As you can tell from my last post the task set for us last lesson was to create a short film in which a new student or visitor is to be given a tour of the school, after completing this the films were presented to the whole class.
I believe the task held huge learning possibilities, as there is no better learning technique than practice, making short movies like that will increase or skill with the camera and will improve our knowledge of shot type and when to use appropriate shots, the only way the last task was lacking in learning possibilities somewhat was in the sense of editing, but our next task enables us to do this fully.
Every group's video had it's good and bad points, in general the groups camera work was a bit shaky and every group's narratives needed development, as some groups did not seem to be showing off the school at all.
Film A's main problem was confusions in cuts, at one point we tried to get the same action from different angles, this meant stopping filming and starting it again in a different place, on one occasion the actors forgot where they were standing and someone jumped across the room in one cut. Film A's camera was often shaky also and the narrative was off at certain points. One of the good points of film A was the way they took their own view on the task and personalised the task by shooting it in a david attenbrough type documentry.
Film B also had it's good and bad points, one of the many good points was their establishing shot, film B probably featured the best establishing shot of all the group's film A failed to have any establishing shot, while film C did, but it isn't as clear as film B's. Film B also held the best actors, they kept our class laughing, however they occassionally talked too quietly and this lead to some confusion over what was actually going on. They did use a huge variation of shots, however in their hasty attempts some shots were not relevant, e.g. they used a canted shot while two subjects were walking along, this was not necessary and there was some confusion as to why they used this shot. Film B's biggest problem was talking behind the camera, as occassionally laughter could be heard, this ruined the film somewhat and made the narrative break down. Shaky camera shots and a confusing use of actors also plagued this group, at one point there was just one actor giving a tour and in other shots there was another actor walking along with the tour guide, this confusion in the narrative made it difficult to understand the whole film.
Film C again had it's advantages and disadvantages, some good shots in lessons made the film more believable, however some confusion over camera shots ocassionally ruined the film slightly. The main problem with film C was the misenscene in some shots, in one shot tables were wonky and looked scruffy, this would not look good to a viewer of the tour, as it would give the school a bad impression, another issue with film C is that they had to reuse actors, this resulted in one teacher for 3 or 4 lessons, this resulted again in some confusion. The best point of film C was the clips they done in a lesson enviroment, as it looked natural and believeable.I believe the task held huge learning possibilities, as there is no better learning technique than practice, making short movies like that will increase or skill with the camera and will improve our knowledge of shot type and when to use appropriate shots, the only way the last task was lacking in learning possibilities somewhat was in the sense of editing, but our next task enables us to do this fully.
Every group's video had it's good and bad points, in general the groups camera work was a bit shaky and every group's narratives needed development, as some groups did not seem to be showing off the school at all.
Film A's main problem was confusions in cuts, at one point we tried to get the same action from different angles, this meant stopping filming and starting it again in a different place, on one occasion the actors forgot where they were standing and someone jumped across the room in one cut. Film A's camera was often shaky also and the narrative was off at certain points. One of the good points of film A was the way they took their own view on the task and personalised the task by shooting it in a david attenbrough type documentry.
Film B also had it's good and bad points, one of the many good points was their establishing shot, film B probably featured the best establishing shot of all the group's film A failed to have any establishing shot, while film C did, but it isn't as clear as film B's. Film B also held the best actors, they kept our class laughing, however they occassionally talked too quietly and this lead to some confusion over what was actually going on. They did use a huge variation of shots, however in their hasty attempts some shots were not relevant, e.g. they used a canted shot while two subjects were walking along, this was not necessary and there was some confusion as to why they used this shot. Film B's biggest problem was talking behind the camera, as occassionally laughter could be heard, this ruined the film somewhat and made the narrative break down. Shaky camera shots and a confusing use of actors also plagued this group, at one point there was just one actor giving a tour and in other shots there was another actor walking along with the tour guide, this confusion in the narrative made it difficult to understand the whole film.
In conclusion everyones films had their own unique advantages and the same basic disadvantages, such as poor sound quality or shaky camera, these problems can be fixed easily with practise however and i'm sure the next tasks editing aspect will help raise the standard of work.
You are correct in noting that practise does make perfect and hopefully everyone will have developed basic skills by the end of this term.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I must ask you is to make sure people in your group don't lean on you too much. Some willo have a tendency to stand back and not develop their skills, make sure everyone is hands on. Thanks.