Evaluation Question 7Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned from it to the

product?

The journey from the preliminary task to our final piece has been an interesting but enjoyable experience. Along the way I have developed and gained a lot of knowledge about the quality of the shots, the image quality, the sound quality and the continuity. All of which have helped contribute to a higher quality of film making.

Quality of the shot

In the preliminary task the opening shot followed Tom as he walked towards the door to open it. When filming this I held the tripod loosely in my hands and walked forwards and managed to get the shot in one take when filming for Covert we planned out the shots a lot more intricately. We planned for the shot when Dan runs off towards the steps by walking the sequence through slowly at first to build up an idea of how far back the camera should be from Dan in order to keep him in frame and capture all the action. Also we decided that we wanted the use of the camera to reflect a lot more of the characters feelings when planning for Covert. So this is why we chose the handheld camera to follow Dan to reflect his characters inhabitation and worries. Whereas for the preliminary task the use of the camera didn’t realy reflect anything it just captured the action.

Quality of the Shot

In the preliminary task I have used a close up with the camera to present Emma’s face. The problem is however is that not all of her head is included inside the frame which distracts the viewer from the sequence. Also Tom can be seen at the side of the frame behind Emma and because he might not be in the correct place this might lead to some continuity issues in the filming. In Covert when Dan and I are talking we planned out the shots with the story boards. We managed to include both characters inside the frame, meaning that they can exchange dialogue without the audience being distracted by dramatic change in framing from shot to shot. Also we filmed this scene multiple times from different angles so that we had many options to choose from in the editing process and also meaning that there would be less mistakes for continuity errors.

Quality of the image

One big difference between the preliminary task and the main task was the camera that we used. For the pre-lim task we borrowed a standard Panasonic camcorder from media and filmed everything on that. Then for the main task we used my DLSR Cannon 600d as well as a Rode video microphone for sound. This made massive improvements to our picture and audio quality. When filming the pre-lim task the lighting could have been improved, because some of the shots were filmed facing the windows the light was not shining onto the things we wanted to film but rather directly into the camera meaning that Tom became a silhouette. So when filming the main task we made sure to correct this when filming outside and allowing ourselves plenty of natural light that meant everything was lit up and could be seen cleary.

Quality of the image

In the pre-lim task we edited the footage together straight away and uploaded the video. The colours in the video are all very basic and as I mentioned before not all that clear. When editing Covert we decided to use a colour correcting technique on all the clips. This helped to draw out certain tones and highlights giving the film a distinct look as well as making it look more cinematic. It also helped to make the footage clearer and more intresting so it would engage the audience and allow them to continue watching.

Quality of Sound

In the pre-lim task we didn’t experiment much with sound and kept the dialogue simple with all of it being diegetic so that each clip flowed from one another easily without having to much interference with audio quality. When editing Covert we knew very early on that we wanted some non diegetic music in the form of a soundtrack over the top of the action to create the cinematic feel that our piece needed. After Jack found a track that best suited the sequence we trimmed it down so that it fitted the clips at the right points such as the crescendo as the bus passes. We also added the ambient sound of a city at the beginning and using the editing tools faded it in softly build into the film. Then at the very end we re-recorded the phone call conversation between Jack and I and added a telephone sound effect over the top of the audio file to give it the crackly effect. This we placed at the end as Dan walks away so that it was separate from the action.

Continuity

When we filmed the pre- lim task everyone was dressed in their normal clothes because we hadn’t discussed costume or anything. However when we planned for Covert we discussed in detail what everyone would wear depending on their characters role in the film. For Dan because his character is the protagonist he wore lighter clothing to show he was a good character and to allow him to stand out. I wore darker clothing to reflect my characters mysterious personality as well as his formality. And Jack wore the suit to reflect the characters formal nature and the sunglasses to show his serious nature. This all helped to show the audience straight away who each character was rather than leaving them with an empty character.

Continuity

In our pre-lim task we did include some shot on shot action demonstrating our understanding of continuity. Tom stands in the door way and reaches up to the light switch, we then cut from a medium wide angle to a close up of his hand hitting the switch. This was very basic and did not use interesting shot types or camera movements. In Covert there were many moments for continuity throughout the sequence. Such as after the henchman looses Flynn he rubs his head then drops his hand. To capture this moment we filmed Jack acting out the movement with a handheld camera to convey his frustration. We then edited the two moments together so they flowed into one another and continued the sequence.

Continuity

Some of the shots towards the end of the pre-lim task are too short and are edited to close to one another meaning that certain moments are lost and the flow of continuity is imprecise. When editing Covert we made sure to lengthen out clips if needs be such as at the beginning when Dan is walking. The shots are longer so that they cut into one another seamlessly and do not distract the audience from the sequence.