Preliminary Excersise

Before we could use the cameras we had to learn how they work and how to handle them. Our first task we had that involved using the camera was to film our preliminary film. We were given a shot by shot guide which helped us include all the necessary shots.

On the first day we tried the first section sticking to the sheet, as we run out of time, we ended up filming it all again the next day because of continuity issues. We had many problems deciding who will be in the film and once this was decided it took a long time trying to get the actors to focus and be patient while changing camera angles.

Using the actual camera and tripod was tedious and simple. When filming each shot we had to keep in mind that the camera was steady and gave a straight shot. The editing suite (iMovie HD) was a lot trickier to use as we had never used it before and it took time getting used to it. When had to import our work from the camera to the computer and begin editing; it was easy to cut seconds off certain clips as we had made sure we filmed "baggy" to insure we had enough to work with. We also had to make sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule and not cross over the imaginary characters eye line during shots as this will confuse the viewer.

Unfortunately, once we had finished editing we had issues saving our work on the iMac computers and had to re-import and edit our work. Although this was irritating, it gave us a chance to get more familiar with the software and not make the following mistake later on.