Evaluation Q7 - David Brady

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

•   Looking back at my Preliminary task I feel that I've progressed in terms of my confidence with the equipment, research, planning. That I now understand the importance of lighting and filters and that the research and planning before production starts is as important as the filming is.  

Pre-Production

          Unlike in preliminary we learnt to storyboard what we are going to film, before we film, we created a shot list of the shots we wanted to use. This meant that we were more prepared to film. 

          

One part of our storyboard

          Due to this planning before we filmed we were able to create a better opening, as we knew that on both days of shooting what we needed to get done, what shots we were going to use and how we waned it to look.

        Comparing this to our preliminary where we didn’t do any intensive planning, we had to find a location to film, where as we had different location spots for our opening already planned. This meant that we were wasting time looking for a spot to film instead of filming the whole time given to us. 

          An example of finding the location, we took photos of the locations we were considering and then decided which one was better. 

          

       

          I feel that I’ve progressed in terms of planning as in the opening we were more prepared, and spent more time on the storyboard getting ideas onto paper so that there was no need to improvise when filming.                                                                           

        I also learnt the importance of lighting from planning and research as we learnt about 3 point lighting, which we could have used in the preliminary to improve the shot, but we used effectively in the opening.

Preliminary task

          For example in the preliminary the character was hard to see when he came through the door. If we had access to lights we could have improved it.

          Unlike in the preliminary in the opening we had lights that allowed us to create different shadows on the face of the character, this is an example of how the planning has helped me improve as I now understand how useful lighting is. 

Opening

    

We conducted research into thrillers where as we didn’t do any research for the preliminary. I've improved in my understanding in the genre, as I’ve learnt from the research that a thriller is anything that creates tension and isn't a horror. This research into the thrillers in cinemas now, conducting questionnaires and interviews is important as it means that in our opening we are creating a thriller and not a horror.

This helped produce our thriller as we had an understanding of the types of film that we wanted ours to be like and drew comparisons from them. This meant that when filming we had a clear aim of what we wanted our film to be.

Production

I feel I have progressed in terms of production through the shot types I used. In the preliminary we used very basic shots, no high or low angle shots, no close ups and there was lots of long drawn out shots that we could have broken up with different shots.

PP

Preliminary

However in the opening I used more advance shots, such as a high angle shot, looking down from above the antagonist. This is a better use of the camera and it makes the clip more interesting as we are seeing what the antagonist are seeing. 

Opening

          

We also used a tracking shot in our opening which is more advanced than just having a long shot as the character walks away. Shown Below are the two comparisons. 

          As you can see the in the opening we used the tracking shot, compared to just the long shot that is long and is quite boring to view. This shows how I improved in the shot types and movements that we used in the opening.

Production - match on action

          In our preliminary we didn’t have great match on action, for example, he drops the bag but doesn’t pick it back up. Although this has allowed us to understand where we messed up and how to avoid this in our opening. For example we keep the knife in the same hand the whole time. 

          The match on action wasn't good here as he arrives and puts his bag down. However when he leaves he doesn't pick it back up. This shows that in our preliminary we didn't fully understand or due to the lack of experience or understanding that we didn't notice that he left without picking the bag back up.


       

          Whereas in our opening we made sure that we kept the match on action by making sure that he kept the knife in his left hand for the whole time from when he came into the room until he stopped using it. 

          Another mistake in our preliminary is that there was no control over the setting, that there was no people in one shot and loads of people in the next. This meant that the match on action was bad.

First theres no people

Then there is loads of people

          Whereas in our opening we had control over the setting and we made sure that everything on the desk stayed in the same place throughout filming so that it looked the same.

         We especially made sure that the photo frame remained in the same spot as it was an important part of the filming, and if it moved then the match on action will be ruined.

Production - 180 degree rule

       

          We were successful in following the 180 degree rule in both our preliminary and our opening. This is important that we do this as otherwise the character will jump from one side of the screen to the other.

        This is the example from the preliminary where we used the 180 degree rule effectively. We made sure that we didn't cross over the line as otherwise it wouldn't make sense. 

         Although we did break the rule once in the opening, however we did it on purpose as it takes the audience out of their comfort zone and it illiterates the idea that our character has done a bad thing and it lets the audience know that. 

By us crossing over the line for the 180 degree rule we have broken the comfort of the audience making them feel on edge. This is important because we wanted to get the message across to the audience that he killed the person in the photo and the best way to show that was by breaking the 180 degree rule.

Post-production 

          I feel I've progressed in post production, especially in editing as Ive developed the idea of continuity editing. In our preliminary we had good continuity throughout, when he opens the door, its at the same place on the other side, so the door doesn’t jump back in the second shot. 

          In our opening we kept the continuity throughout as when he slams the door open and starts walking we cut to a tracking shot, which is edited so that he starts walking on the same foot to keep the continuity.

          I felt that I have progressed in using the editing software as the cuts we make In our opening are much better and look more than profesional those in the preliminary.

As you can see the fast cuts make the editing look better and adding the white flash helped create tension, however in the preliminary i didn't know how to do this.

I now feel more confident with the equipment than I did doing the preliminary. I now have a better understanding of the camera, knowing how to use its technical features such as ISO and white balancing to make sure that our shots look the right color. 

          I feel that our end product has been very successful at completing the task of creating an opening of a thriller. This is because we used both conventions of a normal opening such as, titles, credits and music. As well as the conventions from thrillers such as, lighting, the use of close ups and breaking the rule of thrids for tension.

          I feel that the opening we created is a successful thriller opening as it creates tension and more importantly it makes the audience ask questions which is important as we want them to stay on edge for the whole film and not be bored by repetitive overused cliches such as running away. 

          Finally, I feel that the opening has been successful at setting up a plot for the rest of the film, as it doesn’t give too much away yet tells the audience enough so that they have to ask questions that wont be answered to later in the film.