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

product?

Ali Fayyaz

Quality of holding a shot steadyIn our preliminary task we used a tripod for some of our shots but not all this meant some of our shots were unsteady. We learnt from this mistake and in our real product we made sure we used the tripod throughout the film, the only time we didn’t used a camera was when Isaac was running in the ‘Point-of-view’ shot and even that shot was unsteady but that was planned as he was moving quick. Apart from that we used a tripod the whole way through the opening. We learnt that using a tripod makes a big different in the shot as it give the shot a more professional look and this is shown by how the camera is still is not moving up and down due it being unsteady. Such as we showed this by the long shots of the tow different characters and you can see that the camera is still making the shot look better.

Quality of the framing shotsIn our preliminary task we used mid shots, low angle shots and close ups. The framing of the shots were mainly used conversations with the two characters but it lacked in showing the mise-en-scene. Although there was over-the-shoulder shot that did allow us to see the mise-en-scene but seeing the mise-en-scene in our preliminary task was rare. What we did wrong in the task was when filming the subtle low and high angle shots we were making it look like Theo was a small person looking down at someone and the way I looked up at Theo showed that I was looking up to more of a giant. This showed that we could of adjusted the framing to make it to look more subtle. We learnt that in an angle shot we should check how it looks like before we start to record and see if the framing looks right by making sure the person in the shot was in the right place in the camera. We showed this by the over-the-shoulder shot of Jay and Karim on the stairs and Jay on the left side and Karim on the right side and seeing the gang entering the frame from the top right of the screen. Making sure everyone could fit in the screen.

Quality of shooting material appropriate to the task set - i.e. the content of your film pre and post editing

was consistent with the exam directivesWhat we were not happy with was the way we filmed me entering the room with out the sign on the door. Before that scene was a sign on the door and when we cut to the next scene of me walking in, the sign is gone and it’s a different door. We believe that this ruined the flow of our task as you can see the mistake clearly and you realise the mistake straight away. This showed we didn't focus on this scene properly, leading it to look poor and unprofessional. Therefore, we learnt for our real product not make any small mistakes that will ruin the flow of our product and in our product we made sure the flow kept going throughout the opening to make sure we learnt from our mistakes. How we did this was by making sure whenever we shot a scene the next scene will show that it is moving forward continuing the flow and we showed this by when Isaac is running towards the ball in a ‘point-of-view’ shot and you can see that he is over the ball at the end of the scene so the next scene is a close up of him kicking the ball straight away, moving on to the next scene of him with the ball.

Quality of selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;

In our preliminary task we didn’t really focus on the mise-en-scene due to us focusing more on the they camera and making sure we got the scenes right. Although we did shoot some areas where you can see the mise-en-scene such as the over-the-shoulder shot of Theo and you can see me walk in and see whats around me because the camera is a bit far allowing you to see the objects and setting around me. In our real product we learnt to focus more on the mise-en-scene and we did this by making sure that whatever object or figure is around us we can use to our benefit. We showed this by when Karim and Jay are on the stairs and when you see the tracking shot of the girl entering the scene, you can see big black bins, paint on the windows scratched off and the part of the construction site in the background. We made sure we filmed this scene specifically like that to link well with our story of where The Gang are supposed to be in the area and to show that this looks like a dirty, rough area under construction to make it look more believable to the audience of how bad the area is.

Quality of editing so that meaning is apparent

to the viewer The editing in our preliminary task was nothing more than basic. As all we wanted to do was to make the scenes look the same as to what it said on our task sheet and when we were editing we wanted to keep the flow going throughout the task even though it didn’t look that way when we finished. How we attempted this was by making the scenes a bit shorter but because we were still new to editing it was a bit confusing on how to do it. In our real product we did learn all the basics of editing and learnt enough of editing to expand our knowledge, like how to cut in between shots and how to crop scenes to make it shorter, etc. Also, by learning how to edit we did manage to keep the flow going throughout the opening. For example, the way Isaac ran towards the ball in one scene and in the next scene to kicked the ball out of the shot.

Quality of using sound with images and editing appropriately to task set;

In our preliminary task we didn’t really use sound except for dialogue. Although there were sound in the background due to mainly the camera making noises as were filming and we felt it was pointless in adding sound as it was unnecessary. In our real product we did use sounds because the sounds we used link well in our opening due to the fact it goes well with our footage and because of our genre being Urban, Youth Culture when you see a gang being introduced they normally have Non-Diegetic sound in the background, most likely being Rap music but we thought it would be better if we showed the actual street life in Britain and just to make it look more like real life so it links well with our genre. We also added Diegetic sound such as traffic noises because we wanted to show the British youth life as the way it would normally be portrayed on a normal day and we chose Diegetic sound as it would show the Urban, Gritty environment in a more realistic way.

Quality of positioning and movements of actors

In our preliminary task the movement of our actors was maybe a bit to stiff as it looked like we were over rehearsed. We didn’t look relaxed at all and so this may have made our lines less persuasive to an audience. So I our real product we made sure before filming our actors were more relaxed to make our film look more believable and a lot more smoother to learn from our mistakes. We positioned our actors well in the sense of what we wanted to film such as right at the beginning of our opening when you see Isaac holding his knees and the camera tracking from the right side to the left and with The Gang on the stairs and the camera moving in the same direction. We showed the comparison of the different characters well due to where the characters we positioned and this helped us show the link and the differnce between the two different characters.

Quality of group planning, meeting targets, organisation

For our preliminary task our group worked well and what we wanted to achieve was straight forward as we knew what we needed to do to meet our targets. All we had to do plan was make a storyboard so we knew where to place the camera, this shows we were organised when doing our preliminary task. Even with our real product we were organised as we had our script and our storyboard which meant we planned it our properly so we knew exactly what we had to do. Also, we communicated well together and we decided to take on different roles to make the pressure on our work lower and it gave us responsibility which we had to take seriously in order for us as a team to succeed in meeting our targets.

Group dynamics, i.e. how did your group work together

Both in our preliminary task and our final piece I think that our group worked really well together, as we knew how important it was in meeting deadlines and working up to specific standards because we knew it was vital to keep the level of work suitable for our likings. I think we communicated better for our real product than in the preliminary task because we knew that this is the real thing so there was no time for mistakes, this meant we were consistent in communicating with each other throughout our product. We gave ourselves specific roles so our group knew what exactly they had to do in order for us to meet our deadlines. We also made sure that everyone had an input in our ideas and had opinions of the ideas, even if they disagreed with the final idea they suggested ways in what we can do to make the final idea better for their likings and ours as a group such as by putting the camera at a specific angle so we can use the tracking shot and use this to introduce the characters.