Homeland Continuity Task

1. What was your role in the task and what did you actually do?

My role in the task during planning was to create a story board and shot list, which involved deciding on the shots we were going to take, how they were going to be framed and considering the placement of camera once on set. During the shoot I helped to arrange the set before hand and was then on camera and sound for the duration of the shoot. This involved framing the shots, controlling any camera movement and ensuring that the audio was clear.

2. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, filming and editing?

When planning we had to make sure that our ideas were achievable, by making sure that we could film everything in the given time and decided how we would arrange the set for filming and how this would effect camera placement. During filming, we had to consider the camera placement to ensure we didn't break the 180-degree rule. We had to ensure that we were not filming when the bell ran, to avoid the noise of the bell and the movement of people after it. We had to ensure the action in our CU and OTS shots was as similar as possible to the action in the master shot. During editing, we had to ensure our editing was smooth to achieve continuity by carefully considering what shots to use, keeping up the pace of the clip by using a variety of shot types and correctly bridging sound.

3. How successful was your sequence? Did you manage to demonstrate match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot and 180-degree rule? Did you achieve continuity overall?

I think my sequence was quite successful as I managed to match-on-action successfully in my edit, as seen when Oliver walks through the door. During filming we kept to the 180-degree rule. Shot-reverse-shot was used successfully to add suspense and conflict to the interrogation scene. Overall I achieved continuity, however differences in lighting throughout the scene takes from this slightly.

4. What have you learnt from completing this task?

From completing this task I have learnt the importance of continuity in film and how to achieve this both in filming and editing. I have also learnt the importance of ensuring that the lighting on a set is correct and the same throughout a scene to improve its continuity.