The Solus Evaluation

What went well...

I believe the overall idea for The Solus was brilliant and we worked well as a team. The black and white edit done after we shot everything added to the type of mood we wanted so that went well. The use of a double to make it seem like there was two of me worked very well and we managed to pull it off, it even had some of the class fooled! The costume was okay and the camera work was satisfactory. We filled the needs of the brief so for a preliminary task which none of us had any experience in I would say we did quite well!

Even better if...

First thing, the camera sometimes made noise or jolted so the camera work could have been a lot better. The cuts during the conversation made it look to staged so next time we need to make the transitions shorter so the conversation flows better. The costumes could have been a bit more detailed to tell the difference between the two characters and next time, we need to sort out the lighting and location first rather than last minute. My group and I all thought the preliminary task counted a lot towards our grade so we over-thought things but now we know how to do it next time!

The Step From Preliminary Task to The Horror Opening?

The preliminary task has taught me a lot about filming and editing a piece of video. I would have never guessed how much work is put into it and the different roles that are played so I feel I am now more prepared for my horror opening scene task coming up. The use of match on action would definitely come in handy for the final task and I can imagine the 180 degree rule and shot/reverse shot could be useful for any conversation my group includes. I think editing is something I need to work on and how long my cuts last between shots. I intend to use the same sort of camera shots depending on what idea we come up with and the preliminary task being a horror will help me since I now have a good insight on the horror genre for my final.

I may try and get someone else to act since I don't believe my acting was that good but that could be because I was playing both characters. Overall I just need to explore more into editing and maybe don't do a psychological horror this time, something more easier like a slasher horror? I'm proud of what I've done though and believe I can use these skills I have picked up to my advantage.

The Solus Nine Frame Analysis

These are nine frames of my group's preliminary task final, The Solus. I will be briefly explaining what is going on in each frame and giving feedback....

So this is the master shot to set the scene for The Solus. We were going for the idea of an empty room with just a table and chairs; sort of like The Matrix or the inside of the main characters mind. The black and white effect put on during editing gave the whole video a more dark feel and worked well with the low-key lighting we attempted to set up...

This is when the main character enters through the door in the room. The light which pushed its way into the dark room as the door opened made a good effect which was our idea for symbolism of the character stepping into darkness (evil) from the light (good)...

These two above are our examples of match on action. The man is walking across the room from the door and then it cuts to another shot of the hand of the persona tapping on the table with the man walking towards him like before. This worked very well but I would have liked to added a third shot to really emphasise the match on action...

The persona (two above) is basically a more rough looking version of the main man. We never actually gave the man a name but I wish we did, could have differentiated between the two easier. The conversation between the two characters went okay and the 180 degree rule and shot/reverse shot went great but the editing wasn't to good on how there would be a second or two break between characters dialogue...

This shot was to show that the persona is just a hallucination and doesn't exist. Ties in with our 'arguing with yourself' ideas...

The main character eventually gets up in anger and then the persona dissapears...

I have to admit, the visual effects and mise en scene were great but everything else could have been done better, I will explain more in my evaluation...

The Solus: Preliminary Task Final

http://joegambleasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

http://louischamberlainsblog.blogspot.co.uk/

http://harryclarkeasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

The Solus Editing Proof

These are a few photos of my group and I editing The Solus after filming. The photos were taken by myself but I did have a say in how we did the editing. Each member all made a copy and then we decided that Harry's was the final copy and so became our preliminary task...

Both Louis and Joe were scripting the editing...

http://joegambleasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

http://harryclarkeasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

http://louischamberlainsblog.blogspot.co.uk/

The Solus 'Trouble with the Lights' Video

Just a short video of my group and I on the set trying to sort out the lights. The sound isn't brilliant and the video is rotated 90 degrees but it just gives you more of an idea on what the set was like before we turned off the lights...

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http://harryclarkeasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/
http://louischamberlainsblog.blogspot.co.uk/

The Solus Filming Schedule

The Solus Location/Set Photographs

These are a few photos taken while my group and I were on the set of The Solus. We chose one of the drama studios for out setting since it is painted completely black and so can be very dark and good for low-key lighting which is what we wanted. We needed one light to be shining onto a table and had a bit of trouble figuring out how to turn the right light on but we managed it in the end. Photographs taken by Harry, member of the group...

Joe and Louis, Louis filmed The Solus and Joe played my double for when we did the conversation between the man and the persona...

You can see a clear shot of the table in this one...

http://harryclarkeasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

http://joegambleasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

http://louischamberlainsblog.blogspot.co.uk/

The Solus Storyboard Animatic

The Solus Storyboard

These are the images me and my group created for our preliminary task storyboard. I drew all of the images while Joe, a member of my group, annotated them. They are quite basic but we didn't really have an idea on how a storyboard for something like this should look. If could go back, I would add more detail like explaining how long each shot will last and maybe even create some varied storyboards. We ended up getting rid of the first 3 images after we decided the video should begin within the room rather than outside in the original...

http://joegambleasportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

The Solus Script

This was the draft script to our preliminary task, The Solus...

*Looking at man*
Persona: “What have we done…?”

Man: “We?!”

*Looking at persona*
Persona: “Yes… we… (smirks) you didn’t stop me”

*Looking at man*
Man: “I shouldn’t have to stop you… you should know when to stop”

*Looking at persona*
Persona: “But we like it”

*Looking at man*
Man: (lashing out) “You like it! (echoes)

*Changes to both but man is alone*

*Back to looking at persona*

*Looking at man*
Man: “You’re insane”

*Looking at persona*
Persona: “We’re insane”

*Looking at man*
Man: “Leave me alone”

*Looking at persona*
Persona: “We’ll never be alone… never”

*Looking at man*
Man: “No!” (echoes)

*Changes to both but man is alone*

END.

Continuity Editing

Here are the three aspects of continuity editing...

180 Degree Rule

The 180 Degree Rule is the set-up of a camera during a conversation between two people in a piece of film which makes it seem as if they are talking to each other. The camera may only be placed along an invisible arch on one side of the characters. This affect makes it seem like the characters are addressing each other even when the camera is only on one of the characters...

Match on Action

Match on Action is when an action of a character in a piece of film is continuously taken throughout several shots at different angles. In the image below, the man is outside the room and trying to open the door with his card. The camera then goes over to his card on the sensor which is a completely different camera point but still showing the same action. It then goes back into the room...

Eye-line Matching

Eye-line Matching is when two characters are talking to one another and the camera is at the same height and angle as the character talking. This gives the audience a more relatable look at the characters and therefore brings them into the film more...

The Solus Character Representation

This is the mind-map my group and I made when we were exploring our characters in The Solus. We decided on only having one character but with a split personality, one evil, one good. He talks to himself in The Solus and both characters look the same but with small differences. For instance, both are in a shirt and tie but the persona (the evil one) has his tie loosened and his shirt unbuttoned, the normal one is tidy. We really wanted to make the persona look like a mad version of the main character and so thought of roughing his hair up a little and maybe blood stains but we never did the blood in the end. Both characters came out really well but we could have been done better if we had more time...

Sound

Sound is very important in media. Without sound, radio would be pointless, films would be stuck in the early 1900's and music would be dead. Sound is most definitely needed in the world of media today and especially in filming and television but what types of sounds are used? I will now go through a list of all types of sound that are included in film and TV...

Soundtrack - All music that has been recorded for the film/TV program

Theme Music - A recurrent melody (usually at the start or the end of a sequence)

Sound Effects - Artificial sound (booms, bangs and zooms etc.)

Ambient Sound - Surrounding sound

Dialogue - Speech

Voice Over - Narration (when a character's speech is heard but is not talking in the scene)

Direct Address - When characters speak directly to the camera

Diegetic Sound - Any sound with a source within the world of the film/TV program (characters can hear it)

Non-diegetic Sound - Opposite of above (e.g. voice overs and music etc.)

Sound Bridges - Sounds that bridge from one scene to another to keep it continuous

Parallel Sound - Sound that complements the scene

Contraputal Sound - Opposite of above

The 5 Elements of Mise En Scene

Camera Shots: A Beginners Video