Preliminary - Final Storyboard

As I was happy with the concept and the ordering of all of the individual revision cards in my draft storyboard, I decided to develop the storyboard in to a more professional looking one. I created this storyboard because in comparison with the draft, it looks much more professional and I know it will keep me much more organised. In my action plan I stated that for my main task I would use Pixton to create the storyboard, and I really wanted to use that here in my preliminary so that I could get an understanding for it before I started the main task. Unfortunately, it did not work as I needed it to for one reason or another, for example you needed a backdrop on every box and for some I did not really want a backdrop. After researching a few other storyboard online softwares I decided to opt for Storyboard That because they supported everything that I required and wanted in my storyboard. In my opinion it has turned out well in the end.

The first cell depicts a medium shot of character 1 walking over to the door. A great feature of Storyboard That is that you can crop the images down to how you would like, and as you can see I have managed to create the illusion of that cell being a medium shot by only showing it from the character's waist upwards. Moving on to the second cell, the character is now going to open the door with the shot being a close up. The camera in the third shot is positioned on the other side of the door to the previous two shots, so I can therefore shoot the character walking in through the door. With the footage taken from the first three cells I am going to use the match on action editing technique and hopefully have it smoothly flow through. In the third cell you can also see character 2 sat at the table, waiting for character 1. On the second line in the fourth cell, the two characters are sat down and are now exchanging a couple of lines of text. This is where the shot reverse shot editing technique will be implemented because I have found out from my research that a situation where two characters are talking to each other is ideal for using this technique as it shows the flow of conversation well. The two characters are then interrupted by a fire alarm and in the next cell you can see the characters are now stood up. They continue to talk, however now about the alarm and what they should do next. The final cell shows the two characters walking away and out of the shot, where the video will come to an end.

Textual Analysis of Existing Products - What I'm Looking For

I have researched what I need to be looking for when I am analysing existing products and have brought together a mind map full of different components. I have done this because I was slightly unsure of what exactly to be looking for when I am watching the existing products in order to produce a good quality analysis.
Now I have done this I believe that I am good to go regarding analysing existing texts because I know exactly what to look for.

What I am looking for when analysing texts. from rhysward21

Preliminary - Final Script

For my preliminary work's final script I will be using the script I have previously uploaded as my draft script. I have made this decision because I know that I can implement all the criteria that the task brief is asking of me. I can include match on action right at the very beginning as character 1 is walking through the door, which is a classic example. Shot reverse shot will be used when the two characters are sat down and are exchanging a few lines. The 180º rule will be used after the alarm sounds and the two characters have stood up. I am hoping that with this script I will be able to edit the continuity aspect well; that is what I am focussing on.

Preliminary - Draft Script

By using Microsoft Word I have managed to draft a script for my preliminary task. I wanted to make a script not only so the actors know what was happening at all times, but also to keep myself organised and so that I know what was supposed to be happening next. 

Preliminary Task - Draft Script from rhysward21

Preliminary - Draft Storyboard

Below you will see a total of five photos that I have taken of my draft storyboard for my preliminary task. I have created this draft because I wanted to be able to finalise my ideas and ensure that I have got the order and everything else correct before I went ahead and did the main storyboard. Using revision cards were a big help in this because it meant I could easily erase and replace ideas, change the order and just make small alterations easily. After reviewing this draft, I have decided that I like this idea and it complies to the task brief, therefore I will be using this as my final storyboard for my preliminary task. I will be creating a more in depth and professional looking version.

Continuity Editing Research

As I have never done any work with video and this is the option I have decided to take for my coursework, I have decided to research in to some of the key words associated with the film task. I chose to do this because without knowing these key words I would not be able to create a good quality piece of work and therefore not reach the best grades. From doing this research I have learnt what the listed below editing techniques are and also how to use them effectively.

Continuity editing - Editing which is done to make one event follow on from another with a natural look. The audience shouldn't notice that the edit has been made.


Match on action - This is an editing technique where you switch from one shot to another, the second shot matches the first shot's action. A common example is where a character walks through a door, as seen on the embedded youtube video below.

Eg.

Shot reverse shot - A reverse shot is an editing technique where a character looks over at another character (second character not in shot) and then the second character is shown looking back at the first character. A good way of using this is during conversation of two people, where the camera goes from behind one character to the other. It shows the flow of conversation really well when used effectively.

Eg.

180º rule - When two or more characters are having a conversation the camera should stay on one side of an imaginary 180º line. This is so the two characters maintain the same left/right relationship, and if the camera crossed this line then the characters would reverse positions and it would become a reverse angle shot.

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Action Plan

Here is a copy of my action plan. It covers both areas of my coursework for AS level media: the preliminary task and the main task. It it just a plan, and therefore is eligible to change if I feel like something else would work better. In addition to the list of things I should include in my research and planning, there are extra branches where I have suggested what piece of software I could possibly use to present this piece.

The program that I used to create the digital mind map is called Text2MindMap.com. At first I found using this software quite difficult because I couldn't get my head around the interface and also I could not understand how to control the branches. However after spending time with the interface and adapting to how it works, I was able to overcome my original issues and in the end produce this mind map.