Evaluation Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you fell you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project?

Our 'aglet' opening sequence (Group 4: Georgina, Alex, Phoebe & Olamide)

Our Preliminary task (Georgina &Prudence)

Briefs: 

The brief for the prelim was to create a"continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule." and the brief for our opening sequence was "to produce a 2 minute opening sequence for a fiction film...It should be clear from your sequence who the target audience is."

A key difference between the prelim and the film brief was that the prelim gave very specific instructions and expectations whereas the film brief gave us more freedom with what to create. I think that it was important for the prelim brief to be very precise as without it I think I would have struggled with knowing what to do in regards to expectations and shot types.

My approach to the prelim was one of strongly sticking to the brief and to time. However, it was also a very educational experience as it was the first piece of media practical that I had ever done. The impact of my approach to the prelim was the same in the film brief in regards to following the brief and keeping to time. However, what I did differently as a result was to plan more clearly and take considerably more shots to increase our editing possibilities.

Pre-Production:

The prezi below illustrates the differences in the two periods of Pre-Production and the impact that Pre-Production in the Prelim had on Pre-Production in the Film Brief:




Production:

Prelim:

• In the prelim my role in the shoot was to film the earlier shots, to be one of the actors and I also set up the room. 
• We stuck very closely to the shooting script as we only had 1 hr 20 minutes to film all our shots. 
• We closely followed the shot order to stay on time.
• We attempted to achieve a seamless narrative
• Used a master which we could use to break up the shot/reverse shot

Film Brief: In the film brief my role in the shoot was to film some of the nature shots such as those at the jetty and some at the house. Compared to the Prelim we took many more takes to ensure that we had suitable shots for when we were editing our sequence.

Impact of the Prelim:

Learnt From The Prelim:

• the importance of taking lots of takes even if the first one seems good enough
• the importance of working to time and if necessary to run over (which happened in the Back-Up shoot)
• the importance of teamwork to achieve all we set out to achieve

Did Differently:

• worked less to shooting schedule as despite getting all the shots we also tried out alternatives
• we shot not fully in the order of the shoot board but then re-organised into locations which we then followed at the next shoot

Used From The Prelim:

• hopefully achieved a seamless narrative
• used master shots that we could always revert back to in editing
• followed the 180 degrees rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot to achieve continuity and give us editing possibilities

Examples of 180 degree, match on action and shot/reverse shot can be seen below:

Film Brief 180 degree rule

Prelim 180 degree rule

Film Brief Match On Action

Prelim Match On Action

Film Brief Shot/Reverse Shot

Prelim Shot/Reverse Shot

Post-Production:

The image below illustrates what I did on Premier Pro in the Prelim and the Film Brief and how the Prelim impacted the Post-Production in the Film Brief:

Evaluation:

The evaluation in the prelim was mainly how successfully we thought the task had gone whereas in these evaluation posts I have given examples and explanation in many different areas.

Timeline:

Below is a timeline which illustrates how my technical ability has increased from the Prelim to the Film Brief:

Conclusion:

I am very pleased with the final outcome as the final sequence looks very similar to what I first imagined. Given more time I would try to do the bullying scene differently and try to use less dialogue for it as I believe that the conflict scene is the weakest part of our opening.

My knowledge of the process needed to create a film opening has improved immeasurably but I feel that I have coped well with all these new experiences. My knowledge of filming, editing and equipment has increased greatly and I am much more confident in my application of theories (such as binary opposites and the enigma code). This project has shown me the time, effort and determination needed in film making and how important good planning and pre-production is.