For our A level year 12 media preparation coursework, we had do a preliminary task which involved us having to follow the teacher's desired storyboard. We turned her original drawings into photos we took ourselves, then we followed this structure and made the desired video, (can be found in my previous post). The scene itself is of someone walking through a door, entering a room and sitting on a chair on one side of a table. We then used the 180 degree, which we learned is where the camera moves 180 degrees to show either person, however we learned that the camera cannot move over 180 degrees and must stay on the one side to keep the continuity of the scene, and not to break it. The scene then ends with either of the two characters exchanging a few lines of dialogue.
Our take on the task was to have an interrogation scene in which a detective (Josh Spoelstra) walks through the door and sits, asking a suspect (Jonathon Fromant), questions about a crime he is thought to have committed. We also added two extras which were an extra policemen (myself) and a lawyer (Craig Robson). which put our own spin on the scene, without interfering with the set camera shots. Below I will discuss every shot we took, what it implies and discussing the camerawork in every one.
This is the first shot in the storyboard, it is a long shot of the detective (Josh Spoelstra) about to enter the room, walking up to the door. This long shot allows us as viewers to 'follow' him, making us feel more involved in the story. When we filmed this scene however we changed this from a long shot to a mid shot and tracked him entering from the green door (left) and traveling to the red door (front). This tracking shot gives a sense of realism by putting an impression that the audience was 'waiting' for the story to begin. Then when he enters, it signifies that the video has started, this approach we preferred. The editing from the title sequence was a cut but now, on further consideration, i believe a fade would have been more appropriate to introduce the scene.
This next shot is a close up of the detective's hand upon the door handle, then him slowly opening it. Doing this makes the shot more dramatic by slowing down the action slightly. It also implies significance to his character by allowing the audience to see him for longer, done by slowing down time with what would usually be an insignificant movement to show to an audience.
The next shot is on the other side of the door, showing the detective enter and walk out of the camera's sight with a mid-shot. This again puts more emphasis on the significance of his character, and by quickly walking out of the shot means that the audience won't know exactly how far across the room he has traveled, until they witness the next shot itself. This allows us to speed the action on, to a more interesting area of the story.
The next shot we are introduced to is that of a mid shot, it shows the detective sitting down behind a desk (back to the camera) and also represents the rest of the cast very briefly (two extras and a suspect). This reveals to the audience more of the story by revealing where the detective was indeed going.
This shot is a close up of the suspect who delivers the lines "I do not know why I am here please inform me" through digetic speech and synchronous sound. We were allowed to devise our own script for the video despite being under strict instructions for the camera work. We choose this line as we thought it was an appropriate thing for a suspect to say, allowing a close up here reveals that he is also a significant character to the story and also allowing him speech again emphases his importance as a character, when shown against the two extras of the scene. This is also were the 180 degree rule begins, allowing the audience a quick continuous conversation between the two main characters who are revealed (the detective and the suspect).
This shot is a close up of the detectives face, saying his lines again through digetic synchronous sound. "Many things Jerome, many,many things" we put this line in as again it would be a stereotypical thing for a smart and overconfident cop to say in which we portrayed him as so this also reveals more of his character. This shot also fails to break the 180 degree rule.
The final shot is another close up of the suspect's face allowing us to bring the video and the 180 degree rule to a close. He delivers the lines "I was there to protect my baby that is all." This shows deeper into the suspect (Jon Fromant's) character showing the audience that he is nervous and by explaining his side of the story (mentioning he has a child) makes him seem more relate-able by showing his love for it. The edit here will be a fade to signify the end of the video in a lesser abrupt form.
Overall I think we accomplished the task well, following the desired camera shots given by the task accurately and to a good standard whilst adding our own take on it it with a police story, the addition of extras, as well as our own script. A fault we did have when filming the actual video however was the lighting. It did become more low-key as the detective entered the room which emphasised the tense mood of the scene, however the light on the detective and suspect's faces did radically change and just appeared messy and unprofessional in the 180 degree shot-reverse shot. My editing could have been a bit smoother on the video also and the pitch of the speech should of been louder as well. More edits should have been 'fades' like the one at the end, to make the video appear a higher standard.
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