Evaluation Question Seven : Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For our preliminary task we were given the task of creating a simple sequence in groups of three. The task involved completing a short film clip where we had to demonstrate a character walking through a door, the short exchange of dialogue between the character and another character and then the view of the character walking away from the scene. We were instructed that we must keep the camera at the same eye-line for each character to ensure a smooth transition when using a shot-reverse-shot technique. Rather than the task being marked on the complex content of the film, we were given a simple task in order to help us develop our skills and knowledge of filming and editing in preparation for our final film opening.

Our preliminary task


Firstly I feel that I learnt alot about how when creating an opening to a film it takes alot more planning than what was put into the preliminary exercise. For the preliminary task we didn't need to put in alot of planning, we were given the task and had to complete the filming within that hour. We had a short discussion in our small groups about what we should do, my group came up with the idea of going down a more comical route and doing a "serious" thumb war, just to the time constraint we decided to use ourselves as the actresses so therefore two of us acted and one filmed, we also came up with a very quick rough idea of how the dialogue would go.  For my final piece firstly I explored many different ideas, recording them all I was able to construct my final idea however unlike the preliminary task which only took us about 10 minutes to come up with our final idea my film took much much longer. I then had to put in a great deal of planning in order to construct a successful opening this included drawing a detail plan of when I was hoping to complete certain tasks by, and key hand in dates. I then had to gather together my ideas about each scene, what content would be present within the scene, what shots and transition I would use within each scene, to present all this detail I had to create a storyboard. I then had to explore the characters, props and setting I wanted for each scene to do this I created a moodboard where I could gather all my ideas together on one canvas board. Similar to the preliminary task I had to create a script, however for my actual piece the script had to be in much more detail, including everything from the dialogue to whether the location in inside or outside.

My Moodboard

My preliminary task also did not involve the level of research that I put into my final piece, as in order to gain knowledge about what makes an effective opening and what does not work so well for the openings to films I researched on you tube pre-existing A level students pieces and also professional openings. However due to a strict time task we could not research prior to carry out our preliminary task, for such a simple synapse I do not think it was necessary to put in any research however I found it very useful to research prior to even writing down any ideas for my actual film.

Examplar of pre-existing AS work that I researched and evaluated for what I thought worked and didnt in order to gain knowledge for my own piece

Similar to the time constraint we were given for filming for the preliminary task we also had only roughly an hour to edit our films, therefore we used continuity editing this kept it simple and meant that we only spent time of cutting down a few of the longer shots, this was very minimal editing however the task was just for us to get used to the editing equipment in preparation for our final piece I do not feel I gained much knowledge on the more complex editing which I used within my final piece therefore I feel learnt a great deal in the progression between the preliminary task and my final piece in terms of editing. For example for my final piece I explored using flashbacks in the use of home videos, I had to edit the clips so that a present day scene would smoothly transfer to a past home video. I also had to do alot of editing in order to create the home video effect, this included manipulating the noise and colour of the clips. In order to my non-digentic dialogue to be heard over the non-digentic music I had to edit the volume of my scenes. Just a few of the ways in which shows the more complex editing skills that I used within my final piece.

'After effects' the editing programme I used alongside premier pro

Unlike the preliminary task where the only audio present was the diegetic dialogue between the two characters, in contrast for my final piece I only included non-diegetic audio. Firstly in the form of the voice over by the mother, but also I had to explore the different music and learnt how much a piece of music can create a certain effect. In order for there to only be non-diegetic audio, I had to learn how to also separate my original footage from the original audio, and learn how to overlay the voice over on top of the music which I had not had to explore during the preliminary task.

Exploring different copy-right free music

Mise-en-scene was a key aspect to consider in the creation of my opening, I had to think about the location and the meaning that would be portrayed by the audience on the basis on the locations, for example in order to create the home family videos, I used my own family home if I had just filmed in a school class room this effect would not of been created. For our premilary task we were only given the hour within our school lesson to film, therefore we had to use a classroom for our location so we were not able to explore how important mise-en-scene is to the creation of films. This also meant that we could not change our costumes, as we had to film in our school suits however for my opening I used the costumes to portray to audience the status of the character for example for the chief inspector he wore a dark suit with a crisp white shirt and the criminal was in a black plain dull hoody. However I did take from the premilary task the aspect of the position of characters in terms of mise-en-scene, and how body language can help establish the relationship between the characters to the audience.

The setting for one of my home videos

I feel that I have learnt alot between the premilary task in terms of media skills, but also I have grown in confidence I did not think during the completion of the premilary task that I would be able to film my own opening and then edit it in order to create an opening that draws an audience in and makes them want to carry on watching the rest of the film however from my audience feedback that I received such as "I would like to see the rest of film as interested to find out what happens next" I feel I have progressed throughout the course, and my new knowledge has shown within the opening.