Film Production

In one of my media studies lessons, we got into groups of four or five and we had to make our own swede for a chosen film. My group decided to do a swede for Star Wars! I discovered all the different range of shot types that film producers use during making our film. We had to use a surprising amount of these different shots during the making of our film and it was tricky because we had to make sure we used as many as possible, so the film isn't all filmed with the same shot. I also found out about a lot of the demands that need to be met during film production. For example, a film producer needs to have very good organisation, needs to always be on time and meet deadlines, and needs to make sure that each shot is perfect. I.E there can't be any unwanted background in shots. So depending on where the scene is recorded, there can't be posters or advertisements in the background because it ruins the shot. A film producer needs to have good communication skills too. I found that in our group we would often be getting in arguments about where shots are taken / what happens in the shots etc. This is because we all had a different idea about what we wanted from the film, and when the ideas clashed we couldn't think of an alternative, therefore often getting in arguments and wasting the short time we had to make our swede. Planning is also key for film production. My group didn't have a solid plan to follow, thus leading to arguments about what we were doing etc. Where each shot is filmed, who plays which character, the script, which shot types are used and a good time schedule all come under planning. A storyboard is useful as you can plan all those things above for each shot, making the whole thing a lot easier and structured.