Shot Composition

The other day in our media lesson we were given the task of creating a number of shots based on what was around us (shot composition) and we had to film these. We did this last year for AS and the reason we are doing it again is to give us more of an understanding about framing shots and using the props around us when filming. We had to frame four different shots and we could use any location within the school for this and we were not allowed to get any more props apart from what was at the filming location.

Firstly we had to do a dentists waiting room we did this by going in to the reception area and we all sat down on the seats and we had someone walking through going to sit in the seat whilst filling out a form. This was quite successful as you didn't really have a clue that we were actually filming in a school reception. The props we used were books, flowers and pen/paper.

The next frame was a romantic date in a cafe. We used the staff garden as there was a picnic bench, mug and a newspaper for us to use. Two of us sat on the the bench with one person looking through the newspaper and the other person drinking from the mug. The two characters were looking into one anther's eyes and holding hands. I think this one worked quite well because the camera focused on the holding hands and the gazing into one anther's eyes.

The third frame was a busy office. We went to the school office and filmed them through the window. This one was not as effective as the others due to the fact we didn't have anyone really doing anything in it. We also didn't get a chance to use any props in this frame. To make the busy office frame better we thought we could have had someone walk into the office and interact with some of the office staff. This would have given us the chance to use props and get a better angle as we could have followed them down the corridor next to the office before they entered it.

The final frame we filmed was supposed to be waiting at a train station. I think this was one of our best ones due to the fact it genuinely looked as if it was at a station platform. We filmed this in the staff car park up against a high metal fence with spikes on the top. In the frame we had a light which made it look like it also had the station name attached to it. We had to characters in this one. The first was leaning up against the lamp post as if he was bored waiting for the train and the second was holding his tickets/phone and as he goes to answer he drops his tickets and this makes it look more realistic. The props we used were train tickets and the lamp post. In order to improve this frame we had some feedback given to us this was that we could have included a voice over of either someone stating that the train was arriving or another type of announcement they use at train stations like when you leave unattended baggage or no smoking etc.

I think this task has made everyone more aware of what we need to look out for when filming and that we can't have any aspect of a school or someones house it the teaser trailers. Overall this was a successful task.