Edit Workshop Evaluation

Evaluation

180 Degree Rule / Rule of Thirds / Match on Action

180 Degree Rule - There is an imaginary line which cuts through the middle of the scenes in a production. If we crossed the line in any scene in our production it would confuse the audience so we refrained from doing it. Crossing the line is one of the most important things when filming, so everything is in the same place, with no objects or people jumping to the other side of the line, disorientating the audience. An example of this in our exercise is the two shot, where both characters are sitting at a desk, both facing each other, and waiting in silence. The interviewee is taking 'first impression' notes about the prospective singer. This scene is one of the basic foundations for the 180 degree rule, as it is establishing the juxtaposition of the characters and the difference in the personalities. This scene helps set the rule, as the interviewee sits on the seat on the left hand side as she comes in the door and sits down meaning the interviewer is always on the right hand side.  The Shot Reverse Shot in our exercise is also a good illustration of the rule.

SHOT

SHOT

REVERSE

Eyes: 1/3 of the way down

Rule of Thirds - This rule is a major rule in film making to make sure the person you're filming is always in shot. There are 3 imaginary horizontal lines in a frame, which the person's eyes must be on the top line in there abouts the centre, to make sure the frame is in shot properly. We used this so our exercise was in shot the whole way through so there was a continuous prose and no jumping of character position/movements that may change the perspective of the rule throughout the work. Every shot was carefully framed to make sure it was perfect, as the whole idea of the exercise was that it was continuous throughout. 


Match on Action - This was one of the most difficult scenes to edit in the exercise, because while you edit you need to make sure it is 100% perfect, and the match is unnoticeable for the audience. We used the Interviewee coming through the door for our match on action. Shot A shows her walking towards the door and pushing the handle down going all the way in. Shot B shows her in the room by the doorway and walking into the room and taking a seat, getting ready for her 'audition' and interview. We used this because it is aesthetically pleasing for the viewer instead of two separate shots, its one flowing movement, meaning it looks a lot better, and the audience aren't asking questions like, 'how did she get through there?' and they're less confused. (See below)

Shot A

Shot B

During production it was actually ridiculously difficult to make sure everything was continuous. In our draft of the exercise, we used two different rooms to film. The establishing shot is the sign on the door, and the room behind the door was our original recording space, but when we got inside, we realised the glass window of the studio was very reflective so we had to use a different room. This caused an issue when we chose a different room and recorded the match on action because the sign on the door was missing on the draft, so we had to re-film the match on action again (which can i just say, was difficult to edit once, let alone twice) (Also see annotations on the screen caps above). The two shot of the interviewer and the interviewee sitting down, and the interviewer writing notes was hard because the interviewer asks the interviewee if she wanted a whiskey, but in the two shot, the glass was empty and then it goes back to full in the next shot. So that was the other thing we had to re-film to make sure it was continuous.

Before 

After, with Whiskey in the glass.

Post Production was easier than filming I think, as there was not as many problems to deal with. The most difficult thing to edit was the Match On Action shot as it is the most technical, and trying to get the two shots to match exact was difficult. I managed to do it to a reasonably good standard, but then I was told to use the Precision Trimmer on iMovie, which helped me drastically and is how I got my match on action to match well. I was not as up on my iMovie skills as i could have been, and i had some trouble getting the audio to work, but once my mind was jogged on how to do it, i was quickly back on track with editing.


I personally think there was a lot of strengths in out production. Especially the singing scene. I made 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division play in-sync with the interviewee singing, as a kind of backing track, which was really hard to do but it makes the scene really affective. At the end with the credits, I used the distortion at the end of 'Cherry Bomb' by The Runaways as the scene ending, also the music ended. This created a really effective end to the exercise and I love it. Overall the music Danni and I chose really suited the vibe of our storyline, and the pieces we chose were total opposites but worked well together. Our storyline was clear and appropriate and we stuck to what we know and the brief. We didn't choose a complex storyline that we knew nothing about. Both Danni and I listen to the same genre's of music and share the same tastes which helped up during production, as we could not fight over music / bands to name drop in the dialogue. The storyline was influenced by our passions for music and we still stuck to the brief. The Runaways also went through a similar 'experience' when inviting Cherie Currie into the band, so we used appropriate music. We expanded upon the brief and made sure our idea was unique, and there was no other groups doing the same.  I also think the 'Tilt Up' works really well for getting to know the interviewee. The audience get to see her outfit choice for the audition, and also get to a surprise, because they are unaware of what they're going to see when the camera tilts up all the way to her face. I think this is very affective in building character identity. I think the best part is when the interviewee ruffles her hair in in order to mess it up in time to the music.

I think the weaknesses of our piece were the location where we filmed. Because of school we used one of the Music Rooms, but it didn't have a music based atmosphere. The atmosphere in the exercise was as good as it could have been, and we made the most of the resources we had. The room we had used could have done with being slightly bigger because Danni struggled to get the Two Shot of the whole table and two people talking. Despite this hiccup, we tried to produced the best we could. Also, choosing reliable actors to play a part in our production would help, as we had to change actors the day of filming the production, which was through no fault of our own. But we are very thankful to Alice, who stepped in and dug us out of a hole.

Overall, the improvements I would make are change of location and the props. The change of location would make a big improvement to the range of shots which we could have expanded upon in a larger room. This would give more space for bigger gestures and possibly better acting. The props could be majorly improved in the scenes, with more musical instruments in the background, posters on the walls and just a general sense of music, as the room we used was very clinical and clean cut. So if I was to film again, I would use a 'grunge-y' type of place, quite messy, more relaxed, for a more rock n' roll vibe, like the one in Spike Island (pictured)