Reflection Questions for Over the Shoulder Assignment

We weren't able to post our video because it was filmed over, but when we filmed we realized that a lot of though and planning goes into each of your shots before hand. You can't just pick up a camera and start shooting a bunch of shots without any thought at all about how you want it to come out. We planned different shots for different dialogues and parts of the film.

I would say that the group whose video we used followed the rule of thirds pretty well. The character not speaking could have been shifted over just a tad. But it was done pretty well.

The over the should shot puts the focus on the person's face that is being shown. It shows their expressions and makes the viewer feel like he's really talking to the person. Because the only visible part of the other person is the back of his/her head, the viewer's focus is immediately drawn to the face that is "over the shoulder".

The girls' dialoge does not seem very realistic, because their voices aren't very enthusiastic, at some parts. Some challenges were making all the little clips flow together, and making the conversation seem real.

The mood and tone in the film is suspensful, like the viewer's aren't too sure what exactly the news is. This was achieved by the pauses between the two girls' voices. The mood at the end of the film is happy, due to the smiling face of the girl recieving the money.

I really like using this type of shot. I never really realized how much it is used in famous films untill I started learning more about it. I began to notice it in many deep conversations in films. It adds a realistic effect.

I learned from doing this exercise, that we need to plan and think more about what shots we will use and how that will affect the mood and character image BEFORE we start filming. Different shots change the whole perspective from the viewer's point of view.