what are you doing here

                         
What was the task?

Our task was to understand the effects of different camera shots and being able to use the camera properly for our preliminary task. We were in groups of three and all we were given was a HD camera and our imaginations to find three different scenes and to make the camera shot we use to be effective. The shot had to involve the line ‘what are you doing here?’ which could add suspense depending on the camera shots we choose.

Overview of our film

As you can see we have used three different camera shots and a little bit of editing. The first shot we experimented with was a high angled shot, where two people saw each other on the stairs. This shot makes the audience feel as though they are looking down at them as if they are spying on their meeting, which was effective. Also having the person coming up the stairs suggests they have more importance than the one coming down the stairs as the audience can clearly see their face rather than the one with their back to the camera. To improve this shot the people could act more shocked in seeing each other as the high angled shot can be more effective for something serious or secretive, rather than just a jolly meeting. The camera could of be filmed on a tripod to keep the camera more steady, which would allow the audience to feel as if it is a professional film instead of young people filming it.

The second camera shot we trialled was the over the shoulder shot of a girl seeing someone else. This was effective as it adds the clear effect of the audience looking over her shoulder and involves the audience more within the film. The shot also allows us to see the setting, what the atmosphere is like and also reflects the importunacy of this character as it is her view of this rather than the other characters. To improve this next time is for the characters to stay in role and for only one to say the line of ‘what are you doing here?’ which would make the dialogue clearer.

The final shot was a close up of the girl’s face, which was followed by the line which was needed for each shot. This was effective as it allowed the audience to see the expressions on the character face but also suggests that she is the main character. This could again be improved if the scene was in a different atmosphere, but also for the girl to stay in character. An eyeline match piece of editing was used to show the audience the person the girl was talking to. This makes the shot more continuous and allows us to experiment with our editing skill of making the dialogue being over the close up of the other girl looking through the door etc. To improve this shot we could change the setting to make it more different from the others but also would make our camera shots more effective. The transition at the end of the third shot allowed the audience to know that the clip has finished but also adds to the effect of where the girl is walking off to next…

Overall we will take all these things into account to make our preliminary task the best of our abilities, making sure we use a tripod to keep the camera steady to using different lighting and camera shots to add further effects to the scene.