MY PROGRESSION SINCE THE

PRELIMINARY TASKDavid Marriott

Overview

The creation of our film in the Preliminary Task was important because it gave us a starting point to show where our current knowledge and skills were at. We can then demonstrate what we have learnt over the course in the final film. In particular my use of editing has greatly improved in Adobe Premiere Pro using powerful tools such as CGI to create a much more effective and coherent film. As a group our piece changed dramatically over the weeks with numerous drafts and redrafts as we sought to improve the film as much as we could. Due to this extra care and time put into the film, it is clear to see the difference in quality since the preliminary task.

How I Have Developed

In the Preliminary Task I feel that I wasn’t particularly creative when it came to finding certain camera angles with only one shot being classed as ‘unorthodox’. This meant that when watching the film, the audience did not feel uneasy meaning it was not a very effective horror film. Whereas in the final piece we used many interesting camera angles that would warp the audiences perception in order to make the film more ‘frightening’ to watch. As mentioned previously, the use of editing is very important in a horror film and this is a skill which I have become accustomed to doing. One thing that became clear to me was that the use of audio/music had to become more subtle than just placing a soundtrack over the top of the video. Layering is key in order to build an effective soundtrack. Editing can also get you out of problems you created when shooting your footage. For example one key line in our film was “I’m cooking him dinner tonight” however the shot was not stable enough and was therefore unusable. So I removed the video from this clip and used the audio, placing the clip into the sequence once the fridge door had been shut. This idea would not have come to me in the Preliminary Task, as my head was not capable of thinking in a manner to create the best film.

Examples of Improvement

In the first few drafts of our final film we had some serious issues with continuity. Characters were changing costume and scenes as they pleased, with the story not being completely obvious to the audience. Whilst this was not what we wanted to hear, we went out as a group and re-filmed most of the sequence again. The key focus the second time round was the view that less is more. Beforehand we had tried to shove the entire context and lore of the film into the first two minutes which was never going to work. When compared to the Preliminary Task, all of our film was completed in one day with only one or two sets in use. In the final task we made sure we had costumes, props and a wide variety of sets that were linked to the story that could have been used.

Misé-En-Scéne

The Misé-en-Scéne to a film is very important. If you do not have appropriate costumes or sets then you are not going to make a very convincing horror film. In our Preliminary Task whilst the costumes were not wrong, the use of a hoodie for an official police interview may not be entirely accurate. In the final film we used a variety of costumes that are more likely going to match the characteristics of the characters. In the Preliminary Task, the interviewing room was quite clearly in a school whereas in the final film we used public places to give it a more professional feel.

Sound & Props

In the Preliminary Task we used one singular soundtrack. Whereas in Pastures New each part of the film has its own layered music piece with various tracks sourced to match each other. This meant that it was more immersive for the audience to watch. We also had a wider range of props in our final film. Everyday appliances such as kitchen knives and matches were used to make it feel more domesticated whereas in the Preliminary Task we only used photos as a prop. Even in the final film our use of lighting was carefully monitored in order to create a scarier film. The opening shot features Angus talking to camera. We used our phone flashlights in order to create the bright white light on his face and this gives the whole film an eerier feel.

Cinematography

In our Preliminary Task we overused the over the shoulder shot. Alongside this a lot of our footage was just medium shots. In our final film we tried to be more creative by using long shots as well as severe close ups in order to make the piece feel more varied on the whole. We tried to put aside the necessity of including a match on action and just let it work its way into the film naturally. Furthermore the use of angling was important in order to show to the audience which character is the more powerful one in the piece. This shows a wider range of understanding which we did not have in the Preliminary Task.