When we first began producing ideas, as a group, we decided that we needed an original and creative preliminary task whilst including all the exam board requirements. We went through several ideas from safe, realistic situations to crazy, surreal ones and decided on the genre of comedy to accommodate our dialogue and bizarre storyline.
At first we experimented with romantic-comedy ideas action and drama but came to the conclusion that these were not appropriate for our task and the mood we wanted to portray. We also discussed a mixture of arguments, drug deals, and interrogation for the dialogue. However, our final idea is a dream where a boy follows a trail of litter into a dark room where he meets a strange man. The man approaches the boy hugging him and crying and the boy screams. It then cuts to the boy waking up on a sofa and a slogan will appear advertising a sleep remedy. This idea was chosen because of its originality and it gave us the chance to experiment with quirky camera angles and shots. In order to film our piece, we will be using two cameras with tripods to ensure the camera does not shake with a first-person perspective look and a dolly for stable tracking shots.
To demonstrate the 180 degree rule, we will be filming a short conversational scene between the two characters towards the end of the film. The camera will be placed on one side of both characters as they exchange the dialogue. This will prevent the audience from becoming disorientated and confused as to the positioning of the camera. Without the 180 degree rule, a jumpy effect would be created and make the scene discontinuous.
Match-on-action will be used to show a door opening and closing from both sides. Due to our desired location, we will be filming two match-on-action door shots which we must edit accurately to ensure the shots are continuous. If not a jump cut will be produced and therefore, discontinuous media.
Another criteria set by the exam board was a shot-reverse-shot of dialogue exchange over a table. However, we wanted to be original and will have a few shots over a table before the character moves out to use the space in front of it. This will prevent the scene from being dull and ordinary with the other character standing, facing the seated character. We can also use a variety of camera angles and shots to show superiority and body language.
