Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I developed as a filmmaker in many different ways throughout the project. I first of all developed my camera skills by in advanced listing the amount of shots I would use in the production, and made sure that the shots were going to be that of a much higher quality. I did this by making sure the shots were steadier and incorporated everything that the viewer would need to see in the frame.

I also improved the planning by not just using a storyboard, but by listing the shot types I was going to use. I also went to the location before the we actually filmed the production, so I could get a feel for what the location was actually like and whether we would need to change if the groups were too weather worn on the day of the shoot.

I feel the Prelim task went well and we the overall film was good, but the shots were poor and not stable and the narrative was a bit weird and hard to follow. The cuts in the short film were also poor because of the amount of shots. They restricted the editing to basically use what we have and we couldn’t use a backup shot. This meant that the shots used were the only shots that we could use in the editing, which meant that we had jump cuts and shots that didn’t fit.

We improved the amount of shots in the real production by making sure that we had up to 4 backup shots that would all fit and would all make sense if the original shot was lost, deleted or we decided we didn’t like it. We also incorporated many different shots, unlike the Prelim, such as the panoramic long shot, the over the shoulder shot and a shot which showed hierarchy well. The shots all fitted together and weren’t all over the place, which meant that the opening was easy to follow, and was easy to understand.

We used the 180 degree rule well and kept the camera in front of Connor’s body at all times, so it meant that the rule wouldn’t be broken. When we needed to move the camera, we made sure that the shot followed the actor round and could be understood by the audience.

I feel that you can clearly see an improvement from the Prelim to the final production purely because the final production looks much more professional than the Prelim through it’s steady camera shots and it’s editing.

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Insanity Directors Commentary Question 1 - Conventions & Unconventions

Insanity opening

Credits

For our opening credits, we thought that the mask is the main point of the film. It with holds the identity of the protagonist from the audience and it gives a sense of mystery. Although we have our names written on the picture, we do not give away our faces.
We also thought to add effect, to have the pictures printed out as polaroid pictures.

 

Sound

We knew that when we first went out to film Insanity, that the sound recorded on set wouldn't be higher quality. Mainly because we didn't have an external microphone which would pick up a much better quality of sound than the microphone built in. When we were on set, the wind was very strong and being out in the open meant that there was no cover for the camera. This meant that all of the sound recorded on set was unusable. This meant that all sound used in our opening must be non-diegetic.

The first non-diegetic sound we used was Charlie Chaplin's 'The Final Dictator' speech. This is a strong speech and the words in the speech were contrerdicting (and at parts backing up) what he was saying. We chose this speech because it is a strong speech and it is about us, the human race.

We then decided to co ordinate the radio shot with the sound of the speech being turned off. It fitted in well; the sound and the film matched.

Shot List

1 – long shot – Hayden crouching next to little girl.

Props included – candle, mask

2 – Close up – candle being blown out.

Props included – candle, mask

3 – Long shot panoramic – Hayden walking towards Connor.

Props included –blanket, radio, fake blood, mask

4 – Mid shot – Connors body and wound with Hayden’s feet in shot.

Props included - blanket, radio, fake blood, mask

5 – Close up – Hayden adjusting Radio.

Props included – radio

6 – Long shot – Hayden dancing leading into bottle being thrown.

Props included – bottle

7 – Close up – Head scratching.

Props included - mask

8 – Extreme close up – Hayden’s shoes going through the stones to Connor’s body.

Props included - none

9 – Over the shoulder shot – Hayden blood crossing Connor.

Props included – fake blood, blanket

10 – Mid shot – Body being dragged into river.

Props included – black bin bags, rope

11 – Long shot – Hayden walking away from scene.

Props included – mask

Equipment

We used 2 HD filming Canon cameras. One being a DSLR and the other a compact camera. We had several interchangeable lenses for the 500D, but we mainly stuck with a 60mm F2.8 ultrasonic lens. This was a quiet focusing lens and was a macro lens which gave fresh crisp shots.
We also used 2 other lenses such as a 50mm f2.8 lens which, like the 60mm, gave very crisp close ups. We also has a 18-250mm walkabout lens. This lens meant that we could have wide angle shots to show the setting that the actors are in.
We had a second camera to film the events of the day and to have low light close ups.
To ensure we had enough space for the flim, we took several large memory SD cards and several batteries, so the cameras didn't die.
We also had a professional tripod which was able to adjust it’s legs to go so low the camera was almost on the floor, this was very handy for the low shots to show the protagonist on top.