question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the full product?

The preliminary task was to create a 30 seconds scenario involving 2 people having a minimal conversation. This was our opportunity to focus on camera techniques and how to edit. Within the scenario we used over the shoulder, close ups and medium shots. We came up with one location, in a hall way, where people could sit and revise, it was an obvious idea to have two people talking about work and revising together.

 

 

 

The purpose of the Preliminary task was to simply learn how to be able to operate and film with a camera and also edit your filmed work. During this task we had to experiment with the camera by playing around with different camera techniques such as shot sizes, angles and movements in order for us to find out which will be most effective for our actual thriller opening. Same with editing we experimented with different transitions and learnt how to use the timeline. It also gave us a better understanding for group roles as we would know who could do what role depending on the skills and abilities each individual had to offer in the preliminary task.

 

4 things I am now better with and more confident with doing in terms of filming and editing

 

Filming: I struggled a bit with the hand held camera and framing my shot however now that I used the tri pod its much to create effective cinematography such as over the shoulder shot and close ups in order to make my thriller look more professional.

 

 

Filming: whilst filming I struggled with placing the characters and placing them in the right place to make it look professional in the frame. Now I have a better understanding of where to place these characters to express their body language and costume son that the audience realise its conventional to the thriller genre.

 

Editing: I made good progress when editing my preliminary task in several aspects. This include using final cut pro and creating a timeline of footage but at first I struggled with placing my shots in order and cutting them to fit it into the 30 second time limit but still making it effective and conventional.

 

 

 

Editing: I’m now more confident in using transition and creating effect for my filmed footage make it conventional and more professional as it flows effectively in order for the audience to understand the narrative better.

 

Comparisons between preliminary and final product

 

This is a comparison of over the shoulder shots. An over the shoulder shot is used to show what a character is looking at, it may also over the shoulder because that character may be an anonymous character just like my final product where you can see that he’s looking at the group.  As you can see in the preliminary it’s hard to define exactly what he’s doing. Overall we’ve made a vast improvement in developing the over the shoulder shot.

This comparison here is for long shot if you look at the preliminary you can see that this long shot has unnecessary detail on the side of the frame however I improved this in my final product I used the long shot to show all the characters within the group and still manage to show detail of the location in they’re in.

Another comparison I have to make is the costume in the preliminary; you can’t define characters characteristic and personalities because their costume doesn’t represent anything only the fact that they’re dressed smartly must show they’re still in education. We improved our costume choices for example with my character he’s dressed in bright clothing with a shirt and cardigan showing someone who vulnerable and seems intelligent.

From the preliminary task the planning was essential because we could ensure that any shot or editing techniques we used with the task, we could improve on and develop in order to make it conventional to the thriller genre in the final product. It was best that I followed all conventions of the thriller genre through filming and editing for example storyboarding helped us plan our shot and other production techniques before actually filming to make it more efficient and professional.

Personal reflection:

I believe I made a successful thriller as I followed the generic conventions of a thriller for example the way I planned all my cinematography before filming saving me time and giving the rest of the production crew a better idea of how the shots would look and how my ideas would look overall. In addition I also believe I made a successful thriller because of the uses of costume for example with Erdem who played as the fake antagonist, he wore all black and a hoodie to seems anonymous which also fools the audience giving them a sense of fear. However he wore a white tee in the end to then show that he was a victim and if he was to get killed or injured so the blood would show.

I mainly enjoyed the editing where I witnessed the whole production coming to an end. Not just the fact that it’s almost done but also the fact that it’s our last chances to make the final production look good with all the transitions and effects to make it look professional and so that we can make it conventional to the thriller genre as much as possible. In addition I also liked it because you could add sound effect and put all the clips together so that the narrative flows.

I think our cinematography could be improved as it’s the most important thing which can make a thriller conventional to the genre. We could improve on more shot and angles especially in the final scene where we have a shot of me which lasts for about 25 seconds, instead we could have possibly a high angle shot to show levels and power between the two characters where the nerd is torturing the fake antagonist.

Overall throughout the production process I have learnt about the generic conventions that would attract an audience and make them understand what a thriller is and what isn’t throughout the research and planning. I have also learnt how to operate a camera and a tripod and cinematography elements such positioning and movement. I’ve discovered what my target audience should be and why I should aim it at them and why planning is so important before film production work for example storyboarding and creating questionnaires.