Semiolgical Analysis of my Preliminary task

Denotation
Camera Angles:
Wide Shot as the establishing shot > CU of girl’s face, with door in background > Focus Pull > ECU of shoes > high angle, over the shoulder (boy) shot > CU of girls face > over shoulder (girl) shot > high angle, over the shoulder (boy) shot > ECU of phone > CU of phone on table and girls hands, boys thighs and hand in background > Mid shot of boy exiting room > side angle mid shot of girl

Connotation
Camera angles:
Wide Shot as the establishing shot – used to set the scene and focus the make it clear to the viewer that it in an interior location. Because the women character is already present in the scene it introduces her.
CU of girl’s face, with door in the background – this is to firstly show the expression of the girls face before and whilst the door is opening.
Focus pull- reinstates to the viewer that another character is entering the room. It is an effective way of having two situations in the mise en scene but focusing the viewer on one and then alternating the focus to the other section in the shot.
ECU of shoes – shows that the boy is not just standing stationary after entering the room but walking towards the girl. The sound that the shoes make show the power of this boy over the girl as she, as we are already aware, is sitting down consequently waiting for him to enter. Therefore showing a representation of gender being possibly the male character having control over the female.
High angle, over the shoulder (boy) shot – this consequently backs up the fact that the male is dominating the female in this situation because the higher angle shows the male to be above the female therefore showing that he has more power over the situation.
CU of girls face – shows her expression to the dialogue that is taking place. What it focuses on is that the girl in the scene is moving her eyes up towards the boy. This could symbolise trust and she is focussing on him and therefore is listening to what he is saying.
Over shoulder (girl) shot – this elaborates that it is the boy in the scene is speaking to the girl and you can still see the girl in the shot, as the camera angle is over her shoulder. But the focus is on the dialogue of the boy and it makes it clear to the viewer that what is being said is focussing on the girl. Though the camera angle is inline with the girl, it still shows the boy to be higher than her simply because he is in a higher position in the frame due to him sitting on the table and not on the chair at the table. Therefore showing the gender roles even more clearly.

Editing my Preliminary task

After all the shooting had been done on the day we began to edit our shots in FINAL CUT PRO. Whilst doing this I learned how to use the programme in order to create a successful outcome.
How I did it is as follows:

You have to SET UP THE SCRATCH DISK. This is very important and must be done before the editing happens. This is because the scratch disk is where the computer takes notes on what you are doing, so with out it memory of the series in which I edited would not be present.
Go to FINAL CUT PRO -
System settings (this will open up a window) -
Set -
Click on firewire drive and find the folder in which your shots are saved in -
Click on scratch once -
Choose -
This is the order in which I had to set up the scratch disk and every time the computer asks you to reset the scratch disks this is how it is done.

Next I had to MAKE A FOLDER. This is important because it firstly organises your work into logical places and consequently it can then be retrieved easily. How I did it is as follows:
File / new / bin – then I named the bin our group name “Millie, Clare and Sinead”. -
File / new / bin – named this one “log”. -
Dragged log into my bin named “Millie, Clare and Sinead”. (the triangles on the side next to the names of the files expand into a drop down menu to show you other files saved into that previous file).

Next you have to SELECT the items of shots in which are relevant and are wanted in the scene:
The blue triangles on the playback head select the area that you are working with. From this you can then spool through with the slider or move the cursor arrows forwards and backwards – frame by frame. -
Using the spacebar you can stop and start each shot.

The next thing to be done in the editing process is LOGGING which is putting the takes you want to use into the log bin that you have already created.
To use the IN and OUT points, press “i” key for in and press “o” key for out-
Then press “modify” and choose “sub clip”. -
Name the clip e.g. mid shot of Alex or CU of Imi. -
Then drag the named clip into the log bin. (never delete anything from here!)

Now to CREATE the new sequence which is going to be the final one in this situation but in the film industry would the rough cut because it would be worked over and over again, but due to limited time this is not the case in our situation.
File / new / sequence and name it. -
Drag it into the log bin already created. -
Double click on rough cut 1. -
Remember to always cut on the action! -
Double click on log and drag into timeline -
Whilst editing use the “B” key to chop, B standing for Blade. And use the “A” key to change the blade tool back to the standard arrow head. -
Make sure the picture is in time with the audio or if you don’t want them to be in time make sure they are not – The linked selection.

These steps are what I followed in order to create my prelim task in Final Cut Pro. Though to begin with our group found it challenging to use as this was the first time in which we had used it. Though as we progressed through the editing faze we adapted to it and the speed in which we carried it out got increasingly faster.
However we found that in the end we were very pleased with our out come as it was a true representation of our ability when we had never experienced using the video camera or final cut pro before.

Practical work – Initial filmed sequence

This video was produced by Me, Clare Dodkins and Sinead Melloy and our actors in this clip were Imogen Smith and Alex Large.

Pre Production
To facilitate the shoot our group blocked and rehearsed the actors in order for them to be prepared for the filming to get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible. In our group we also decided camera angles from the storyboard and extra shots that we wanted to have in our sequence. The camera was already set up for us prior to the filming. In addition the script and storyboard were also made for us previously and given to us on the day of the filming.
What we could have done better for pre production was having a better location in which we could have further developed the shots. We could have also been more organised before the filming by practicing with the cameras prior to the shoot and planned more shots, even though we were unaware of the activity, so we could have related them to what we have to film.

Production
What we did was to film a conversation between two people, using a storyboard issued to us on the day including shots such as close-ups, over the shoulder and wide shots. And also to develop further shots that weren’t shown on the storyboard whilst all the time taking into account the rule of 180 degrees. In which the camera must not cross the 180degrees, or the shot wouldn’t work from a viewer’s point of view.
I was the camera operator in my group, Sinead was the continuity girl and Clare was the director. Therefore my job was to operate the camera and take direction from the director in order to shoot the film relating to the shots that were on the storyboard.
I thought our group worked very well together, and as group we made effective and decisive decisions that made the production stage very professional. Having good communication on the day is the most important factor in order to make it worth while and I felt our group communicated very well and all came up with original ideas for the way in which we shot our sequence. Though sometimes we got a bit carried away with ideas and though we didn’t end up shooting them, it did waste some valuable time that we could have otherwise been shooting in.

Post Production
What went right in the shooting was that we managed to film the sequence on the storyboard quickly and effectively, therefore having the majority of the time allocated developing different and interesting other shots of the sequence. So our group ended up with a variety of unique shots, and fulfilling the aim of the task successfully. We could have though improved our use of space of the set as we limited ourselves to one section of the room. So if we had planned/organised it further we could have made it more interesting and came up with a better and more developed outcome.
What I have learned from this task and working in a group is that organisation is the key, and without it a successful filming would not happen. When working the cameras it is important to make sure the focus is correct. And the way in which this is done is to pan in on an area of each shot and focus the shot and then pan out. Also what I have learned from being the camera operator is that it is essential to check that everything on the camera is appropriate to the surroundings, for example that if a filter is needed or white balance that it is in place on the camera. Another important aspect is that if there is too much talking, not from the director less work will get done. So you have to work efficiently in a group and work in the positions that you are in, in order to have a successful shoot.