planning and filming

In preparation for year 13 media studies coursework, we decided to do a preliminary task of a one minute chase sequence. In order to have a full understanding of how chase sequences work I researched into the different storylines and camera angles. YouTube enabled me to watch both professional and other students chase sequences which helped me see what I felt worked well and what I wanted to avoid. The textual analysis of year 12 TV drama exam benefited me in the planning of the chase as I had a better understanding of different camera angles, for example an over the head shot. I learnt the importance of mise-en-scene and lighting.

Before we started our own ideas, we practised with the cameras by watching a professional chase sequence, and then in our school grounds, trying to copy the angles and storyline. This helped me as I started to understand how long shots take and the importance of shooting each shot more than once to enable a professional finish. Once we had practised , we experimented with Imovie to make sure we knew how to edit and to allow us to practise with different editing techniques.
Once we got put into groups, we immediately started sharing our different ideas for storylines. As a group we all agreed on our storyline and started to storyboard straight away. In our storyboard, we included camera shots, dialogue, mise-en-scene and any extra details needed to ensure the storyboard would be easy to follow when we started filming.

We decided not to use an actor as we wanted to ensure there was no time limit and complications so a member of our group volunteered. This worked well as we all shared different responsibilities but came together to make sure we were all happy with the shot and ready to move on.

Once we started filming we used the storyboard to guide us through the different shots to make sure we didn't miss anything out. When I shot our high-angle shot we had difficulties getting a high enough shot. We started by climbing a lamppost, however, this did not work as well as we planned and the shot was therefore not high enough. To overcome this problem we then found a small bridge which was in a slightly different location to where we originally planned, however this worked better than we thought and the shot turned into a perfect high angle panning shot. Another difficulty whilst filming was when we tried to create the effect of the camera falling to the ground. We used a pillow to ensure we did not damage the camera, however every time we dropped it the footage did not film. After trying many different techniques, we decided to manually drop it moving our hand fast. This also worked very well and the effect of a camera dropping captures what we wanted.