A2 Media Coursework Blog

The difficulties that lied ahead were that of lighting, excessive noise, controlling the actors and fidgety camera work. In order to take care of the lighting I used several lamps in order to create a dim glow so that the characters were distinguishable from the background. In addition to the artificial lighting, I also used candles to highlight the main character within the ritual scene. In terms of excessive noise I meant background noise. There was too much graininess when trying to record the mobile phones ring tone, not only the ring tone but also the speech that was required for the ritual scene. This was overcome by me having searched for a set of headphones that had a microphone attached to them. Then I downloaded a sound manipulating programme called Audacity, which allowed me to remove the excessive noise having re-recorded the dialogue and ring tone. Controlling the actors was a very difficult process as the actress had not learnt her lines for the ritual scene. In addition to this, the extras in front wouldn't stop laughing therefore, lengthening out the process which aggravated me. Thus in time, and after several rehearsals the actresses finally calmed down and did the scene with ease and proficiency which made my workload easier. Lastly, the fidgety camera work occurred when trying to track across the extras. Having done some practice shots with which I began to understand how to hold the camera and tripod and how to frame the scene, I never accounted for the space that would have been taken up by the extras. This is when my camera work became fidgety. I had deliberated how to set up the frame and I had decided to not make the extras too spaced apart and to keep the main actress on her knees so that there was not too much height between the two sets of characters. Having done this, I was able to track along the actresses with ease, but I still feel that it could have been better as the camera shifts slightly. I had attempted to find various way of attempting the tracking process. I tried a wooden plank on a skateboard in order to keep it perfectly still, however the skateboard was rumbling on the ground. I then tied the camera carefully on to a scooter, which i had high hopes for, but the angle wasn't correct. In the end I resorted to a hand held format. I felt this was appropriate because it added a sense of distortion to the scene which worked well.

Having had no previous experience with a camera in my AS coursework, I felt that this was a big accomplishment.I had gained some filming experience in my previous idea- Fangs. The camera work I had undertaken at that time had helped me a lot in my attempt to film for this piece. For example the tracking through the woods was hard due to the fact I had to multi task meaning that I had to film, frame the shot and look where I was going all at the same time. Luckily the shot prevailed exceptionally and I was able to use that experience but apply to a much slower and controlled pace rather than at a frantic pace so that the audience could absorb the scene's content.