What is the preliminary task?
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The preliminary task is a filming activity where we explore camera shots and angles, lighting and continuity editing.
Continuity editing is used to make shots flow and look consistent. Examples of continuity editing include match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.
Match on action refers to when an editor cuts from one shot to another whilst continuing the action through the shots. For example, a person may be shown opening a door from over their shoulder, then in the next shot they're filmed opening the door from the other side. This particular example is something we'll be using in the preliminary task.
Shot reverse shot is typically used in conversations between two characters. The first shot shows the face of the first character over the shoulder of the second character, then switches to the face of the second character over the shoulder of the first character, and so on. It's used to make the transitions between shots look smoother, as the viewer perceives the action as being continuous. We'll be using this kind of shot whenever two or more characters interact.
The 180 degree rule refers to the position of the camera according to the line of action (the line of action being, for example, a conversation between two characters).
The camera can move anywhere in this 180 degree semicircle but must remain behind the line of action. This is so the characters shown are always in a certain place on-screen, for example, the first character will always be on the right and the second character will always be on the left. This way the viewer understands what's going on and doesn't get confused. If the person filming/editing wants to 'cross the line' onto the other side, they must have a shot showing the change from one side of the line of action to the other. The camera then must remain in that 180 degree semicircle, unless the transition over the line of action is shown again.
The aim of the preliminary task is to use all of these examples of continuity editing in a short scene as a way of understanding how to film and edit as well as experiment with different ways of filming before going into the main task. In order to explore the technical side of media, we have to come up for a story and script for the scene beforehand.
0 comments