Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

from it to the full product?

Evaluation Question 7

Overview

I feel I have learnt a huge amount since the Preliminary Task, I was actually quite surprised when looking back at our Preliminary Task to see how much our skills have developed!

180 Degree Rule

Adhering to the 180 degree rule is something I have certainly improved on. In the Preliminary Task we broke the rule and as a result had to re-shoot, this at the time was incredibly frustrating. However this time round we didn’t break the rule, perhaps breaking it was a blessing in disguise, it goes to show that I developed my understanding of the rule during this task.

Technology

Another thing I have learned is how we can’t heavily rely on technology! In the Preliminary Task we had a problem where our first shoot failed due to sound not being picked up, this was because the microphone was not working properly. This taught me that you have to watch back your shots, making sure they are all right. That way you would realise if you had done something wrong. This was a lesson I learned and we applied it to the main task, we would frequently watch back what we had filmed, just to make sure it was what we wanted.

Choosing Shots One thing I have also learned is that not such

a huge variety of shots is needed, sometimes in certain genres less shots are more professional and conventional. Looking back at my Preliminary Task, I realised that we used quite a few shots, whether they were Long Shots, Extreme Long shots, Close-Ups or anything else. However we felt in our main piece a less variance of shots was needed, this prompted us in editing to focus on what looked best, not editing in a way that meant our shots were all varied. I think looking at our main task, the choice of shots is much better.

Preliminary Task Shots

Main Task Shots

Colour The use of colour is something

else that I’ve learned a lot about. If you look at our Preliminary Task, no thought whatsoever was put into colour! However for our main task, we used colour to create a contrast between Aaron Allen and the Politician. We used black and white for Aaron Allen and normal for the Politician. I have learnt colour can be especially important in thriller films, the use of colours like black can designate someone shady and mysterious, we have used this for our opening.

Pace

Pace is another area that I’ve learnt is an important part. Our first rough cut was very slow paced, it didn’t fit in with the thriller genre at all. We realised this and had to shoot again, this time with more shots to allow a greater pace to the edit. Then our second cut was deemed to slow as well, then we got yet more shots. The criticism was correct however, looking back on it making it quicker was a key moment in our progress.

Outside Sound The use of sound is another thing that I

realised is very important. In our Preliminary Task we filmed in a place where many people would walk through the setting, this caused frustration, it took us twice as long to film than it should’ve done due to the disruption. We knew that for the main task we needed to make sure there was no background noise, so we chose a very secluded setting, this meant that there wasn’t any sound that we didn’t need.

Soundtrack Using a soundtrack also helped us to make

the piece more conventional. As our Preliminary Task was about half a minute, there was no need for a soundtrack, however with our piece being a film opening and also being over 2 minutes in length, it meant that we had to put in a soundtrack. Our soundtrack was a stylised one, it helped us to make the film opening sound more like a thriller. This was through the soundtrack matching the pace of our opening and how the soundtrack built up in suspense, something conventional of thriller soundtracks.

Setting The setting of the product is also something I’ve

learnt about. The significance of the setting is something I’ve learnt through doing this task. For the Preliminary Task our setting wasn’t given much thought, looking back on this it is clear we seemed to use quite a boring location (although we did have to change). We decided to give the setting more thought for our main task, our results were that we would use a setting we could make look like a government agent’s house or some room that he would do some activities. We put a lot of work into it, this included finding a light bulb to make the right amount of brightness in our piece. Looking at our main task, the setting is one of the main advantages to it.

Contrast of Setting

Mise-En-Scene Perhaps the thing that I’ve learnt

the most about is how important mise-en-scene is. Whether it is creating records and certificates or even just sticking a logo on a wall, it is all important. Mise-en-scene gives the audience clear ideas about things like setting, time periods and more. Looking back at the Preliminary Task, not much thought was put in to it, however looking at the main task I have learnt how important mise-en-scene is to the product.

Filming Enough Footage Perhaps the most frustrating part of our piece

was how we didn’t film enough footage. We had to shoot four separate occasions for our main task. This wasn’t as many as other groups, however looking back we should’ve got filming done quicker. This has meant that our final edit isn’t 100% how we would like it, a couple of shots are too long, but it is close enough. This was one area where we didn’t work so well as a group as there was a lot of indecision over what to film, but we got there in the end and were pleased with our overall result.

Overall I have learnt a large amount during the transition from the Preliminary Task to the main task. I feel the skills that I have developed or picked up in this time has helped me to be part of a group which has produced a strong film opening.