Directions Unit: Coverage Task

In today's lesson we were split into groups of 3 and given the task of directing a short film each. I worked with Aquila and Hannah.

We had to pick a scenario each from the following:

A person tripping over and dropping books
A person sitting down and looking at their watch
A person writing a note, Screwing it up and throwing it in the bin

I chose the 3rd scenario as i had an instant idea of what to do. We then sat down and brainstormed each idea, picking out shot ideas and decided we wanted to give each of them more of a story as we felt that it could be quite a basic idea otherwise.

Then we set to work with filming Hannah's and Aquila's.
I was the camera operator for Hannah's film and although we could figure out how to get the exposure button to work on the camera, which left us with slight over exposure for the end film, i am very pleased with how it turned out and feel i got some great shots. I remembered to film a atmosphere piece so that it could be used for even sound which i think helped for the final edit.

Here is Hannah's Film:



In Aquila's piece i was acting. It was great fun and Aquila gave me some great character instructions for how she wanted the scene to go. Although we began to get pushed for time i am pleased with how the end film turned out and it was really fun to work on.

Here is Aquila's Film:



Finally it was my turn to direct. We began by having an over the shoulder shot to introduce hannah's character writing the letter. In the brainstorm i had already decided on having a narrator/voice over reading out the letter as i felt it was in keeping wight he style of the piece and added to the character. I also wanted it to be a sort of mockumentary style. Having Hannah break the 4th wall and address the cameraman's presence and also the audience with the wink at the end also added to this style and hopefully were quite funny. This sort of style also fits with the extremely low budget special effect used for the paper going round the rim. This was mainly used because we thought it was funny but also because we couldn't find any string. The coverage i got was good and i was able to edit a fairly smooth piece.
I am happy with the final edit and i hope it brings a smile to a few peoples faces.

Here is my Film:

Even though it was a massive task for us to get the 3 films done in 1 day, i am pleased we got the opportunity to each direct a film and i learnt a lot from it. Mainly that when going on a shoot it is a good idea to have a schedule because otherwise your time is poorly managed. 

Stay safe,

Helen