Benjamin Ambrose Candidate number: 5003

AS Media Studies – Preliminary task evaluation: ‘The Package’

At the beginning of this project myself and Harry intended to chose our shot types to serve a specific purpose and for that purpose to be justifiable. We also set out to use sound as much as we could, but only when it was necessary/to create a certain, justifiable reason. When planning our film we created four initial, brief ideas and chose the best two to further develop. From there we chose our idea. We made sure that we stuck to the 180-degree rule and avoided disorientating the audience.

The concept of two teenagers meeting up to talk about a “package” represents teenagers as mysterious, rebellious and scheming. The mid-shot shows that the two characters are alone, and sets the scene for the dialogue. Joe Blaxall’s character on the left represents the mysterious concept. With his hood up the audience aren’t able to have an instant first impression, based on his looks. And from this the audience can infer that he doesn’t want to unveil himself yet, for an unknown reason. This also represents teenagers as scheming, as the character is trying to make himself look intimidating by hiding his identity.

As well as mysterious, scheming and rebellious the film also represents two types of teenagers. The first type is someone who is calm, relaxed and doesn’t stress out about anything. And the second is the teenager who is always looking nervous, stressed and on the edge. The close up at the top shows Ben’s character, who is meant to represent the teenager who is always nervous. We used a close up shot so the audience could see the character’s facial expression in great detail. In the shot the high-key lighting creates a white/pale effect on the character’s face. The colour white connotes innocence, which is a key characteristic of the type of teenager we tried to create. The close up on the bottom was used for the same reason as Ben’s (to show detail). However, the detail shows the character looking relaxed and in control. And as the character speaks he leans back, clearly showing how relaxed and in control he is.

The story our film has told, is an arrangement between two people for a “package” that has fallen through after Ben’s character had burnt it. However Joe’s character (in the grey hoodie) has been watching Ben’s characters every move. When Joe unveils that he has been watching Ben’s every move he begins to panic and a threat is made. We used an underscore with a dark tone and a pitch that varied from high to low, which created a dark and intense atmosphere. We played it at the moment when Joe began describing, and as he described it we did some cross cutting between Joe and Ben’s face, using a close up on Ben’s, pale, face to show his uncertainty.

What makes our film interesting is that the two characters don’t actually reveal what the package is. Which leaves the audience to use their imagination and decide what the package is. It could be an innocent or not so innocent package. However we tried to lead the audience to believe that it was something bad, or dark or mysterious.

To achieve this sort of theme we waited to film until it was a miserable day and used our establishing shot to show the audience that it was a dark, gloomy day. Another factor that makes the film interesting is that teenagers can relate to it. By this I mean that towards the end Ben’s character finds out he is always being watched, and teenager could possibly relate to the idea of constantly being watched over and monitored. Therefor our target audience for the film was teenagers as they could relate to it.

On the first day of filming it was very windy, when reviewing the footage we came to realize that the sound of the wind completely overpowered the dialogue and the footage was worthless. One option was to add some ADR, however we didn’t have access to a mic with a good quality that matched up with what was going on, on the screen. However, because we were using the microphone on the camera, we had to surround the camera’s microphone so the wind wouldn’t nullify the dialogue. But we also made sure that it didn’t muffle the dialogue.

At the beginning of the project I had no editorial experience, nor did I know how to use the programme that we used to edit our film with. So by following the instruction sheet on basic editing I figured out the basics of the programme. From there I picked up how to successfully create good/smooth continuity editing. However whilst editing the dialogue, myself and Harry tried to do some cross cutting so we could show Joe’s characters face whilst Ben was talking we figured that we couldn’t separate the audio from the footage AND make the continuity editing smooth and quick. Therefore to overcome this we had to make the shot of Joe’s character saying “do you have the package?” a little longer in order for it to be possible.

Another issue we faced when filming, which we noticed when editing and reviewing the footage was the pale look on Ben’s face that the natural light created. For the dialogue scenes we wanted to have high key lighting, and we used the natural light to create this. However, when reviewing the footage we saw that Ben’s face was incredibly pale. We lowered the contrast as much as we could, without making the rest of the shot seem dark. However we did benefit from this as the pale look on Ben’s gave him a nervous look and made it clear to the audience that he was innocent. It is most noticeable in the mid-shot just before the dialogue begins.

Overall, I am very pleased with every aspect of the film. However, the part of the film I am most pleased with is the very beginning of the film. The J-Cut from the establishing shot shows great editing skills, but it also shows the significance of the phone call. Hearing the phone call at the very beginning creates some confusion for the audience, but as it switches to the close up of the phone screen and as says “No Caller ID” the audience become aware that there could be trouble on the way. Also the J-Cut just looks fantastic.

However, there was one aspect of the film that didn’t come out very well. As the dialogue was reaching its peak, and Joe’s character was explaining to Ben’s character that he had been watching him, we did some cross cutting, close ups to highlight how nervous Ben’s character was becoming as he realised he was in trouble. The idea of the close up was good, but the delivery wasn’t that great. The lighting in the scene is too bright and the acting in the scene was poor, which makes the emotion we were trying to highlight unclear.

If we were to remake the film, I would personally add another aspect to the film. That would be Ben’s character’s journey to the meet up. This would allow us to involve more shot types, such as: a PoV shot, overhead shot. It would also allow us to follow more rules of shot composition, such as: change the viewpoint and use diagonals. In terms of making editing easier we would make the actors wait five seconds before and after acting out the scene to make continuity editing easier. Also, if we got access to a microphone we could re-record the audio/dialogue and place it in the clip when needed.

There were different aspects of planning the preliminary task that were extremely helpful when shooting, and made the whole process efficient. To begin with, the storyboard was extremely helpful as it was a basis for what we wanted to do, and when filming we referred to it to decide which shot would look best for what scene etc. For example, when filming the dialogue we knew we wanted to switch between close ups/ over the shoulder shots because we had planned it on our storyboard. We also planned to follow the 180-degree rule as much as we could to avoid disorientating the audience, which we did and by, again, referring to the storyboard we knew where to position the camera. Overall, by planning the shots we wanted to use for each scene the filming process was extremely efficient. And we filmed the shot a few times so we could pick the best one when editing. We also made a tick-list of shot types we wanted to use and editing skills we wanted to show off, which we followed and ticked off as we went along.

However, it would’ve been helpful to plan what we would’ve done in different scenarios when it came to filming. By this I mean if we had filmed one scene one day and it was gloomy/overcast weather and the next day/scene it was bright and sunny. It would’ve been good to have a plan for if that had happened. For example, we had filmed the scene where Ben’s character opened the door over two days because we had made a mistake. And the close up shot of the door handle was on a day what was gloomy and dull, and after realising the mistake we had made, we planned on adding an over the shoulder shot (to change the perspective) but we couldn’t because on that day it was bright and sunny. In conclusion, it would’ve helped a great deal if we had been prepared for the scenario. But because we weren’t we had to scrap the shot.

For the purpose of continuity editing we had to make sure that our costume was the same every day. Because we couldn’t film all the shots in one day we made it so the characters would look the same but didn’t have to wear the exact same clothes everyday for hygienic reasons. We achieved this by wearing a jumper over our clothes so it looked like we hadn’t changed. We made sure that in every shot you couldn’t see the trousers the character was wearing to avoid cutting from dark blue jeans to light blue. This made continuity editing easier as we didn’t have to worry about checking the costume every time we added some footage, and made the editing process quicker. We also created a short and simple script for the actors to follow which meant that in all the footage the dialogue was the same, this also made continuity editing a lot easier.

In terms of shots and why we had planned to use them, we made a list of shots and what effect they would have on our film and what they would tell the audience. For example, we used close ups during the dialogue to show the audience the contrast in emotions. We also used mid-shots to let the audience know where they were. For example just before the dialogue the audience know that the two characters are isolated and the meeting is secret which helps to create suspense.

The 180-degree rule is an imaginary line that is drawn, and when filming dialogue or any other scene the camera stays on one side of the imaginary line to avoid disorientating the audience. We showed off our understanding and followed the rule during the dialogue between Joe and Ben’s characters. We used the gate we filmed next to as our imaginary line and kept the camera to one side of it.

In conclusion, the film was successful and from it I learnt new editing and filming skills and we achieved our intentions. By this I mean, all the shots types we used for a specific effect fulfilled that effect. The prime example being the close-ups during the dialogue to show the change in emotion of Ben’s character. Also the underscore was very effective as it signified to the audience that Ben’s character had realised he was in danger/in trouble. In conclusion to the planning, it was very successful and extremely helpful when filming and editing as we used it as a guide to follow. For example, it showed us what shot type/camera angle to film with when filming a particular scene.