Reservoir Dogs Task: Evaluation

Following on from the planning of our Reservoir Dogs task, my group and I had just 50 minutes to do all the filming. The whole filming process was very rushed and panicked but we started well as everyone remembered what they needed to bring and got changed and ready quickly. Although our initial idea of using a bike for the dolly shot was no longer an option as a bike was no longer available to us. However we managed to find a trolley thing that was big enough to put the camera on the tripod in and was easy enough to push along, although this did make the shot quite wobbly as the camera wasnt that stable and the tarmac was quite uneven but it when put into slow motion the movement is less obvious and a wobbly dolly shot id better than no dolly shot at all.

One of the biggest I feel there is with our finished project is that the shots of the characters walking toward the camera clearly don’t show the whole group, they look quite empty and it creates a lot of issues with the continuity between the shot as people are in different places and the shots look more or less empty each time. Also we didn’t have time to practise and work out how to make the characters look like they’re moving towards the camera without them look like they’re getting any closer to it so in our finished project the characters get bigger and closer to the camera as they walk towards it which is different to the original. However I feel all of my group plush the two boys we asked to help played there characters very well and were as true as they could be to the original, which made the clips a lot better and made the whole projects a lot more similar to the original.

After the filming, we split into pairs from the group and in pair did our own edits. I feel the editing process was very successful, we used the footage we had well and closely observed the original clip to make sure the timings and sequence of shots and fonts and things were as close as we could get them to the clip we were copying. We managed to get the exact font used in the Reservoir Dogs opening and also matched the colour as closely as possible.

Overall with the amount of time we had for planning, filming and editing and the with the resources we had available to us, I feel we did a good job at recreating Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs opening. The only things i would do differently if i were to redo the task is to keep all the actors in the group in the places of their characters and move the camera to each one so the shots don’t look empty and I would also make sure we have a dolly to use for a smoother dolly shot at the start.

Reservoir Dogs Task: Artifact

Reservoir Dogs: Planning

We have been given the task of remaking the opening of Reservoir Dogs directed by Quentin Tarantino.

We must remake it as accurately as possible to make it as close to this clip as possible. My class of 18 was split into 3 groups, 2 groups of 7 and a group of 6. First we looked through the clip a few times and decided who would play each character and who would film, I am the person who is going to film. We also planned where we are going to film, the start of the film will be filmed in the canteen and the rest of the clip filmed next to the wall that runs alongside the bus lane. After making decisions about the location, we watched the clip a few more times, as we did this, we took note of the sequence the characters appear in and who else is in the scene when they appear and also each characters costume and their movements and facial expressions as they are shown in the opening.

From this we notified the sequence of shots used and disused how we would recreate them  on our own filming, for example, the dolly shot as they are walking past the blue truck. However we are still unaware of how we are going to achieve this because the other two groups managed to book the schools only dolly before us leaving us without the time to use once the other group had finished. We did however think about using a bike and putting the camera on it, and this is probably what we will do.

Since the planning lessons, we have created a group chat on Facebook that include all the members of our group. On this we have discussed what each person will bring, such as black blazers and ties, candy sticks as cigarettes and who would make a cigar. This has now all been sorted and we are ready to start filming.

Shot/Reverse Shot

  A shot/reverse shot is carried out when a shot is taken of what a character is supposedly looking at, for example another character of an object. This is usually an over the shoulder shot or a point of view shot. This is them followed by a reverse angle shot of the characters face looking at the other character or object. This editing method is used to create a sense of continuity throughout a scene and easily shows both characters reactions and what each one is saying in a conversation or to show what someone is looking at and their reaction to it. 

Match On Action

Match on action can be otherwise known as cutting on action. This is an editing technique to show continuous movement throughout an action, this is achieved by one shot following on from another without any disturbance to the action being carried, no jumping and missing any of the action for example. Creating this sense of continuity is known as a ‘visual bridge’, this takes the audiences mind away from the fact that different shots have been cut together as the action looks smooth.

The 180º Rule

The 180º Rule is often used when characters are engaging in conversation. An imaginary line called an axis connects the two characters, by keeping the camera on just one side of the line for every shot in a scene,  one character is always to the right of the other and vice versa.  If the camera crosses over the axis, it causes confusion for the audiences as it becomes unclear as to where the characters are stood and whether they are moving. The object or characters that are being filmed must me in the centre of the camera rotation and the camera must always face what is being filmed. 

Preliminary Task: Evaluation

I feel that overall the video we made as a group was quite successful, considering we only had 50 minutes to film and 50 minutes to edit, I am happy with the end result. In particular, I like the close ups of the teacher’s and student’s eyes because it builds on the idea of the student having no idea what the meeting is for and her thinking the worst, it builds more tension. 

However, if I were to do this project again, I would make sure that there is sound all the way through the clip because due to the school bell going off and other background noise, we couldn’t use sound on the two shots of the eyes, which sounds odd against there being consistent sound all the way through the rest of the clip. I would also make sure to add more dialogue, to fully forfil the task we were set. One last thing I would change is making sure that it doesn’t look like either of the girls are moving during the conversation because with the shots between the two of them changing, the angle of the camera is also changed which makes it look like they’re changing positions from the left and to the right of the table, or the other way round, throughout the film.

Preliminary Task: Artifact

Preliminary Task: Planning

We have been asked to film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then engages a few lines of dialogue.

I was put into a group with Sophie Olive and Jenny Breislin, together we talked about what we would like to do. We decided on a student being asked to be seen by a teacher and building up the tension of them being scared about being told off as they approach the room, but then when they get there the teacher praises them for good work.

To plan the filming, we made a story board, showing the sequences of shots we will take when we film tomorrow. We have included lots of close ups and want to add music to create more tension to exaggerate the thought that she’s in trouble. We are using Tamsin Roark to play the teacher and Jenny is playing the student, while me and Sophie film and record the sound.