Preliminary Task Evaluation

What planning did you do?

In the planning stages our group brainstormed ideas and made a story board using the ideas we made however prior to this we had been practising with the cameras. Although we found out later on that where we had planned to shoot we could not shoot which meant we had to slightly change our plan (we should be aware of this in the making of our thriller opening).

Finally before the shoot we came up with a clear narrative structure using a shot list and discussed and practised conversation around the topic of coke. I think the way our group planned went well as our ideas evolved as we went through the planning. Our roles within the group changed from our originally plan as I played the dramatic exit role and Laura played the other when as the group felt it would be more realistic.

The use of a shot list made shooting a lot more clear and gave us an idea of how we wanted each shot to look making the process more straightforward. Our planning also made what shots to take clear and how to take them without breaking the 180 degree rule. I think we could have improved by planning a script of the conversation would have been a good idea as we had to shoot the conversation a few times to get it right as none of us are very good actors. I think a script would have made the conversation more fluid and wouldn’t have been that much work. I think my group planned sufficiently for the task keeping in mind the three continuity rules and have learnt many things that we can use when planning the thriller such as, to keep things simple and check if we can shoot where we plan to.

What camera skills did you develop?

Although I did not film the final preliminary (acting)  I played around with some shots and as a group we decided what shots were most effective where. Before filming properly we all had a chance to practise filming and try out the use of different shots. Through practising with the cameras I now understand how the cameras we use work and how to use camera angles/shots to portray certain meaning such as worm’s eye view shot connoting fear within the mise-en-scene and allowing audience to view in the characters eyes showing their vulnerable perspective.

I now feel after doing the task reasonably confident with basic camera skills and confident of my understanding of what shots are most effective to convey certain emotions or genre conventions. I think I should continue practising with the cameras to make the filming of our thriller opening as successful and smooth as possible. I think we achieved effective use of shots however without connoting the meanings as this was just a beginning task without any further meanings.

(adding specific shots when it is uploaded)

What editing skills have you developed?

I have had some experience with using editing software previously however the programme had been updated and the layout changed so took some getting used to. I think that I and Laura worked well together as editing partners as we both greatly contributed and helped each other out so we both understood what was going on. I developed many skills such as adding transition like fade to black in between shots, adding in and out points, making titles and changing the volume of certain points in film etc... I think I need to play around with the editing software more and try out different transitions and get more familiar with it for the editing of our thriller also learn how to add music to the film.