Recently, the class were set the task of making a 'sweded'
film - a short, low budget remake of a popular film. Our group chose to remake
Cinderella. The learning objectives were to learn how to use camera equipment
and to make a short film.
Firstly,
we had to risk assess the situation. Risks included tripping over, dropping the
camera and falling when standing in high places. To avoid this, it was
important that we looked where we were going at all times and didn't run about,
we made sure that the camera was secure at all times (on the tripod unless
completely necessary) and we didn't stand in places that we could fall.
All
5 of our group acted in the film, and it was therefore very easy to decide who
played who. Nobody particularly minded who they played, so we ended up with
Cinderella (Bonny), the Prince (Amy), the Fairy Godmother (me), the Evil
Stepmother (Georgia) and an Evil Stepsister (Eva). We also all took it in turns
to film, depending on who was in the scene. We found it harder to find
appropriate settings. One setting we used was in the toilets, where Cinderella
was cleaning and this worked for that particular scene. However, we filmed the
rest of the scenes in the corridor, meaning that the background was school
displays which didn't fit what was happening in the scene.
While filming, we learnt how important it was to
get good camera shots. A lot of the shot types we used are not directly
relevant to the scene, however we did use of range of shots. If we'd have
planned the shot types beforehand then I believe that they may have been more
effective. In one shot, we chose to track Cinderella as she ran off, by
rotating the camera slowly. What I didn't realise was that I would be in shot
once the camera panned around, so I had to run off quickly. Before we edited it
so that it was slightly zoomed, you could see me legs at the top of the shot,
running away.
Time management was something that we shouldn't
have had a problem with. We had almost finished filming when we realised that
for all our shots, we had taken photos by clicking the photo button, rather
than recording with the record button. By this time, it was almost the end of
the lesson, so we had to run in to the next lesson to actually film our scenes.
This caused a problem because Eva had a lesson so couldn't stay and film.
Luckily, we filmed almost all of her scenes before she had to go, leaving only
one scene, where the stepmother was forcing the shoe on her foot, to be acted
by me as a replacement. Therefore, we learnt that it is very important to make
sure we are using the correctly, and after making this mistake we know that we
will from now on.
When filming, we had no budget, so we used props
from home and settings from around the school. This was an interesting
experience because we learnt that we didn't need a budget to make a film.
However, we did realise that if we wanted to make a really good film, a budget
would be needed.
Overall, making the film was a huge learning curve,
however it will help is when we make films in the future. We now know how to
use equipment, what shot types are appropriate and when, and how to manage
without a budget.
