This is my short film a minute and a half long. My film is based on the exchange of a package, its very comical. I really liked the process of filming and editing the footage, below are the key things that i used to make my short film.
Mise-en-scene
mise-en-scene means the scenery and surroundings inside the film. For example the costumes the background and the props. For our film we stuck with only a few props they were: the sandwich, cutlery, two camera case bags, Toby's car and a piece of paper. We kept the props very short. For the surroundings we used most of of shots inside east Norfolk sixth form college and a few shots just outside east Norfolk college and the side road next to it.
Lighting
lighting is used to enhance or darken different shots. If the shot is from a horror film the lighting is rather low key with using half light half dark lighting techniques. Where as if the film is a Rom-com the lighting will be bright, the lighting of shots can really show the mood of the film. For the film we shot we only used ambient lighting that means the lighting is already there for example the sun light mainly because a few of our shots were based outside we didn't need the extra lighting For example the car chase was outside.
High and low camera angles
high and low camera angles are used to manipulate the audiences eyes to how they view the actors for example if the camera is at a low angle the actor would be viewed as powerful and strong if the angle was high the same character would feel weakened. For our film we used two high camera angles. one was used to make max look weak as he was chasing for the car. From the shot you can see that max is weakened by Toby. In the short clip didn't use any low camera angled shots.
Shot distances
Shot distances are used to create different moods for example using an extreme close up would infer that the mood of the shot would be tense and distressful where as using a medium or even a long shot would infer that the mood is more relaxed and calm. In our film we used mainly closes ups and medium shots and we used one extreme close up at the very start this was to create a tense and distressful mood for the audience. I really liked how the extreme close up of max's face as it created a weird distressful feel.
The camera movement
In motion picture terminology, the term tracking shot can refer to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken
In this short film we only used one camera movement that was tracking. In this shot we had max running to catch the moving car. I was sat in the boot of the car as the car was moving to create the tracking motion. I felt that this shot worked really well when creating a chase. Although we didn't have a camera dolly to capture the tracking i felt we got the aim of the camera movement by using the moving car as the dolly.
Fades and Dissolves
A dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another where as fades are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. In The clip i used one type of dissolve and that was called film dissolve, this is very similar to a cross dissolve it shows that time has passed. I also used one fade in and out but i used it for the audio not the video this is shown when Max first puts his headphone on and when the music slowly stops.
The continuity system
Is a guideline that helps produce a sense of correct space for relationships. Eye line matches between person and object help locate the audience in the scene and help highlight any importance an object holds.
Establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, created to show the audience where the action is taking place. Our first shot was inside East Norfolk sixth form college staff room this shows that max was inside a few shots after were also inside we then changed the establishing shot because a new scenery was placed and that was a side road next to East Norfolk College. We then re-visited that side road which made the second shot a re-establishing shot meaning that a space has been visited more than once and the audience are aware of the surroundings.
The 180 degree rule is a basic rule that means two character should always have the same left and right relationship to each other. When a camera crosses the 'axis' connecting two subjects it is called crossing the line. in our short film we did not break the 180 degree rule.
Match cuts on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. In the film we used two matched on action shots the first was Toby walking to the car about to through the bag in and the second shot of that action was the bag being thrown in from a different camera angle. The second shot of action we used was just before the car chase we see max run up the road then cut to the shot of him chasing the car and the camera is placed in the boot of the car so you see his emotion.
Eyeline match cuts are based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. For example if a character is looking to his left and what he is looking at is off screen the second shot would be cut to a television at eye level. in the film we didn't use an eyeline match cut after editing the shots together i realised that an eyeline match would have worked really well in the sequence.
POV(point of view)shot is a short film scene that shows what a character is looking at represented through the camera. In our film we used only a few POV shots. both shots that we used were that the character was the sandwich and the object was the person looking. i really liked this type of shot because after watching the clip over it really looked like i was the sandwich looking up at max.
Shot-reverse-shot is a technique where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. I really liked the end result when editing this shot, it made the film itself look realistic as if the camera wasn't actually there. In the film the shot-reverse-shot was when max and Toby first introduced themselves to each other with a simple head nod i liked the way it flipped from one character to another creating a sense that the audience was actually there.
I really enjoyed shooting and editing this short sequence it has taught me when i can use different types of angles to create different feelings for the audience watching.
