Me and my classmate were assigned a couple of weeks ago to complete the One Word Film project in a span of 9 days, this task composed of making a mini movie no shorter than 60 seconds and no longer than 90. We were required to use no less than 15 shots in our project. The task was our first real exposure in the class to using proper filming techniques including camera shots/ angles and a wide variety of editing techniques to help move the story forward. In fact, a unique characteristic of this project was that we were instructed to make a peace that conveys the word "Threatening" without the use of any auditory devices.
Our approach to excelling in this assignment was practicing proper organizational skills from the beginning. While we were told to do both brainstorming and a story board sheet, we found the brainstorming sheet especially helpful. We used the paper to not only describe what was going to happen during each shot, but also to describe which shots we planned on using, this lead us saving a considerable amount of time when it came time to film the project. The image below is our brainstorming sheet.
The use of hyper organization translated to us being able to make the whole process allot more streamlined, and when it came time to edit; the paper helped us quickly remember where we had to place things in the timeline. During post-production we used iMovie as our preferred editing source to edit and put this project together.
I believe that we did a good job properly incorporating the techniques in a way that felt natural and not forced on the viewer. We used the correct facial expressions and body language to convey a sense of building tension throughout the peace. We especially dominated with the extreme-close ups of my eyes widening and the other the shoulder shots making the "treating/fearful" environment more evident to the viewer. I especially liked how we used the book in the story. The book was used to represent how the person should be in a state of peace, but an outside force is delaying this state of mind. The one thing I wish we did better was the continuity as it is clear that we lacked in this segment. Two primary examples of this, are that we changed clothes and the book changed in this peace when they shouldn't have.
Link to our project-
