The Meeting 2: Evaluation

I think that the second meeting film was a success as the group improved on the work done in the first short film thanks to the group being better prepared for filming and editing. However the second effort could have been improved by the whole group being present and rehearsing the scene ahead of filming. We acted on the constructive feedback given to us by the rest of the class.
What was your responsibility in the filming process?
Acting, drawing the storyboard and writing the script
What decisions did you have to make in this role?
How I could effectively relay the plot of the film to the whole group; how I would devise a script that communicated the message/purpose of the film and fit the given time frame
How effectively did you carry out your responsibilities?
Quite effectively as I produced the script and storyboard before filming but I could have improved by distributing scripts before we shot the scene
How effectively did the team work cohesively?
The second attempt at making a film allowed us to work better as we planned thoroughly how we were going to make the film and edit it
What areas would you like to develop?
The variety of shot types used and camera angles
What are 2 areas you felt went well and consider one recommendation you would give yourself or the group to improve upon this practice?

• Filming in a given time frame
• Planning how to shoot the film
• Next time we should rehearse the scene before filming

The Meeting 2: Organisation

Compared to our first effort, for the second time filming was a lot more organised because we had planned in advance where and how we were going to shoot the film. The aspects we had to consider were:

• Location: where in the school building could we find an appropriate area to shoot in?
• Length of time it would take to film: we were given one lesson to complete filming in
• Equipment we could use to shoot and limitations: we were given a camera and a tripod which affected the type of location used. In the end, we used an indoor location so lighting and sound would good quality
• Props and costume
• Roles and responsibilities within the group: each member of the group had a specific role; storyboarding, writing the script, acting, filming. In case one of the group members was absent we also had to think how we would manage to film with only 3 members of the group
• Health and safety: we decided to film indoors so we would not encounter problems if the filming equipment got wet for example and film in a specific part of the classroom so we wouldn't trip over cables

In spite of this, I think improvements could have been made in our organisation, such as rehearsing the sequence before the lesson began so we could have filmed it quickly and possibly have done some editing.

The Meeting 2: Shooting

When it finally came to shooting our new 'meeting' film, we were faced with the issue of one of the group members not being at school so the camera person also had to direct the actors. Another issue occurred that we were prepared for which was bad weather. However thanks to our planning we were able to shoot an alternative opening shot in the corridor outside the classroom we were filming in.

We filmed again with the flip cameras although this time we were given tripods which was a very helpful addition.  I think we could have improved our filming session by rehearsing the acting as well as just organising the location and deciding on the camera movements. We didn't have a long time to film so it would have been ideal if we had practised and set up the props before we started shooting. All in all, I think that despite the problems we faced the group was much better organised and the improvement should be reflected in the final cut of the second meeting film.

The Meeting 2: Planning

Once the group watched the video of the first filming task and received feedback from the rest of the class, we decided that in order to improve, we needed our next effort to planned in greater depth. To begin with we changed the story to make it easier to follow. We wanted to depict a situation that would allow us to use different shot types so we changed our idea to a job interview. In the scenario, the interviewee becomes distracted which meant we could use an eyeline match as shown below in our first storyboard.


Some things we needed to consider in coming up with our storyboard were:

• Location: we chose a job interview because we knew it would be easy to make a classroom in the school look like an office and it had to be somewhere that wouldn't be too noisy. Another advantage was that the classroom was well lit
• Props and costume
• The weather as it would have an impact on whether or not we did our external establishing shots inside or outside (in the end, the establishing shot was filmed indoors)
• Limitations we would face and how we would get around them: for example, setting the tripod on a table to film at a higher angle
• Where the camera-person would be filming from so we didn't break the 180 degree rule and ensured continuity

After this I was given the task of writing the script. I had to write one that would be easily adaptable, simple and stuck to the basic plot. It also had to fit the given time frame of a few minutes and effectively communicate the stage directions to the actors as shown below in the first draft.