Evaluation of Preliminary Task by Dominic Noble

For our preliminary task we used a variety of shots to show our understanding of continuity. Our first shot was an Establishing Shot, this is to show the audience what is going on and where the characters are. For our product it was the shot of Stephen walking down the path outside in the snow.

We then did a slightly unexpected shot, another establishing shot if you will; where we had me tapping my finger on a table, just to show that something is going to happen. We continue with the establishing shots as Stephen walks up the stairs, but then move on to a Close-Up shot. This is rather self-explanatory, but it means to have a shot, which is zoomed in or just close to the subject or object.

For our product our close-up shot was one of Stephen opening a door, it was a close up of the door handle and his hand coming down to open it. This then continues on to a match on action shot, is when you cut during an action to another camera angle, showing the previous action from the same point in time that you left it, in our case on the other side of the door.

We then have a reaction shot of first Stephen looking shocked at something in the room as he turns on the lights, and then one from me, where I stop tapping the desk and look up at him. This is also a long shot, as we are both in the shot as Stephen walks over and grabs a chair next to me; going on to a second match on action shot as we move onto a different angle and Stephen continues sitting on the chair from the point he left.

Our last and most important element was filming a conversation between us; when I talked, the camera was on me, and then when it went to Stephen talking the camera flipped over and looked at him. This had to strictly follow the 180° rule, which meant keeping the shots on one side of our conversation; it’s not allowed to cross over.