Evaluation Question 7

“Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?”

Preliminary Evaluationhttp://marysasthrillerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/preliminary-task-evaluation.html

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Costume Simple suits for agents; casual clothes for criminal. We didn’t put much thought into costumes, just wearing what we could find

We put everyone in smart, dark clothing to represent their characters. The antagonist had sunglasses to add an air of mystery to the character and a waistcoat instead of a normal coat to set him apart form the protagonists

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Lighting The lighting was artificial and didn’t look good as it lowered the quality of the film. It also didn’t add the mysterious, interrogation room effect that we wanted and planned for

The lighting was natural as we filmed outside, however, we had to be aware of the changing light over the course of the late afternoon and so made sure that we filmed everything in chronological order so there were no scenes later in the film that were brighter than the earlier scenes

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Actors We used the people in our group as actors in our preliminary task for convenience as we would all be available at the same times to film (during media lessons) and it would be easier to communicate

We used our group members for our actors, again because of communication and convenience of everyone clearly understanding the aims and plot of the film, but also because we all seemed to fit the roles well, with Elliot and I as ‘hunted protagonists’ and Dan as the ‘emotionless antagonist’

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Makeup As all characters were male and there was no direct light on their faces, makeup seemed unnecessary so none was used

Again, two of the characters were male, and the only female had no close ups that required makeup. Like the preliminary, there was no direct light on faces so none was required to reduce shine or glare either

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Props We required a pen and a ‘contract’ (a piece of paper), but we also had a mug on the table to make the scene look more real

The briefcase was the main requirement for the film, and we needed items to put inside it (scene cut out) including a memory card, a cloth and a piece of paper with ‘Run’ written on it. We originally intended for Dan to have a gun, but we thought the problems that may arise from having a gun, even a fake one, in public, would be too much of a hassle. He also had a pocket watch to make him look more professional and serious

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Setting We used an office and a corridor at school as our setting. Because it was at school, it was very accessible and allowed us sufficient access and time to film. However, it doesn’t look like an interrogation room, and the mise-en-scene of the posters on the walls and the clutter on the desk ruined it slightly

We used Desborough Island, Desborough Bridge, and the nearby tow-path for our setting. We felt that it worked well because it was very secluded and quiet and gave us a variety of areas, including bushes, roads and the bridge to film. There was also a lot of room for the actors, and the person filming (with a large tripod) too.

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Sound We didn't spend much time looking for suitable music as we weren't sure what sort of music our story required. In the end, we used a short piece of music from The Bourne Identity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYaso7QeXqU)

When it came to finding a soundtrack for our final task, we struggled quite significantly. We knew what sort of mood we wanted to create, but nothing that we found seemed to work. Eventually, Dan decided to make an original piece of music that would be made to fit our film exactly. He used a sequencer and made a video on how to use it: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5wIfcyv458). The music fitted the film really well and created the tension that we had wanted it to, however, I think a few things about it could have been changed, such as the ending, which should have had a ‘big finish’, and the volume of it could have been a little louder in places.

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Camera Angles

We used all the specified techniques, such as match on match action, but there wasn’t much of a variety of other angles. We used one high angle shot to show Dan lying on the floor, dead, but there were no tracking, panning, or low angle shots

By making a table of shots in order of filming, it made it easier to put a wider variety of shots into our film as we knew what we were doing before filming it, instead of just filming and choosing shots as we went along, as was the case with our preliminary task.

ComparisonsPreliminary Task Final Task

Editing The editing of our preliminary task was reasonably easy. The chronology of the shots was obvious, and there were no significant problems with it. It would have been better if the pace of the editing had varied to create tension, but as the film was so short and most of it was an interaction between two people, it was difficult to add pace to it.

We spent a long time editing our final task because we found that we kept wanting to change the order of some of the shots – mainly during the parallel editing sequence of Elliot waking up and me running. We also had a few problems, such as a week before the deadline, our whole project was deleted so we had to start the editing again from scratch. However, I am very happy with the editing overall, because it conveys the meaning effectively, and builds up the tension throughout because of the fast pace in some places and the slow pace in others.

In conclusion, I feel that in the progression from the preliminary to the final task, I learnt a lot and improved in every area.

A lot more work and detail went into the planning of the final task than it did into the preliminary, and it clearly shows. In the preliminary task, the lighting was bad, the music was unplanned and didn’t really fit properly, the camera angles were unvaried and the mise-en-scene was barely thought about or adjusted.

However, for our final task, we thought about the chronology of the natural lighting and how we had to film in order, we made our own music, pre-planned and wrote out our camera angles and shot lengths and spent a long time making sure that the mise-en-scene worked and suited the genre.

Conclusion

Over the course of the project, I feel that I have learnt a lot about every section of creating a media product such as this.

I’ve found out how much work is actually required to properly plan not only the story, but also the actual filming of it. I’ve also had to improve my time management skills by setting aside enough time to complete all the work, such as the planning and research, as well as making time to film and edit.

I’ve also learnt how to use many pieces of software and technology, especially editing software, which I had never learnt how to properly use before. Also, using websites to present my work, such as Slideshare, Prezi and Blogger, has given me a wider knowledge of programmes that can be used for such things.

I’ve also become more critical of my own work which has been useful, especially when planning the final task, because I could see more easily where the improvements needed to come from when looking at my preliminary task.

Conclusion