Homeland Continuity Task

1. What was your role in the task and what did you actually do?
I was the director in our team during both pre-production and production. In pre-production I organised our team and gave everyone else their tasks and made sure we weren't forgetting about any aspect of making our short film. I mainly collaborated with Dara, who was the camera operator, to make a shot list with our shot angles, types and to make sure we had complete coverage for the continuity element of this task. During our shoot, Dara put the camera where we agreed earlier and we shot from the widest shots to the closest ones. I mainly focused on making sure we got the shots and would choose whether to do another take or move on, judging whether we got what we needed before doing so.

2. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, filming and editing?
When planning our task, we focused on our brief which outlined the importance of continuity. To ensure that this objective was met, we planned our shot list with the 30 degree and 180 degree rule in mind and made sure to get varied shots. On the shoot, ensured the match-on-action by keeping an eye on the actors' movements and actions, to ensure they were doing it in the same way every time. In the edit, I flicked through the shot changes (particularly for beginning of the sequence) to ensure that there were no skips or repetitions within movements.

3. How successful was your sequence? Did you manage to demonstrate match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot and the 180 degree rule? Did you achieve continuity overall?
I think that our sequence was quite successful in achieving continuity as we demonstrated it quite well following Harvey's character from outside, into the corridor and the interrogation room. I think that the match-on-action rule was particularly successful as the shots link together well and flow through smoothly in both the door opening sequences and the file transfer in the hallway. As well as this, I think we followed the 180 degree rule consistently, particularly thanks to the fact that the table was on the wall and so it would've been difficult for us to film it from the other side anyway. Despite this, I think that Zain's positioning and the positioning of the folder are problematic in certain parts, as it sometimes jumps from being closed and pushed away to being open in the next shot. This is mainly due to the nature of the over-the-shoulder shot that we chose to use as it meant that Zain's head's positioning and the edge of the folder could always be seen. However, this could've been easily resolved during the shoot by giving Zain direct instructions of when to close and place the folder back down on the table.

4. What have you learnt from completing this task?
From completing this task, I learnt to give actors specific directions about props and their actions, when blocking scenes, to ensure continuity. I also learnt the importance of making a shot list in the location beforehand, for both coverage of shots and positioning of shots, which would massively speed up the shoot, as the camera operator would be made clear of what they need to do, ensuring that I, as the director, can focus more on the actors and other mise-en-scene elements to make sure what is inside the frame is perfect.