made her run throughout most of the shots, which would make the audience react in the same way as Jasmeet is. Producing a storyboard helped us make this aim. It gave us a headstart on where we was gonna film the shots, the lighting, dialogue, costume/accessories, etc. Before filming we made sure we went over the storyboard and discussed what changes we would make e.g. not having a character that would chase Jasmeet. If we didn't have the storyboard, we would have been confused, leading to a waste of time. Using the HD camera was another strength as it was easy to use and the shots looked distinct. This made our piece look more defined which would make a huge difference to the audience.

The weaknesses I tackled when editing, was trying to crop shots. At first I thought it was quite uneasy as I wanted to make the scene look precise. The reasons why I found it hard was because if a shot was too long, I would either not crop enough so there was some sort of space before or after, or I would crop it slightly a bit too much, making the whole footage out of proportion. As I carried on cropping other scenes, I discovered it became easier and I got the hang of it. Also, because I hadn't used a Mac before, it was all new to me so I had to remember what I had to do to finalise my piece. I finally learnt how to trim shots, adding in text, and using effects. I reckon, if I had more time in editing, I would of either added effects such as changing the colour etc. and adding in audio to make it more efficient.

Overall, if I was to do this project again, I would of filmed this more in the evening so it was semi dark, and leaving a light on in the back of the room for when she enters. Therefore, the shots would have been more clear, making it easier for the audience and making it still work. Re-doing shots is another thing I would change as there were moments where she wouldn't be in the same place as she was in another shot, for example, opening the door on the right and coming in from the left, re-filming where we broke the 180 degree rule while exchanging dialogue, and making the panning more stable as she ran/walked. Doing all of the above, personally, I think would have made our film look 10x better and in proportion.