Continuity Task Questions

Question 1) What planning did you do for your filming task, and how did this planning aid in the filming?

First we decided what situation to do that had all the parameters for the brief in. The parameters were walking into a room through a door, sitting down and exchanging two lines of dialogue. After we decided on the situation we chose the actors which were Sarah and Dan and the camera person which was me. We all drew out a story board of how the scene was going to go which included camera angles which made it easier when it came to filming because we just had to follow the plan, the plan followed the brief so if we followed the plan then we would be keeping to the brief. The planning also made the shooting go quickly and efficiently because we didn't have to work out which angles would look better or how to shoot the scene as we had already planned it out.

Question 2) What is the 180 degree rule, and how is this rule important to the filming task?

The 180 degree rule is keeping the camera on the same side of the actors but panning or moving it within 180 degrees. This means keeping the actors on a specific side of the camera, in our continuity task Sarah is always on the left of the camera while Dan is always on the right and this is in keeping with the 180 degree rule. It is important to the filming task because it would confuse the audience if the actors kept switching sides of the camera, so keeping them on the same side makes the action easier to follow by the audience. The 180 degree rule also keeps the audience engaged in the scene as with the 360 degree rule the audience would have to mentally orientate themselves with the camera which reduces their engagement with the action onscreen.

Question 3) What shot types and camera angles did you use in your filming task, and to what effect?

In the first shot we used a long to medium shot in the corridor with Dan walking towards the camera, the camera pans slightly to follow him as he goes to the door. This simulates the human eyes so it is like the audience are observers. The camera switches to a view of inside the room of Dan walking into the room and sitting down, the camera is stationary but pans down when he sits to keep him in view. This is done so it looks like the audience is following the action and the audience are still observing. The next shots are edits between the two speakers and one shot of the space between them where an envelope is being handed over. The camera follows the 180 degree rule in this part of the scene. The camera is low angle when showing Sarah as it makes her look like the dominating figure in the conversation, the angles on Dan are slightly high to make him look smaller and the more vulnerable character in the scene.