Our First Experimental Film

This film was created with the Flip Camera, on a photography tripod. It was the first time either of us have used this type of camera and we found it very simple and easy to use. We went outside the college and began to play around, and took one shot of each thing possible on the list. I think all of these worked quite successfully first time around, however they did turn out quite jumpy. We then went indoors to shoot the list again twice, each time doing a different action so we could experiment better with timing and framing. 

The list was:

• X  Pan shot from left to right 
• X  Pan shot from right to left (different shot)
• X  Close up shot, i.e. a tight shot of someone's face clipping off the top of the head
• X  A wide angle shot taken from a low viewpoint looking up
• X  A tilt shot from low to high
• X  A tilt shot from high to low (different shot)
• A shot which manual focuses on a person walking towards the camera and retaining focus
• A shot which manual focuses on a person walking away from the camera and retaining focus
• A 'Pull Focus' shot moving from a static shot onto another static shot i.e. from a branch to a person in the background

We were able to complete all the shots with an 'X', however we didn't have a manual focus option to complete the rest. 

The film goes as follows:

• 0.00 - 0.13: A tilt shot from low to high
• 0.13 - 0.23: A tilt shot from high to low
• 0.23 - 0.35: A tilt shot from high to low
• 0.35 - 0.38: Close up shot
• 0.38 - 0.39: Close up shot
• 0.39 -  0.40: A tilt show from low to high
• 0.40 - 0.53: Pan shot from right to left
• 0.53 - 1.06: Pan shot from left to right
• 1.06 - 1.09: A wide angle shot taken from a low viewpoint looking up

My opinions on the film and the shots we produced

Overall, considering it was our first time using these cameras, and producing films in general, I think the final outcome was very successful, and covered all the points it needed to. I think it goes a bit slow, and doesn't have as much interest as it could, but it effectively shows our experimentation. Because it was our first time, we decided to just learn the techniques as well as we could, rather than making an interesting video. Hopefully we will get the chance to use our new skills as I feel we've progressed a lot.

I particularly like the shots of the feet traveling up and down the staircases. I like the framing and how the feet are the only part of the body visible. When we use the more professional camera we will be able to try the rest of the techniques, and after our experiments with the Flip camera I am confident we will work okay on the last few techniques.


How we created the film once it was on the computer


We imported the film using iMovie, and everything we had shot appeared on the bottom of the screen. We then looked through it all to decide which bits showed the techniques better, and deleted what wasn't necessary. We definitely saw how important it was to try each shot more than once, as the more we tried the better we got, and the third shots were mostly better than our first attempts. We also noticed the importance of leaving 10 seconds either side of the shot, so it had a steady beginning and end, and we could add transitions to the still parts.
Once it was in iMovie we moved the shots around so it was in an interesting order that flowed well enough, and deleted most of the 10 seconds still shot either side of the shots. We then added transitions between the different shots, and they overlapped the remaining still shots so part of the film wouldn't be missed or not visible. Once we had finished putting it together, we exported it using QuickTime and saved it as a small file, so it would be suitable to go onto blogger. If we had wanted to use the film for something like going onto TV or a projector, we would have saved it as a bigger file so there is more definition. A small file is all that is necessary for a blog, and it isn't too big of a file that it will take too long to load.