Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

from it to the full product?

Evaluation Question 7

Overview

I feel I have learnt a huge amount since the Preliminary Task, I was actually quite surprised when looking back at our Preliminary Task to see how much our skills have developed!

180 Degree Rule

Adhering to the 180 degree rule is something I have certainly improved on. In the Preliminary Task we broke the rule and as a result had to re-shoot, this at the time was incredibly frustrating. However this time round we didn’t break the rule, perhaps breaking it was a blessing in disguise, it goes to show that I developed my understanding of the rule during this task.

Technology

Another thing I have learned is how we can’t heavily rely on technology! In the Preliminary Task we had a problem where our first shoot failed due to sound not being picked up, this was because the microphone was not working properly. This taught me that you have to watch back your shots, making sure they are all right. That way you would realise if you had done something wrong. This was a lesson I learned and we applied it to the main task, we would frequently watch back what we had filmed, just to make sure it was what we wanted.

Choosing Shots One thing I have also learned is the importance of

choosing which shot in which situation. Looking back at the Preliminary Task it appears as if not much thought was given, however we put a lot of thought in to every different shot. We used many Extreme Close Ups. This is because these shots allow us to show faces and emotions, however it still gives a feeling of anonymity as the audience doesn’t get to see the character that the ECU is based on. Our entire opening was trying to create an enigma of “who is Aaron Allen”, to help create this we used few long shots, as this gave the audience little clues to the answers of any enigmas we had created as not much was in the frame.

Preliminary Task Shots

Main Task Shots

Colour The use of colour is something

else that I’ve learned a lot about. If you look at our Preliminary Task, no thought whatsoever was put into colour! However for our main task, we used colour to create a contrast between Aaron Allen and the Politician. We used black and white for Aaron Allen and normal for the Politician. I have learnt colour can be especially important in thriller films, the use of colours like black can designate someone shady and mysterious, we have used this for our opening.

Pace

Pace is another area that I’ve learnt is an important part. Our first rough cut was very slow paced, it didn’t fit in with the thriller genre at all. We realised this and had to shoot again, this time with more shots to allow a greater pace to the edit. Then our second cut was deemed to slow as well, then we got yet more shots. The criticism was correct however, looking back on it making it quicker was a key moment in our progress.

Outside Sound The use of sound is another thing that I

realised is very important. In our Preliminary Task we filmed in a place where many people would walk through the setting, this caused frustration, it took us twice as long to film than it should’ve done due to the disruption. We knew that for the main task we needed to make sure there was no background noise, so we chose a very secluded setting, this meant that there wasn’t any sound that we didn’t need.

Theme Music A background theme was used for our film opening.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of this was it made the piece more conventional. We needed theme music as we were creating an opening title sequence and this convention of using theme music works well to establish mood and atmosphere as well as a sense of pace. Our theme music was a stylised one, it helped us to make the film opening sound more like a thriller. This was through the theme music matching the pace of our opening and how the music built up in suspense, something conventional of thriller soundtracks. The theme music was called Interloper and was found on a website called incompetech.com. Interloper fit our piece perfectly, the tempo was fast with an eerie vibe to it, this matched our piece well, making it the ideal choice for our piece.

Other Sound We also used a heartbeat sound effect to help enhance

our theme music. The heartbeat came in at a time when the theme music became slower in pace and tempo. This helped to keep the tense atmosphere that we had created in the opening few shots while it also helped to build up tension.

We also used some diegetic music to add more sound to the piece. The only diegetic music we used was the automated response of “this number is no longer in service, please check the number and try and call again.” We used this as it helped to give some background to the audience without giving much away at the same time. It gave the audience a chance at knowing the storyline, while also creating enigmas such as why is this person trying to find Aaron Allen.

Setting The setting of the product is also something I’ve

learnt about. The significance of the setting is something I’ve learnt through doing this task. For the Preliminary Task our setting wasn’t given much thought, looking back on this it is clear we seemed to use quite a boring location (although we did have to change). We decided to give the setting more thought for our main task, our results were that we would use a setting we could make look like a government agent’s house or some room that he would do some activities. We put a lot of work into it, this included finding a light bulb to make the right amount of brightness in our piece. Looking at our main task, the setting is one of the main advantages to it.

Contrast of Setting

Analysing the Settings We chose the Art

Department and the nearby corridors as a setting for our piece. Obviously this isn’t the ideal setting for a film opening, however we tried to do anything we could to make things more realistic and natural. There were problems with putting up signs, e.g. we had to use blu-tack to help stick down signs, this could be seen clearly in the piece.

Choice of Setting – Successful? I believe given the circumstances we were in

that we did well with creating our setting. Perhaps the best part of it was how we used various lighting equipment effectively. The bulk of our shots were shot in an Art workshop, we turned off all lights and used a lamp to find just the right amount of brightness.

I feel with more time we could’ve put more effort into the setting, e.g. more effort with sticking down signs and covering unwanted parts of the setting (e.g. coat hangers). However with the limited time we had I felt as if we did a good job on it.

This shows the contrast between how one of the corridors looked before we added in signs to make the setting look more realistic and conventional.

Setting the Scene

We used a lot of dark colours as well as a black and white effect. The low key lighting we used allowed us to build up a tense atmosphere, something conventional of thriller openings.

Mise-En-Scene Perhaps the thing that I’ve learnt

the most about is how important mise-en-scene is. Whether it is creating records and certificates or even just sticking a logo on a wall, it is all important. Mise-en-scene gives the audience clear ideas about things like setting, time periods and more. Looking back at the Preliminary Task, not much thought was put in to it, however looking at the main task I have learnt how important mise-en-scene is to the product.

Analysing Mise-en-Scene: What worked well What worked well: I feel the

various records and papers we used helped to add detail and boost the storyline. It showed the obsession someone has with Aaron Allen.

I also think the low-key lighting was effective. This is because it helped to build up tension and also gave an idea of the shadiness of operations that had been going on. This helped to enhance the storyline.

Analysing Mise-en-Scene: What didn’t work well Something that could’ve been done

better was spending more time sorting out the signs. We had to use Blu-Tack to stick the signs down, this was unprofessional and didn’t look too effective.

The use of a phonebook is also something that didn’t work so well. At early times in the making of the opening we didn’t know what time period we were setting our piece in. The phonebook is something outdated, not many people use them now thanks to the Internet. This made the phonebook unconventional with thriller films, therefore this wasn’t too effective.

Analysing Mise-en-Scene: What we could improve on If we had the chance again to make a film

opening, I think the most important thing to do would be to nail down a precise time period that our piece is set in. This will help with any irregularities such as using a modern smart phone, while at the same time using an old-fashioned phonebook.

I also think we would spend more time on the mise-en-scene, perhaps making it less obvious that we had just stuck the logo on the wall with blu-tack, perhaps using alternate methods as this would help make our setting look more natural and realistic.

Filming Enough Footage Perhaps the most frustrating part of our piece

was how we didn’t film enough footage. We had to shoot four separate occasions for our main task. This wasn’t as many as other groups, however looking back we should’ve got filming done quicker. This has meant that our final edit isn’t 100% how we would like it, a couple of shots are too long, but it is close enough. This was one area where we didn’t work so well as a group as there was a lot of indecision over what to film, but we got there in the end and were pleased with our overall result.

Overall I have learnt a large amount during the transition from the Preliminary Task to the main task. I feel the skills that I have developed or picked up in this time has helped me to be part of a group which has produced a strong film opening.