Life on Mars re-creation

Life On Mars 

Research and planning:

As part of our planning we first watched the clip to inform ourselves on the content of the extract and then we worked methodically through it, identifying the shots. We also documented the shot duration, shot type and key details featuring the mise-en-scene. By recorded these crucial details, this task will be significant help in replicate this extract as accurately as possible.
We also double checked our data by confirming detail with the other groups which made our results more accurate.


Time and location rekey

Our next task required us to brainstorm locations of where we would replicate the shots which resembles the mise- en-scene and background in the extract. We decided that we were going to focus our filming in 5 main areas which had similar qualities to the extract but was also accessible to us during school hours.


Likewise we also listed props that we would need which would help make our footage seem more realistic. Although we do not have the exact replica of the props and costumes in the clip, we thought of alternatives that could be utilised for the same purpose and effect.

Filming experience 

My filming experience was fairy successful as I managed to capture all the shots i needed to recreate the extract from life on mars. During my experience i found that the lighting caused a minor problem as i wanted to capture the sunlight in a specific angle whilst still having the greenery in the background. despite this issue proving most difficult we managed to capture some shots that were appropriate. likewise another problem that accumulated whilst filming, was during the first scene where we unconsciously positioned Aimee lying the wrong way which meant we had to re-film. Although this meant that we needed more time to film, this made all our footage correct. Other than these two factors the rest of my filming experience went really well.

Editing experience 

Editing my recreation of the life on mars extract proved both difficult and frustrating at certain points which helped me to learn about the process. For example the primary struggle that accumulated was the beginning shot. we filmed excellent footage of our characters eyes but then came to he realisation that she was lying the in opposite direction in which resembled the clip. we first tried to mirror the footage using some sort of editing tool.  in order to save time. I searched ways in which this could be done but only effects that applied to a more up to date software allowed you to do this. despite the hassle, we decided to re-film this section of the sequence and correct our previous mistake.

likewise another struggle that occurred was finding the right shots that mimicked the extract as much as possible. As i filmed a verity of of different shot types of the greenery, it was difficult to distinguish between them and choose the best footage as they were all fairly similar. 

After finally choosing the best pieces of camerawork it was fairly easy editing them together by following the timetable that we previously had made for our research and planning exercise. 

A further complication during my editing experience was trying to replicate the exact shot durations as the software i am using is not very advanced so did not show the exact timings. Equally as we were missing the beginning of clip due to complications i mentioned earlier, this also added to the difficulty or reconstructing the extract.

In continuation, another complication was the shot duration as many of the footage was not long enough meaning i had to either duplicate the same footage, add parts of other footage or slow down the speed to make the shot duration longer.

Colour corrector 

I did this discretely by changing the footage to similar footage when the person blinked. This meant when the person re- opened their eye, you would not be able to tell that i changed the footage had changed as i also altered the video filter so they would be identical.

In conjunction, apart from these glitches, i found the rest of the experience very smooth and easy as i have practiced my editing skills in my GCSE practical exam for example, adding flash frames was not possible but i quickly realised i could create a similar effect by using the dip to white video transition.

I also implimented a transition so that i could overlap the same footage but backwards as i didn't have enough of that type of footage.  This saved me both time and effort not having to film more footage. 

Continuity Exercise

Continuity Exercise Reflection 
We were presented with a task whereby we would have to create a short clip of an encounter between two people where we would have to include the three continuity rules: match on match action, the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.

Match on Match Action 

Whilst filming this exercise I realised the importance of the 'match on match action' rule as it required us to edit sufficiently so that it eradicated the possibility of showing an event happening twice.

For example it would have been very easy to have first edited the character opening the door and then from the second shot filmed her re- opening the door from another angle.

This could have been an easy mistake but by following the match on match action rule, we made a conscience effort to avoid making this error even whilst filming.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule requires the camera shorts to be filmed on one side of the conversation in order to keep the audience orientated. This was fairly difficult as it meant we were limited in the amount of shots and spaces we could uses in order to satisfy the rule. Apart from the initial difficulty, we quickly adapted and chose angles within 180 degrees from our first camera angel.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot revers shot was part of the components that we had to incorporate within our short clip to convey both sides of the conversation. This was very important within our sequence as it conveyed to the audience the anger and emotion of the characters. This informed them of who was more dominant andwhat their feelings were towards the other person.