'Have you fed the fish?'

The Preliminary task of 'Have you fed the fish?' was a very good experience for me, personally, as someone who hasn't done media before. I got to work in a group of 4 which included Anna Wylde, Lucy Findlater and Catherine Haggerty and myself. 


Our group took the title 'Have you fed the fish?' and turned it into our individual idea of something that would seem like a drug deal. As we now had the core of our story this then lead us onto the actors, Mise En Sene and location. The actors were played by our very own Lucy Findlater, Person A or in our storyline the drug dealer and Anna Wylde, Person B, the innocent looking messenger. Whilst we were planning our story our thoughts on location were different but when it came to filming the location that we had originally thought of was not open on a Sunday. This was our only major issue that arose when filming so we then quickly came up with an alternative location. The location that we did film at was on the roof and in the warehouse of Tudor Williams (a department store) in New Malden. We thought that not only would this be a good isolated place for the story but a great place that we could get particular shots. 


I was the person who was shooting this task which enabled me to do new things such as tracking, low angle shots and close ups. When shooting our initial idea was to use an elevator as a way Person B was going to meet Person A on the roof. When we got to the location we realised that may be a bit to complicated. Alternatively we got great shots of Anna walking into the building and coming up the stairs. Filming on the roof was a very significant as I think it was the main part of what made our task good. As we were at an excellent location we took advantage of it, by adding a few additional shots to the script we were given. These are shots such as the close ups of the door and a pan of the view on the roof overlooking New Malden. The only issues we had when filming on the roof was that it was windy. So the actor's voice was very hard to hear but nevertheless the audience could hear it enough to understand what was being said. Another issue that arose was that the camera battery which we were filming on died but luckily our group came prepared and had two other camera's available for back up. 


The editing process took just as long as the shooting did, which was to be expected. The editing was a combination of all four of our work, thoughts and opinions. It was the first time I had formally edited. I found it very enjoyable as its what makes the task. When editing we were able to manipulate shots to specific timing, speeds and lighting. When filming we did the same shots a few times to enable us to get the best shot and I think this really helped us in editing because we were able to clearly see which shots were better than others and were able to used. 


The best bits of the Preliminary task was firstly working with the group that I was with. This was because we all had the same vision in mind so were all able to put in a lot of effort to make this task good as we could make it. Also everyone contributed so everyone was able to put their opinions forward. Secondly, the shots that I really like within the task was the close up of door lock when Anna is entering the building. I really like this shot as the door lock is the only part of the shot that is in sharply in focus. Because the framing was so compact in this shot its only when you see Anna opening the door you realise what it is. I also think the timing of the editing was perfect in that particular shot.     


The improvements that I would make to this task would be to check if the location that we wanted to film at is readily available and open. I would have liked to make some of the cuts between each shot a smoother transition as it seems sometimes slightly jumpy.


Overall I felt that as a group we worked very hard and put in a lot of effort with finding an unusual location. I think our effort have been reflected in this task and as a first attempt of shooting an extract I think ours was very good.