Question 7 by anisha.ali on emaze

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Preliminary vs Final

During the process of making our preliminary and final video of the opening sequence it consisted of the following:
-Research
-Pre-production
-Planning
-Filming
-Editing

Preliminary: Research

During our preliminary the things that we learnt about in class were different camera shots and angles. Also, we learnt about match cutting and the 180 degree rule.

However, we didn't consider to do more research into different types of shots and what their effects are. Therefore, we didn't have to right skills in order to make our prelim more effective and better.

Final Film Opening: Research

In comparison to our preliminary, a lot more research had gone into our final film opening. We had researched into different sub genres of teen drama films. Not only were we able to find out about different shots used by different genres, but we were able to see the order of the credits in the opening sequence. By doing this research we were able to distinguish the difference between the credits introduced in independent productions and mainstream productions.

Also, we had a lesson beforehand on filming. In this lesson we covered, how to film different shots, how to focus and rules e.g. not to leave too much space over the persons head in the shots.

The Preliminary: Pre-Production

For our preliminary we were given a script which we had to follow. Time and location were are limitations for the preliminary. We only had a lesson to film all of our shots therefore we didn't have time to re-shot. Due to time, we couldn't go out of the college to film our scenes, so we had to use the college corridors.

Also, we didn't have many props so we just decided to use an energy bottle can.

Furthermore, we didn't plan a storyboard which meant that the shots were improvised

The location used was the corridor besides the stairs. We felt that this was a good location as we could have someone looking through the door which went ideally with our storyline

Location: College corridor and staircase

Final Film Opening: Pre-Production

For our final opening sequence we had done a lot of research and gathered a lot of information about youth teen dramas.

Through the use of Blogger we were able to put our ideas together for our pitch which really helped towards our final film. The pitch helped us get our ideas together from the locations that we were going to use to the props needed.

One improvement that we made from our preliminary was that we prepared a storyboard. This was very useful as we were able to follow a structure rather than wasting time on improving shots.

The location used in our final film were much more visually interesting, as we had backgrounds with graffiti. This helped us show the audience the gritty urban area. This also represented the working class teenagers who are mainly involved in gangs and are in illegal activities. For props we used cigarettes to show how teenagers can be rebellious and are up to no good

Location

Preliminary: Filming

For our preliminary we had a lot of mistakes in it. Some of the mistakes included badly framed shots, bad lighting and awkward angels. These mistakes distracted the audience from the narrative. Also, there were certain rules that we didn't take into account as we didn't research into it beforehand.

Lighting

The lighting here was very bad as the camera was facing the window. Also, we didn't have the filter on. Therefore, you aren't able to make out the actors expressions or body language, which can be very hard for the audience to understand whats happening.

Framing

As we didn't do further research into framing we didn't know that there shouldn't be too much space above the actors head. Also, in this shot the actors are too much to the left and not centre and other things within the frame e.g. the fire extinguisher, can distract the audience from what is happening in the scene

Final Film: Filming

In our final film most of the shots were taken outside therefore we made sure to use the filter on the camera when appropriate. We also ensure that in our frames the characters took up most of the space and when they didn't take up most of the space it was to show the setting and other elements of the mise-en-scene. This was due to the heavy research that had gone into looking at what goes into youth teen dramas.

Mise-en-scene

In this shot you can see that the actor doesn't take up most of the space on the scene. This is so that we can show the job centre sign. This helps the audience form a view about the male protagonist.

Framing

The framing in this shot was much better to the shots in our preliminary. This is because the actor filled up most of the space and there is no space above the head. Also, there isn't too much happening in the background which distracts the audience was from the storyline.

Preliminary: Editing

For our preliminary we only had one lesson to edit, therefore we were rushed. Our match cuts were jumpy and weren't seamless resulting in our film to lack in continuity. We had used Final cut Pro to edit and as we were quite new to the software we found it difficult to use. Although, we struggled along the editing process we tried to keep our editing as smooth as possible. There were no sounds added on such as Foley sounds or any soundtrack. However, the only sounds that we did have we the actors voices which weren't very clear.

Final Film: Editing

To edit our final film we had used final cut pro again. However, this time we were more confident in using it as we had practised using it many times beforehand.

In Final Cut Pro we were able to trim clips to our liking and this time we were able to match cut more successfully this time.

During the editing process we also used Motion to create our credits in and edited in to the film with the use of Final cut Pro. We also used Camtasia to had in our texting scenes in.

Furthermore, we were able to add sounds this time such as a range of Foley sounds and we were able to add music into it. We learnt how to fade in and out sound.

Conclusion

During the process of making our final film we had learnt a variety of skills and gained a lot of knowledge along the way. This can clearly we seen through the improvements that we made from our preliminary to our final film.