Marianne Webb and Joe Howlett's A Level Media Preliminary Task Video Analysis

Marianne Webb and Joe Howlett's A Level Media Preliminary Task Video Analysis

The story of this video was one originally made up by our teacher, Mr. Johnson, in which two people meet up to trade money for a bag containing an unknown object.

We made sure to include all the editing techniques:-

• We created Match-On Action when my character enters the room from one side of the door and enters the room on the other side. We created this in two shots, one was of my character on the outside of the room, entering through one side of the door and the other was of my character entering the room on the other side of the door, on the inside of the room. This was meant to show the continuous action of a person going through a door into a room.

• We created an Eye-line Match when, after the trade has been made, the two people look each other in the eyes for a few seconds before the person with the bag leaves. We made this technique in two shots, with each shot showing one of the two people looking in the direction of the other person, making eye contact through the lining-up of the two shots. This was meant to show that the two people find each other suspicious and do not trust each other.

• We created a Shot-Reverse-Shot when the two people are discussing the password and the money. Every time one person talks, the camera switches to an Over-the-Shoulder shot of the opposite person to have a clear view of the talking character "over the shoulder" of the character sitting opposite and to show that the opposite person is looking and listening to the talking character. This is meant to show that the two people are conversing with having a clear view of both characters.

• We used the 180-degree Rule when the two people are having their conversation. The conversation is always shown from the left side of the two people. This was meant to prevent a mix-up from the viewer between the two talking characters.

We made sure that we used each technique accurately and with no mistakes, especially the Shot-Reverse-Shot.

Overall, I think this movie was simple and well done. I think the most positive elements of the movie were, for the most part, the editing techniques. However, we did make a continuity error when filming the Shot-Reverse-Shot. In some shots, on the table behind Joe, the table is empty, but in later shots, there is a book on the table.