Evaluation Question Seven - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product ?

This is our preliminary task and it was the first time we followed a script and did actual filming. In this task I was the person who did all the filming. Ameerah did the editing Sam was an actress in the film and Saskia was not present when we did the filming as she had a drama exam. Although we re-filmed everything because we felt the first one did not come across as we expected it to. It was quite good and we learnt a lot from the overall experience.

This is our opening sequence Inhumane. There is a clear difference in standard and quality compared to our preliminary task. I think it shows that the whole group has improved whether that is in camera work, acting skills and editing the film itself. In this task myself and Ameerah did the filming. I filmed the beginning with the young boy and teenager encounter and she filmed everything after that point. Saskia and Sam were both Actresses and Ameerah did the editing with some input from the rest of the group.

Quality of holding a shot steady

When filming the preliminary task although a tripod was used, I was not actually taught how to use it and it was my first time using it and doing any sort of filming. This meant that simple things such as adjusting the tripod in oder to get a particular shot was hard for me. In addition to this their was times when I wanted to get a low angle shot I didn't use the tripod. This became evident once the preliminary task was put together, as some shots were not as good as others and the quality was poor due to the camera being shaky. I knew that if I was going to be the camera man for the actual thing that I had to improve my technique and practice working with the camera; so that is exactly what  I did. Although there were negative aspects to filming the preliminary tasks there were positive aspects to it as well. I learnt how to carry out different shot such as over the shoulder, mid shot and long shots. I even learnt different camera techniques such as tracking and panning which could be incorporated in our actual media product. To avoid the problem of having shaky shots arising again, I made sure that a tripod was used at all times in order to create good quality steady shots that were easy on the eye. I also made sure that I took every shot from at least three different angles that lasted for 30 seconds so the film editors had enough film to work with just in case they felt some of the shots did not work. However there was some elements of our opening film sequence (Inhumane) were we used a handy cam, these shots are suppose to seem shaky as it looks like one of the characters are filming themselves and the event that is about to unfold.

Quality of the framing of shots

For majority of the preliminary task most of the shots were quite good considering it was my first filming experience but there were some that were of poor quality and that could have been improved. For example at one stage the framing did not work, at 0.42 seconds the framing of the shot was not good as you could not see the victims face if this was replaced with an over the shoulder shot it would have been easier on the eye. Moreover we should have considered the fact the the main character is what the audience would be focusing on and he should of been positioned in the frame correctly. For the actual filming of the opening sequence I knew that it would be vital to consider the framing of each character and to remind myself of this a used a function on the video camera which meant the frame was on the screen when I was filming parts of the opening sequence. For instance in our film the first 20 seconds was based on framing as we want to create a CCTV effect with the villain/little boy so it was vital that I understood the importance of framing. Another thing that I learnt from the preliminary task was the 180 degree rule. At one stage when filming I turned all the way round which would have been 360 degrees I had no knowledge about this until we looked over our filming and realised that the shot did not work. I knew that it order for our audience to be able to engage with the opening sequence I had to to have good quality framing.

Quality of shooting material appropriate to the task

In the preliminary task when filming we did not has assign tasks apart from director, camera man and actresses and actors. When we carried out our preliminary task although we went over the script numerous of times we did not actually have the script on the day of filming which was the most important day. this meant that I had to follow my instincts and do the shots/angles that i believed would work because we had no script to hand. From this we learnt that for the actual task we had to allocate individual roles to make sure that all aspects of the task were completed. As well as not having a script we also did not have a story board which mad it hard for me to film as we did not know what we were doing and the actors and actresses were confused with their role and lines. To avoid the situation recurring we made sure that the script was clearly set out and we had a completed story line we also carried a script to each time that we had filming to complete. 

Quality of selecting mise-en-scene

I believe that in our preliminary task the mise-en-scene was extremly poor. Our inital idea was to have a mafia type/style setting however due to lack of planning we had to use any room that we could find and in this case it was an empty english classroom. However this location did not work, For example at 0.20 seconds the audience can establish the classroom which is not what we wanted to show. As when we had a group discussion our plan was for the room to be empty.In order for this to be improved in the actual task we made sure that we planned out everything to the brim. Furthermore in the preliminary task we did not plan out the costumes. For instance the two boys the were bodyguards would of portrayed their character better if they were dressed in black suits with a white shirt, as this is the stereotypical image of a body guard. Also we did not consider the lighting of the preliminary task so at 0.43 seconds there is a sharp light coming from one of the far windows. In order to correct this next time we would have to close all blinds and consider the time of day that we film. Despite this in the actual film we used a portable light to film as we were filming in the dark because we wanted to display the typical codes and conventions of a horror film. This helped to portray meaning to the audience.


Quality of editing
In the preliminary task it is apparent that we had no knowledge about editing and how to use the software. Although we all learnt how to use i movie to edit our opening film sequence. It was the first time that we was used the software imovie. There are many times when the editing did not follow through resulting in continuity errors as not enough shots were taken so there was not enough to work with. In our actual opening film sequence we made sure that we did not have continuity errors and that there was a logical coherence between each shot. This was done by cutting each shot to ensure that they linked with the shot after and with the previous one. At one point in the opening film sequence a fade is used to show that the shot is ending and a new scene is about to begin. Futhermore when asking our target audience there personal opinion majority liked our film and said they would watch it if it was released in the cinema. Despite the downfalls of the preliminary task there were positive aspects too, one of which, is being able to add sound on top of the film itself. From learning this we were able to add a heartbeat to the beginning of our opening sequence to create tension and suspense for the audience. However it is obvious that the titles are to a extremly poor quality. Firstly they are fuzzy and it is hard to read them, the transition of the titles does not follow through and would confuse the reader, and the colour of the titles does not connotate or symbolise anything. To improve this in our actual film we ensured that we did titling research on typical horrors and in particular teen horrors. I even made sure I understood what different colours, font size and font style signified to the audience. This was done to ensure that the audience could engage with the opening film sequence.


Quality of using sound with images and editing
In our preliminary task we decided to put sound the whole way through the film. This was not our initial idea however when we were filming you could hear background noise from other pupils in the room next door and wind coming from the window. Although we cannot predict the weather if we had a film schedule we could of found a remote location were there would of been less noise. To ensure that this did not happen when we were filming the actual opening film sequence we devised a film schedule so we knew the location, time, props needed and the actors/actresses needed in that particular scene as. In addition to this the dialogue said by some actors was hard to understand for example at 0.33 its hard to understand what s being said as the actress did not speak loud enough and slow enough. It was obvious that in our actual opening film sequence all actors and actresses needed to be as clear and as loud as possible. When filming test shots were completed so that it was a quiet as possible. However we had no control of people walking up and down the road but the editors discovered a tool on imovie which meant that certain sounds could be muted.


Quality of group planning, meeting targets and organisation
For the preliminary task our group was quite poor when it came to meeting targets/deadlines.We had initially planned to meet at certain times but it was hard to get together as a group because people had different work commitments and social commitments this meant that we actually ended up filming our preliminary task at the last minute due to lack of organisational skills. It became apparent that we would need an organiser and we would all need to learn how to manage our work life. When doing our actual film opening we still had problems with meeting up at arranged times however this was sometimes due to social and work commitments this meant that at times there was only two people there when there should have been at least three. Although we had an organiser at times this did not help help as no one would get in contact with me or other members of the group so we were not prepared. For example a risk assessment and film treatment was suppose to be completed by the organiser for every time that we were going to do filming but this was not completed so i had to carry out these tasks myself or they would not have been done. Overall although we had problems we eventually meet our media deadline but it was all last minute could have been avoided if everyone in the group pulled their weight and did what was expected of them.