Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the

progression from it to the full product?

How have we developed as film makers?

Overall as film makers we have developed as we understand more about different shot types and their importance and how each shot can represent something. Moreover we understand that

continuity needs to be kept so that the viewer understands what is going on as well as ensuring that the shots can be followed easily. Also we learned that the planning in making the opening was very

important because without this we wouldn’t have had much to go on.

What are the strengths – how did we improve on our preliminaries?

The clear strengths in which we had a variety of shot types, typography and editing. In comparison to the preliminaries there was a large improvement this is shown as some of the shots did not fit

very well in the preliminary therefore there was little match on action in some areas and continuity was not very good and there was clear visible editing. Moreover when performing the shot reverse shot there where little issues in the preliminary task due to continuity, as in one shot an object was not moving but after doing a shot reverse shot to show the conversation the object was wobbling.

Therefore we wanted to work on continuity for the thriller in which we did. For the shots we started out with a panoramic shot of the room to give the viewers a sense of location, with that we followed

with a close up of the protagonists face to where they were ordered shots of the events, choosing the weapon and then the murder.

In comparison to the preliminary the shots was better although there was a better camera used the improvement was the thought process into what shots we would need this could be from long shots to extreme close ups we added more on a variety when filming. For the preliminary we kept to the 180° rule however for the thriller opening there was no need to use the skill because there was no

conversations and the shots where flashes so varied. This is the same for the shot reverse shot. Also in comparison to the preliminary task we learn that it is better when there is match on action as it

does not flow even with the slightest difference in shots.

Shots to compare between preliminary and thriller;

These are the titles for the work that has been done on the left is the preliminary and the right is the thriller opening title. The difference in these is the though these titles is that the WITNESS has had more of a though process and shows the development that we have had in editing. The development is that we have been able to add designed text over the image this is more effective than a black background and a regular text. Also there is an effect on the WITNESS whereas

These shots show how the though process to what shots should be taken have been improved. This is because in the preliminary the shots were not all very good where as in WITNESS the shots are better quality. So on the left is a mid-close up action shot of the robbery and on the right side is a point of view shot displaying more; showing the dead victim, antagonist and his weapon.

The difference in these shots show the development although the preliminary shot is an over the shoulder shot the shot in WITNESS is a mid-shot to show both characters where as in the preliminary it doesn’t show it all. Also the development is that there is a filter over the WITNESS shot. The framing in WITNESS is better as it shows location as well as the character where as in the preliminary task for the POV over the shoulder shot it doesn’t need to show the whole location as it is a conversation.

The shot from WITNESS shows how we have developed on editing as there is a filter over the shot and a title. Also the editing has improved because the transition in the preliminary was a fade to black where as in WITNESS it is a dissolve to show the movement and progression of the victim’s steps. It shows how we have developed from simple to more complex uses for editing.

How was editing improved?

In Editing we have improved from our Preliminary’s the quality of the editing is better as we had a better understanding as well as room for improvement. For our thriller we used a variety of transitions so that the movement from one shots to another flowed better. Some examples of these transitions are fading to white, fade to black, dissolve and straight cuts where as in the preliminary we used straight cuts and a fade. This is showing the improvement as we are using more transitions however putting them in certain areas, the fade to whites was used to show the transition between the dream and reality this is the same for the dissolve. We didn’t use transitions such as cross cutting because there was no two pieces of action occurring at the same time therefore it wasn’t appropriate. Also when we were editing we added more in at post production as we added in filters over the top to make the setting look darker and mysterious as well as having a blue and red filter to denote the police sirens colours. This is improvement from the preliminary because we did not add filters or a sound track in the post production. Other forms of editing that we did was graphic match were two shots dissolved showing the eye in the previous shot and the eye in the new shot. Moreover we used dissolve in another area when the victim is walking through the woods to show the passing of time. Furthermore in the preliminary we had too many long takes but we improved for the thriller by having shorter takes so that the audience would not get bored. Lastly although in the preliminary an area that we needed to work on was match on action in some areas as there was visible editing for the thriller we did not need to use a lot of graphic match as it was flashes between the dream and reality.