Awakening Of The Dead - Evaluation - Laura Mossendew

As Media Studies – Awakening Of The Dead Evaluation.

Laura Mossendew

Use of the camera.

In our ‘Awakening Of The Dead’ short video our work shows that our shots can be held steady due to the use of a tripod, although most of our shots are steady a few are not so steady as the height that we needed the camera to be held at was too low for the use of a tripod.

 In the video shots are also framed appropriately, the use of the grid on the camera for positioning was very useful and allowed us to see if people were in the correct place for the shot and if the camera was positioned appropriately or not. Without the grid (rule of thirds) it would have been harder to position the camera appropriately for the shot that we wanted.

To create the video we used a variety of shot types to keep the vernacular’s attention and make the video more interesting than it would have been if only one or two shot types had been used. Some of the shot types that we used were; Extreme close-ups, mid shots, long shots, establishing shots, tilts and close ups. Using different shot types allowed us to show particular things that we wanted in the shot, where as if all shots had been the same, some of the things that we wanted to show would not have been as clear.

Our finished work also shows the use of composition techniques as we had to think carefully about the background that the actors were performing against to make sure that lighting was appropriate for the film (not too dark) and that actors weren’t running in the same place more than once in the video as this would pose continuity errors. The use of the grid on the camera screen also allowed us to check that the shot was framed correctly, using the rule of thirds.

Use of editing.

Our finished work shows that we can follow the rules of continuity during editing as our shots flow together without the use of transitions and with them. We took great care to make sure that each shot was in the correct order and that the background in the shots was not the same for more than one shot so that it flowed properly and showed movement over time.

The finished product has a few editing transitions, such as the flash and fade out when one of the characters in the video took a photograph, however we did not use many transitions as in most horror films they do not have many transitions as it makes the film look slightly ‘cheesy’ and unrealistic.

Selection of content.

 I think that our finished work shows an appropriate choice of costume, make up and props, as zombies traditionally are pale, have dark eyes, shadows on the face all to give a ‘dead’ look. The costume was ripped clothing covered in blood stains as this is the sort of thing that most zombies wear in films. However we did not use any props in the film as we thought that in such a short video that we did not need any.

In the finished project I think that we chose an appropriate location to film as it was a fairly quiet area with very little traffic and few people around to cause background noise and distractions. The location was also an ideal setting for a zombie film, as it was a wooded area with very few signs of civilisation.

I also think we chose appropriate actors for our film as they were very cooperative and willing to do everything that we asked of them even in very cold and rainy conditions. The zombies that we chose to use looked the part but using only three actors for zombies was not ideal, we needed three more zombies but could not find the right people to play the parts. The humans in the film were also appropriate as they were ‘normal’ everyday sort of people which the target audience would be able to relate to, although I think that using actors of a variety of different ages would have been more appropriate.

Self- assessment.

To help complete the film I contributed a great deal to the planning of the film, carefully watching each shot on ‘Awakening of the Dead’ and making sure that our shots were as close as possible to those used in the short film.  I also did the make up for the zombies in the film and made sure that they had appropriate costume and that they knew exactly what they had to do and when. I also helped to make sure that the continuity in the film was good. Sharing some of the camera work with other members of the group.

I think that improvements that could be made to the finished film is that we make sure to have the right number of actors for the characters needed and make the story line clearer by using more shot types.

When it comes to my final coursework film one thing that I would like to do differently is to make sure that as much planning is done before the film is shot so that it is much easier to film and there are less likely to be continuity errors.