Mart Smith Individual Assignment

AS Media Studies
Half Term Homework Assignment

I worked with James and Ashley to produce a 40 second clip of a horror film produced by previous years students. 

We decided to reproduce a clip from 'Pendant' in the psychological genre in horror films. On the day we filmed and edited the clip Ashley was absent so he has subsequently edited the film that we shot to show his skills.

1.Use of the Camera

For our reproduction of the 40 second clip we had to use our new found skills in camera work. Throughout the film we shot the camera shot was steady throughout and only shuddered when we felt the need in the editing stage. 

We appropriately framed the shots following the golden mean rule and the rule of thirds. We made sure that the actor was in the camera shot in the correct position for the shots which meant that the clip was easy to edit afterwards. 

We used a variety of shots when we initially filmed the clip but in editing we cut out a lot of close ups as we felt that it detracted from the atmosphere of the overall clip. We used composition techniques to our advantage as they helped to keep a pace on the clip so that the acting and movements led into something that the viewer would expect.

2.Use of Editing

We used the rules of continuity editing to make the shots flow and merge together without the viewer noticing too much. When we were editing we had a lot of shots that seemed right and good at the time of filming but when we looked over them in the editing suite we felt that they wouldn't be of use which narrowed down the amount of clips that we could actually use in our reproduction. 

We didn't include any editing transitions for the clips that we shot but we looking at the final version of the clip we think that if we had used any transitions then it may have made the clip look dodgy.

3.Selection of Content

Our finished work doesn't really show that we can choose appropriate costumes, make-up and props as they weren't used in our clip as we didn't have any monsters etc that needed to be in the clip. The only prop that was used was a mobile phone which was used in replace of the pendant as we couldn't get one to use for filming. 

The location was the best we could use due to the circumstances in that we filmed, we feel that even though it was in college the use of the surroundings made it not feel like a basic location. 

When we came to film the clip we had to use ourselves as the actors as one of our group members was absent and he had arranged for his friends that the other group members didn't know to act for us. So instead of having actors we had to multi task by filming and acting at the same time.

4.Self-assessment

As we only had two people in our group when we came to filming and editing the two members had to split the work of the absent member between ourselves that meant that we had to film, act and edit when if the absent member was present we could have shared out the roles. In the planning stage of our clip drew half of the storyboard and found the location for filming. When we were filming I did most of the initial camera positioning and shot framing before I then become the actor in the clip. In the editing suite I gave my opinions on how the clips should go and edited them together to show James.

We worked well together when we were editing as we both could tell if a shot looked good or if something didn't and either of us could make it look right. If we could reproduce what we had already reprodued then I feel that we could make it even better as we would find a better location outside of college and by having the third member of our group present along with actual actors then the whole clip would look a whole lot better. By cutting out the sound and merging different sound clips we could add more presence of the fear that we tried to replicate from the film 'Pendant'. 

The things we would do differently when we come to do our final coursework film is shoot on location, have actors instead of acting ourselves, produce background music that works well with the visual film to create a tense, fearful atmosphere and to film a lot more than we actually need so that when we come to editing we can use a lot more different show types without sacrificing the look of the clip.

Mart Smith