7. LOOKING BACK TO YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Chloe Killin

• I feel that I have made immense progress since the preliminary task. The preliminary task was very straightforward and lacked in any interesting camera angles, editing or dialogue. As I researched and looked into the drama genre and many opening sequences, I began to develop the look and feel of what I wanted to achieve in my opening.

PRELIMINARY TASK TO FINAL PIECE

• The match on action and continuity was fairly good in the preliminary task, but quite uneventful and uninteresting, which I feel that I have now developed by including more interesting shot types.

SHOT TYPES

This shot has particularly poor lighting as I didn’t take into account the light coming in from the window behind them, which made them look quite dark.

• I had hoped to have a section in which the camera would focus on the medal then change focus and we would see the missing poster. Unfortunately, the camera that I was using did not allow manual focus whilst filming, so I had to alter the idea to the camera simply moving into the poster, and leave the camera on autofocus.

• Although I feel that this alteration did work fairly well, I would still have liked to have tried the manual focus idea.

AUTO/MANUAL FOCUS

• I have found that it is much harder to create just a small segment of a much larger picture that still makes sense on its own that it is to create a very basic several second clip with minimal camera angles and editing techniques, in which both the start and the end is included in those 10 seconds. The opening of a film is around 5% of the total screen time and so it must begin to develop the story to be told over the next 2 hours and it is very difficult to make clear everything from the main characters to the genre in just a couple in minutes.

DIFFICULTY OF CREATING OPENING SEQUENCES

Here, the two main characters can be established by just showing them.However in the opening sequence, I had to introduce them with a scene with dialogue, and I tried to make their clothing reflect their personalities. The opening had far more detail necessary to make the sequence believable than this short preliminary task.

• Establishing the main characters in the opening sequence was far more complicated than the preliminary task as you need to be able to show their personality and hopefully be able to identify with them, which wasn’t necessary in the preliminary task. From the bare bones (their lines and basic character profile) we built the characters up, from what they were wearing to they way they address people.

• This had to go much farther than the preliminary task which was very short and had no character development at all.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• As dramas have a very inclusive style to aid in the creation of realism, I did use the tripod a little, but one commonly finds that the camera will be handheld, so I didn’t have to use the tripod too much. It was very simple to use and to transport from location to location so I had no issues with it.

• This way of filming, I felt, kept the audience involved more easily as it gave the impression of them being there watching themselves, not looking through a static camera.

DID YOU USE A TRIPOD?

• There were slight issues with continuity, mostly in the form of lighting problems. As I mostly relied on natural lighting, the brightness of the room may have varied between scenes, but as this was out of my control I avoided filming when clouds covered the sun to do what I could to ensure the lighting was consistent.

• Each time I filmed, I aimed to do one scene or set of scenes if they took place in the same location. This way it would have hopefully reduced any continuity problems.

HOW DID YOU CONTROL THE CONTINUITY?

• Looking for music was a difficult task but I soon realised that a piano based piece of music was what I wanted in my opening. I knew that the music could change the whole tone of the film, and so I made sure that I looked through as many websites as I could. Eventually came to The Secession’s YouTube channel and I did a search for piano music. As soon as I heard the piece I actually used, I knew it was perfect and just what I was looking for. It wasn’t too slow, but wasn’t fast paced and had a sense of curiosity and intrigue to it, which I felt represented Millie very well.

• I think that music is the area in which I have learnt the most. I had to listen to many pieces and try and see what impact it may have on the audience and how it might effect their views on the characters and the story.

FINDING MUSIC