Daniel Mark Baker
Long Road Film Studies

The genre was a big influence for our film; we decided that we wanted to do something with in the college and of a teenage audience like (Porky’s 1982). My role in the group was the cinematographer this meant I was in charge/played a part in the; framing, shot composition, camera movement and the lighting. We shot many different camera angles, finding out which camera angles fitted in and which did not, we used the ones that showed off the school scenery off the characters aspects and personality. We then choose the best shots. On the sound aspect we did our filming in quiet areas which symbolises the characters low profiles round the school, this also helped because if we shot in a loud atmosphere the dialogue would have been hard to pick up. We later added non diegetic sound to exaggerate the sounds that where actually made during filming. I played a big part in the lighting, I suggested to open and close and curtains to give a lighter space.

I and my group worked very well together and quickly thought of ideas all on the same lines on how our film would turn out and how the characters would act, we all agreed on what the characters should look and sound should like. I wanted the characters to all have the typical appearance of a “nerd”, with big glasses and unique outfits to the characters personality and looks, the colours of the outfits portrays the way the characters behave in our short sequence movie. When we first started we took photos of the main areas our characters would feature in, however in our final piece we used one of the five areas, this is because we did not like the footage we had in these areas, and we found better areas in which to film in. I choose to use close up when dialogue in the hall, this is because I wanted the audience to feel the emotions and humour. I decided to have to boys walking down the corridor so the audience gets a feel of the surroundings. When our rough draft was made, we quickly realised that we were missing a crucial scene and without it, our film would be hard to understand and follow, we then had to go out and re film some short sequences, this is because we missed out some close ups on the faces which would show the characters emotions. We also did not shoot the characters walking into the main hall; if we missed this out, our film would be very h ard to follow. These are some of many camera angles, boasting good micro features.

We wanted our audience to react to the micro features; we wanted the audience to be amused by the Mise en scene, the typical “nerdy” outfits and the quiet hangouts where our characters loomed because they are not popular within the school. We got our opening sequence ideas from “American Pie” (Paul Weitz 1999), American pie uses actors name and characters name that fade in and out of the shot and we thought this would be a good idea, because it gives the audience some information about which the characters are before it begins, it also gives off a professional feel. The sound we have included in our film is a background tune; the music is very upbeat and unique. The music dies down when dialogue occurs. The camera angles need to be either mid shots or close up in the dialogue; this is so the audience feel like the characters or a friend of the characters.

The feedback we got was mixed between successes and problems, our successes where the mise en scene, the sound and the editing, both strong aspects, however we had good camera angles, but there was some crucial footage missing, and people not from the school would not understand where the characters are so we needed to re-shoot to make it clear to the audience where they are. My technical skills enabled us to get the vital footage, my confident attitude and my ability to encourage my other team members. I believe what we could have made better was the ending; we have our characters running down the hall, I like this ending, however it could have been made better, some communication with a female or some sort of starting point with our characters with a female.

Overall, I am very pleased with our film, I believe the camera angles are good and they really do show the characters feelings and how they feel about this situation, it. The sounds used really emphasises the surroundings. The sound is unique, it’s pleasant and a happy tune and the backing track sounds a lot like the opening music from “super bad”. We got our idea from the opening soundtrack.