We were tasked with producing a short video in which we were required to do the following:
Assessed by OCR
Sinister Pictures Preliminary Film - Good Version
In our good preliminary film we tried our best to make the whole thing consistent throughout. We achieved this by carefully trimming the various clips during editing so that they flow together well and produce a legible storyline.We used little to no zooming because it would compromise on the quality of the overall film. However, there is a point in the film in which the camera shudders slightly as it pans across the room towards the door, which makes the film slightly flawed.
Sinister Pictures Preliminary Film - Bad Version
In our bad preliminary film we purposely included multiple errors throughout the video to demonstrate bad editing practice. At the start of the film, Hele pushes open the door fully, which brings a person who is not meant to be in the film into shot. The next shot, filmed from the other side of the door, once again shows Hele opening the fully closed door, as does the shot after. This third shot also has a demonstration of very bad camerawork as the camera judders horribly as it follows Hele across the room. The next scene, in which Jess turns around on a swivelling chair, shows a clear example of how not to edit a film. It starts with Jess turning around, then cuts to Matt, Anna and Josh turning around in the chair one after the other, with Josh hopping around in an ordinary plastic chair. The following shot shows Josh then clambering onto the desk, and speaking the line in an Irish accent. This demonstrates how editing a film badly, although funny, results in a film with terrible continuity. The shot then changes again to show an over the shoulder shot of Jess, displaying yet more continuity errors. This then cuts to a shot where Matt can be heard saying something, followed by a clicking noise from the sound of the camera. Hele and Jess then start laughing, before the scene switches to Hele sat down (different from her stood up in the previous shot), with Jess pretending to be a cat and being hit by Hele as she points towards the door. Jess then seems to teleport somehow to outside the room, as she walks through the door from outside. A huge continuity error is seen at the very end as an unrelated conversation takes place about pizza at the end of the film.
180° Rule
The 180° rule is a filming guideline where the camera does not go past a limit of 180° when filming a conversation. This is used in order to make sure that the viewer does not get confused by who is speaking.
In the above diagram, it shows how the camera should be positioned when filming a conversation. The camera should only be placed on one side of the "Line of Action"; this means that no matter where the camera is placed within this area the scene will be viewed naturally and will make it easier to make sense of what is going on. If the camera were to suddenly be placed on the opposite side to what has already be filmed, the two characters will switch positions and therefore be more confusing for the viewer.