Match cut task

In today’s lesson we had to do a short practice film which is worth 15% of coursework so continuity and relatively good camera work was essential. My partners and I put together a short film using a story board to plan our camera movements, angels and acting. When planning we had to include at least one shot reverse shot, one 180 degree shot and one match cut shot.

During filming I found that the shot reverse shot was straightforward because the way the actors and camera where in position their movements flowed well (I found that using a door to do a shot reverse shot worked well). I also found that using the camera was easier than I expected it would be.

When it came to editing my group and I edited quite fast because the footage we recorded all followed on from one another and we did about three takes of the same scene so we could have a range of clips to choose from. There were only a few complications when editing, such as selecting where the input and output should be placed on a clip and getting the clips to flow altogether but watching the clip in detail and shorting and lengthening the durations of clips made it less complex.
I learnt that a 180 degree shot is a basic guideline in film making that states two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. I was under the impression that 180 degree shot was filming half the scene panning from both characters (and other elements) in a scene, so I learnt something new for future filming.

I believe that the best scene in the film is in the beginning when the angry boy walks through the door, and there’s a shot reverse shot of him entering the door from inside, this works well because it has a good flow and looks like really good camera work.
The only criticisms of the short film I would make is that in the beginning scene as the angry boy is walking to open the door his head is cut out of the shot, it would have been more dramatic and effective if we could see his facial expressions when reaching the door, also the film cuts are slightly jumpy so the film flows well but it could have been much better.
Overall I had fun doing this task because I learnt more camera and editing skills which will be useful when making my short thriller title sequence.