Preliminary Pre-Production

We talked through many possible initial ideas to begin our planning to the preliminary task. We knew we had to keep the storyline simple, but wanted to experiment as much as possible with camera angles, different shots and editing techniques. We also wanted the task to look good, and so we knew we would have to shoot more than what we would actually need, and even shoot completely different angles that may not be included.

To plan our preliminary, we decided to put our ideas into a mind map, and from there, we took our best, most practical ideas and storyboarded them, giving a sketch, and details of shots, angles and mise en scene. There were compulsory shots that had to be included in the preliminary, including match on action, abiding to the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. When we storyboarded the preliminary, we made sure that all compulsory shots were to be included in the film.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is essential in filming. It lets the audience understand direction and movement of characters, and does not get them confuse them as to where they are going. By breaking the 180 degree rule, it looks to the audience that the character is now going the opposite way, but in some films this can look good. The rule should only be broken with good reason and context to the film.

By Thomas Beal