Question 7

Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel hat you have learnt in

the progression from it to the full product?

In comparison to the prelim task, which we completed at the start of the year back in September, we have progressed excessively in the process of making or film noir opening sequence. The prelim task allowed us a group to discover and use different camera angles and also how to use final cut, this did help us when creating our final product. Although we still had much to learn once our prelim task had been completed.

As a group we completed research and planning, to discover the different genres and mise en scene we could use in our film to make it as effective as possible. I think that overall the planning and research helped a lot, as it gave us an insight on ho o make our opening sequence effective and create a real feel of film noir.

We also created a storyboard and animatic, again this came in very useful because it gave us guidance throughout making the opening sequence. We choose the camera angles we were going to be using in the script and drew these in the storyboard. We used the storyboard throughout the filming process and took it to the different locations. This helped very much because it kept us on track, although in some scenes we did not fully stick to the camera angles we had previously said we were going to use, as it did not flow effectively. Creating new camera angles allowed the movie to flow smoothly.

Throughout making our film, we had to use a variety of different equipment including cranes and tripods. Prior to our small, brief preliminary task where we used a hand help camera with a tripod, we did have experience with these pieces of equipment and we could get recording as soon as possible as we didn't need any help setting the equipment up or using it. We also had to come to terms with the Macs, and the editing software in which we used, such as iMovie, Final Cut and Live Type, most of which, we all had experience using, as we previously edited our Preliminary task on these. However, there was a few things in which we needed help with, which is where we resorted to asking our teachers and looking on YouTube at basic tutorials. After using this software a lot, we are much more confident with it. 

We think that we created a very successful opening sequence, with titles, because we produced it in 2:09, which is within the time boundaries in which we were given. Although our opening scene is not professional, and it is far from perfect, we believe that we have fulfilled this sequence to the best of our ability, and we know where we went wrong. We have also tried to bring in as many conventions of Film Noir as we can, such as the black and white effect, to make our movie more realistic, we even used more advanced editing techniques such as a Chroma key, similar to Sin City, to give the overall look of a high production film, and improving the feel of our film.