What have you learned from the practice filming session?

For my first filming session, I was quite happy with my camera work but each shot had to be taken many times as there were many problems concerning the stability of the camera, the 5 second filming rule before and after a shot, the surrounding sound and the acting. These problems had taken me and my group a while to get the footage we needed for our short film to make sense. Some shots were difficult like the woman walking across the street because we had to get the steadiness of the camera right for the tracking and the constantly wait for the traffic lights. Also, the over the shoulder shots were difficult because I was acting and no one in my group was taller than me so that was a camera positioning problem concerning height. Furthermore, hand held shots were difficult too as it was impossible to keep it still without a tripod. Finally, we tried to film extra shots of vehicles driving past but they were too fast and I could not get the tracking at the right timing.

I found the editing rather difficult at first because I had never used the software ‘Final Cut Pro’ before but gradually I got use to it and it got easier to construct the shots together. Successfully the shots together made sense but we did not use all the shots.

I learned that in order for your filming to make sense, everything in the mise en scene you are shooting at has to be the same from the props, costume, character/s and even weather. These things are vital in order for the shots to be seen as one.

My feedback from my teacher and my class was that it looked reasonably good for my first filming session. They said it made sense and that the shots gradually made a plot.

I thought my first filming was somewhat successful as I had shot and included what I was required but found it hard and long planning and filming shots many times, and editing it together but this will help me produce my final thriller.