Workshop 1

In my previous media lesson, we (me and my group) was issued with a task with the objective to make a very short clip of ‘someone getting caught’, we had 10 minutes to come up with ideas for a storyboard with the maximum of 10 shots, and our production time to film in 20 minutes, we were instructed to get into groups and follow through the pre production and production process, very similar to our prelim task. Our first instruction was to get into a group of three, and it has to be with different people, not the same people we worked with in the prelim task. Personally I am very happy about working with different people, as this time, I found that we all specialized in different yet similar qualities and thoughts that related to media, and as a group it helped us put ideas and recommendations for what we should do, and how its done etc. i.e. Edward is very talented in art, and he drew the storyboard at a fast pace, yet in detail and in a way we could understand what is happening in the shot, this was a big advantage as it saved time, and told the story we was to film, which made it easier for me to read when setting up the shots in the production process. Rebbecca and I shared similar qualities like knowing how to set up a camera and tripod, we were very understanding and agreed on what type of shots to use, like long shots and close ups. I found out that as a group we all worked and got on with the task very well and we all contributed to the task. However, there was a few issues that we as a whole group ran into, one of which was timing, the time given to us was very limited which caused us to think and work in a rush, we did not complete our storyboard fully but had to start filming as we was working under a very short time period set, again this was an issue because it caused us to rush in every aspect of the whole pre production and production process, when it came to storyboarding and filming. Another problem we encountered was the issue of location, when being set a small time to complete the production process, we thought the nearer the location we use, the better and more quicker it will be to get to and fro, however, although the idea seemed smart, about two other groups in our class had the same idea, and chose exactly the same location, as everyone was in a rush to film, all three of the groups (including us) refused to relocate. Now this caused an even more complex issue as when it came to filming, we would have someone’s camera in the background, or some other group filming, shouting shot 1, take 1, action! Which spoiled our shots, props were being moved around, so one group wouldn’t have the other groups prop in there shots which caused problems for the group with the prop as they would have to reconstruct the prop as it was in the previous shots, and to follow the rule of ‘continuity’. Also, we and the other two groups were featuring a small clip in the same location, we all ended up having to take turns in filming our shots, this meant every time one group was filming a shot, and doing its takes, we had to stand and watch, and wait, so every time a group filmed, two other groups loose out in terms of time, and caused us to waste time and delay. However, I did feel that this task was in somewhat way easier then the prelim task, in terms of knowing what to expect, being able to set up a tripod and camera and knowing the process to go through in filming. We was familiar with storyboarding and working as a group, we was also familiar with the basic jobs of using the clapper board, allowing 3 second intervals to let the camera get back into focus, and re-doing every take at least twice, the process of pre production and production did seem more normal to me and followed what I knew to expect in the task, whereas, in the prelim task it felt more alien to me in the sense that I was not familiar with what I was doing, with the filming process and using the clapper board, knowing when to say action after leaving a small interval to let the camera focus etc, everything did seem like a load to me in the prelim task, whereas in this task I think from my experience, and the experience my other members of my group went through, we all learnt how to share out the task and lay it out in a more easier way that made the task flow.