My Thoughts on the Test Shots - Jamie

Our test shots have been very useful as we now have a better understanding if some story boarded shots and if the setting will tell the audience about the character in the scenes. The first shot, which involves a transition from out of focus into focus works very well, It is an interesting shot which enables the audience to realise he is trying to create his own video blog of recent events. The second test shot is using the same technique, however I prefer the framing in the second shot, the character doesn't have much space above his head, and the space to either side of his is used to show parts of the setting which give away parts of his personality.
  Shot 3 is filmed from the same area just from the opposite side and angle, again I like the framing of this shot, and I also like what can be seen in the background, for example his messy bed. Shot 4 is quite unique as we have an angled shot which slowly pans upwards until the subject is in the frame. It is designed to show he is playing a games console, I think it does this very well as we have used a light to act as the screen glare you would experience if on a games console. The criticism I have with this shot is that I think the shot could be zoomed in closer to the subject, as there is alot of space above and to the sides of the subject. But, one of the reasons for this was to show how alone he was, but I think it might just be a bit too much.
  Test shot 5 was simply to see how our external light source would work outside in the dark, we can see heavy shadows, this makes the shot seem too artificial. But, we could use the light to make the audience believe there is some sort of outside light in the scene. Our teacher has commented saying that the scene looks unconvincing, I have to agree with what he says and as he is giving us feedback as a member of an audience we must consider what he has said. I think with a few more test shots working with different lighting effects we could create a more realistic feel to the smoking shot. The final test shot is a close up of the character smoking. We wanted to see if a close up of the character trying to smoke would create more of a personal attachment from the audience to the character, and making the audience see the experience from the characters point of view. The test shot is too short to get a good idea of if we have achieved this, however we can see the potential in the shot and I think it should definatly be considered in the final piece.