Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

As a film maker I have learned new skills in editing and producing a final product while also learning that small things such as costume and camera angles can have more meanings and give your film a much greater depth of meaning for the audience too. I have also learned a great deal more about editing and how to make shots which did not look brilliant fit in well with your film and give it buffer shots to make the sequence flow and look interesting. 

Our preliminary task had many different successes and shortcomings. Some of the successes included a range of camera angles and shots however we realised that we needed to take a lot more shots in order the make the sequence flow and make more sense to the audience. We also learned the importance of a tripod while filming the preliminary as some of the shots were wobbly. From our preliminary we learned how to shoot different shots effectively and we learned that in future while filming we will set up the shot and make sure props are seen and unnecessary items are hidden off screen. We also learned that an over the shoulder shot is much more effective when it is closer to the actors shoulder and we used this technique in our thriller opening. Our use of continuity was good during our preliminary and we decided to use a match on action shot of a person opening a door in our thriller opening as this looked quite successful in our preliminary. Our preliminary task had unusual music which we realised did not suit it and so we decided we would take as much time as we needed finding suitable and effective music for our thriller opening titles. In our preliminary we used a filter over one shot to make in look like CCTV and this was effective however it did make the shot slightly blurry. Experimenting with this made us eager to use a filter in our thriller opening. After filming and editing our thriller we experimented with different filters to make sure we chose one which make the thriller sinister and eerie while also making sure each shot was still clear and not too dark.

I developed a lot of skills since filming the preliminary at the start of the year. For example I have become better at filming specific shots and angles due to more practice using the cameras and experimenting with where to take each shot from to make it look the most effective. I have learned that taking extra shots is a necessity as you never know whether you may need filler shots or any extras to make the sequence have continuity. Continuity is extremely important because without it, the audience will be lost as to what is happening on the screen and in the plot. During our preliminary we tried to use the 180 degree rule and it showed us how important it is. For our thriller we carefully planned at which point at our location we would be filming at so that we never went against the 180 degree rule as doing so can disorientate the audience. The screen shots below show how we used the 180 degree rule by only filming the scene from the right of each room:

We used the technique shot-reverse-shot in our thriller opening titles and this made the transition from the sequences focus being on the teenage girl to being on the alter-ego much smoother:

 We used the technique match on action in our preliminary and liked the effect so we continued to use it in our thriller titles. The shot is useful in having a character move from one room to another and when edited correctly it makes the transition look smooth and effective. We learned that when all of these techniques are used correctly when filming, it makes the editing process much easier as the shots are clearer and when ordering the shots they make much more sense and flow much better in a sequence. 

During planning we created a shot list and a story board. The story board was created first to establish our main plot and rough ideas for shots and angles. This made it much easier to then create a more detailed plan of a shot list which was detailed and explained exactly where the shot would be filmed, which actor and props would be filmed, the angle and type of shot, the length of the shot and the action which would be taken during the shot. We spent as much time as needed in our group discussing each individual shot and how each shot would follow from the next sketching rough images of how the sequence may look once it has been edited. This helped us create a much better filmed sequence of shots compared to our preliminary which was poorly planned and this poor planning showed in the quality and look of each shot.

We thought our thriller opening titles went very well however there are always areas of improvement. We thought our editing was very effective as we split clips to make images flicker on the screen and edited match on action shots well to make the sequence fit together and flow easily. We used a wide range of shots and angles to create different meanings for the audience and the use of many different shots also meant the audience wasn't seeing the same image multiple times but instead were receiving different angles to interest them. Screenshot 1 is a point of view shot, screenshot 2 is an over the shoulder shot, screenshot 3 is an extreme close up shot and screenshot 4 is a long shot.

We thought one of the strongest points of our thriller was the use of costume and make up to contrast the two different characters. The teenage girl wore light clothing and minimal makeup while the alter-ego wore black clothing and dark smudged makeup. As the two characters were being played by the same person, the clothing and makeup was very important so that the audience knew they were meant to be two different characters. The screenshots below show the teenage girl's costume and the alter-ego's costume:

On the other hand, there were some things which we would do differently if we were to film again. These include the camera work, especially the point where the teenage girl is shocked and drops the magazine. The girl looks shocked and looks up and there is a delay for when the magazine is dropped and hits the floor. To improve this we would film the girl dropping the magazine and looking up being scared from two different angles at the same time using two cameras so that the sound and actions match in both shots.

 The music used is effective in our thriller because it is synchronous to what is happening on screen which is a great improvement to the music used in our preliminary task which did not suit the story or what was happening on screen and sounded quite random. Although the music in our thriller was effective, the bang which comes from the girls bedroom should be made louder during editing to make the audience ‘jump’ while watching. This technique is used in horror films so that the audience ‘jumps’ at the noise with the character on the screen. The last thing which we would improve upon is the shot of the stairs and the girl walking to her bedroom. Although these shots are needed in order to make the sequence make sense, they could be edited and split to make them shorter and more interesting as we decided that lengthy shots can take away some of the tension and suspense from a scene. 

The two shots above are both establishing shots which show the location to the audience. The first shot shows a shot from our preliminary task and is not actually showing the location because when filming, we had our backs to the building our actor was walking to and we never took a shot of what the building was. This is in contrast to our thriller opening in the second shot which shows the outside of our location, a family home. The shot from our thriller opening was also a much shorter shot than that of our preliminary shot which made it much more effective because it did not lose audience interest.

Both of these shots are attempts at the match on action technique. The first shot from our preliminary needed to be closer to look more effective. The second shot is of our thriller opening and this shot is effective because it is dark and sinister and the actor is opening the door slowly because she heard noises coming from inside. Both close up shots work well however the sequence they were in differ. The match on action attempt in shot one did not work well because the shot of the girl walking through the door was at the wrong angle and height on the other side of the door whereas the match on action worked much better during our thriller opening when we used an extreme close up of the girls face walking through the door from the other side as she peeps into the room to see where the noise is coming from.

Both of these shots are of a character walking up the stairs to the camera however shot one from the preliminary is quite a boring and is a long shot of the girl walking up straight towards the camera whereas shot two from our thriller opening was shot from the top step of the stairs and is a high angle shot filming the girl walking up. When she reaches the top of her stairs her feet will walk over the camera. This was a much more interesting way to film someone walking up the stairs.

From filming our preliminary we discovered that most  of the shots we took were either long shot or mid shot and we only had two close up shots of the girls feet walking and her hand on the door handle. After researching other thriller openings we discovered that close ups and extreme close ups are essential in creating a diverse and interesting sequence of shots for the audience. In our preliminary, you never see the girls face in a close and she always remains very distant; the audience would never connect with her. Whereas in our thriller opening in screen shot two, we see an extreme close up of the actors face which allows us to see facial expression and makeup use.

Both of these shots are over the shoulder shots and we discovered from filming our preliminary task that we filmed the shot incorrectly. In order for it to look effective we should of filmed the shot closer to the girls shoulder and this would have meant you can see what she is looking at much more clearly. In our thriller opening in the second shot the over the shoulder shot works much more effectively, with just a section of the actors shoulder being seen and you can see that she is reading a magazine.