Preliminary Task Analysis - Filming

The aim of the preliminary task was to film a short 30 second extract which included the exchange of a ‘TOP SECRET’ envelope between two characters. We set up the camera in the designated location and made sure the camera was steady to avoid jerky movements and the lighting was adequate. We ensured to follow the continuity rule. This is the predominant style of film editing and video editing in the post-production process of filmmaking of narrative films. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots which includes shot reverse shot, match on action, eye line and the 180˚ rule. These rules would help us achieve a continuous and coherent sequence. The shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters in our sequence are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. The second rule we followed was the 180˚ rule had to be followed which is a basic guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. The purpose of this is to avoid confusion of the audience as the extract is fluent. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. An image below is presented to visually present the 180˚ rule.

We also made sure to include eye line match. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eye line match in our extract began with a character looking at the off-screen character; followed by a cut to the second person at which the first character was looking at. The last rule we embedded in our preliminary task was the match on action, whereby the editor cuts from the shot of the ‘TOP SECRET’ envelope being passed onto the second character, to the reaction that matches the first shot's action.