Evaluation of the Preliminary Video

After completing my preliminary task in which I was given a brief to film someone walking
through a door and having a conversation with techniques such as shot-reverse-shot, the
180 degree rule and match on action incorporated, I will address whether my video fitted this
brief effectively as well as addressing its strengths and weaknesses.
As a whole, the video clearly does follow the brief effectively as not only does it incorporate
an example of match on action through the phone but it also features a conversation
between the officer and the criminal with shot-reverse shot, the 180 degree rule and it
includes the officer entering through a door. So one of its prime strengths is the way in which
it clearly incorporates the given brief within it.
Moreover, the use of music is also another strength of
this video as it is used to create an atmosphere or
exaggerate a particular emotion a character is feeling.
The use of the dark,eery non-diegetic music in the
officers POV shot, for example, not only creates a
dramatic effect for the audience but it also emphasises
the officers shock at the situation since the shot is
from her perspective. As well as this the video does
incorporate
a variety of shots such as a POV shot, over-the
shoulder shot, a canted angle as well as close
ups to emphasise emotion which can make it
look more interesting for the audience and it
allows the audience to see different aspects of
the scene. Also, the use of fonts and colours to
create meaning is partly explored since the use
of red links to the idea of violence and bloodshed
and the fonts link to gaming with the last one
being thicker to show the large impact it had and
to make it more final by making it stand out; the use of black background could also
emphasise the idea of evil and lost hope. Therefore, incorporating symbolism could be a
strength.
On the other hand, there are many weaknesses within this video as not only does it have a
lack of consistently in its lighting (especially in the interrogation scene) due to the confusion
of light sources, but it also does incorporate
shots that are out of focus which take away the
quality of the shot as well as distracting the
audience from the story. Therefore, I have
learnt to always ensure that I focus the camera
before each shot and to take note of what
lighting sources I use so that the lighting stays
consistent throughout the video. Other
elements of mise-en-scene that needed
improvement were the locations as the filming

studio could have been made to look more realistic as a living room and there were parts of
the office that were not suited for a police office such as the art gallery featured in the
background which the
storyline unbelievable and
unconvincing. Next time, I
will
select my locations more
carefully and add aspects
of
mise-en-scene to make
them look more credible; if I
was to film the living room
scene again, for instance, I
would either film in an
actual living room or I would
add features such as
pictures or flowers to add realism to the location. Also, the crime scene itself doesnt look
very realistic and would need more blood or other aspects of mise-en-scene such as a
murder weapon or police tape to improve it. Notably, there is also a lot of background noise
featured in this video which makes the dialogue less audible and it makes the location seem
quite fake by adding in asynchronous sound. This is obvious when the officer leaves the
office as you can hear children talking in the background which ruins the quality of the video
for the audience and it distracts them from the storyline. Due to this, I have learnt to film in
locations or particular time periods where there is a lack of noise or to possibly incorporate
non-diegetic music to prevent the background noise from affecting the audience. Continuity
was also another weakness that affected the quality of the video as within the office scene
the officer is shown putting on her hat with two hands while she holds a notebook in another
shot which makes the video look unprofessional and unrealistic so in the future, I will focus
more on ensuring that continuity is ensured in future video projects.
Taking these elements into account, I believe that although my given brief was followed, the
weaknesses of my video need improvement and ruined the overall enjoyment of the video.
Since the brief mentioned having a person enter a door, have a conversation with match on
action, the 180 degree rule and shot-reverse- shot, I feel like my groups video concept
should have been simplified so that we could focus on the technical elements of it more such
as continuity to improve the video rather than having a detailed storyline with less video
quality. Therefore, within my film opening, I will create a more simplistic story to allow me to
have more style in the technical aspects I convey.