Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Pre-Production for my
prelim task was different to that of my main task. This is because there were
different things that I learnt from my prelim task and was then able to correct
when it came to the pre-production of my main task. The story board that I
created for my prelim task was very vague. Some parts of the storyboard has the type
of shot that was supposed to be taken missing therefore when it came to
shooting on the day, with some of the shots we weren’t completely sure what
type of shot we were supposed to be shooting. This
wasted a lot of
time when it came to shooting because it meant that
I and my entire group had to stop every few shots and figure out what the next
shot is actually supposed to be e.g. close up, long shot etc. For my main task
I made sure that I and my group created a storyboard that stated exactly what
shot was needed. This made sure that not only when it came to filming less time
was wasted as we did not have to stop and think about the type of shot we were
looking for but it also made it easier for I and my group to picture in our heads exactly what the entire
opening would look like in the end as we started to build the shots up in our
minds. This taught me that when creating a storyboard it is vital that all the
types of shots are included. This as well as the shooting schedule is something
that caused a slight issue when it came to the pre-production for the prelim
task. When creating the shooting schedule we based the shooting order on the
storyboard and the order of this rather than where we would be at the time of
shooting and how we could save time and effort. An example being when shooting the prelim task
instead of shooting the beginning shot of the empty corridor and then moving
onto the shot showing the girls foot, we could have instead shot the corridor
shot and then all of the other shots that meant that the camera was in the same
position rather than coming back to it later. When creating the shooting
schedule for the main task I made sure that the order was thought about
carefully so that when it came to shooting there would never be a time when the
camera would have to be placed in the same place as once before; saving a lot
of time. The timetable for the day when it came to the prelim task was again
not as thought out as it could have been. Taking it lightly and
thinking that on the day we could just go with the flow was not the best idea.
It meant that on the day of shooting the prelim task there were many different
factors that had not even been thought about and that disrupted the flow of the time
table for the day. Little did my group know how many takes and how much time
this would take to film, we thought that we would be able to take constant
breaks from filming and this was not the case. There was no
time to take any breaks because of the amount of factors that we
did not know even existed as we hadn’t thought about it which meant that I and
my group did not have time to eat or go to the toilet etc. like we had thought,
therefore meaning that a little bit of concentration was lacking as
we did not have full energy. When creating the time table for the day for the
main task I made sure that we had carefully planned out the timing for
everything and also had alternative timings if anything were to go not to plan.
For example there was a set time that we would have a lunch break or a toilet
break if needed which meant that we wasted no time but also were able to fit in
a personal break to relax our minds. I learnt that creating an accurate time
table for the day is crucial as having one that isn’t could lead to everyone
having no breaks whatsoever which could then lead to a lack of concentration.
Aspects of the production
of the prelim task varied from the production of the main task. A major issue
that we faced was continuity when it came to shooting the shots. We didn’t
realise that when it comes to editing not everything that we expected to happen
would happen. We realised when editing that because for every shot that we shot
we did not run the whole clip through that there were parts of the film that
were not shot correctly however there was nothing that we could do about it
because we were no longer shooting. This meant that once we had put the whole
prelim task together after editing it did not look good as it jumped shots.
When shooting the main task I and my group made sure that every shot we took
and every take, we ran the entire sequence from start to finish so that just in
case when editing if we didn’t like the way a shot looked we had an alternative. This taught me that when shooting it is always
compulsory for the actors to run the entire sequence through just so that there is a backup
in case some shots don’t turn out as planned. The entire prelim task was shot
inside so I had no issue with the weather as it did not have a major impact on
what we were shooting. The only slight issue that we had was that sometimes
when an actor was in front of a window, the sun
sometimes shone so bright it made it hard to see the actor sitting in front of
the camera clearly. To fix this we had to make the actors sat somewhere that
wasn’t the original plan so that the sun would not affect the shot. From this I
learnt that it is not the best idea to plan a shot whereby someone is standing
in front of a window but if it is needed then to attempt to shoot it at a time
when the sun is not shining so brightly e.g. in the evening. In the main task
we faced a problem with the weather and the changing of it due to the fact that
many of our shots were outside. On the first day of shooting the weather was clear, with no clouds, the sun
slightly shining and no rain. We completed most of our outdoor shots on the
first day of shooting however we planned to complete the rest the next day.
When returning we realised that it had been raining the night before meaning there were puddles on the
ground and that it was still slightly raining meaning that there were grey clouds in
the sky etc. This meant that our shots would not
flow the way we wanted because once it would have been all put together,
there would be a clear difference in the weather. In order to fix this, we adjusted the brightness of the camera
to make it brighter which made it look more similar to the shots we had taken
on the previous day. This taught me to check the weather of the days that we
plan to continue to take shots that could be affected by the weather and if it
is not similar to the first to finish shooting on that day or plan for another
day; if this isn’t possible to then the brightness of the camera shot can be
changed to suit the need.
For post production and feedback I and my group had to edit
all that we had shot and make it into a 2 minute opening sequence. We then presented our
final media product to the rest of our classmates and received feedback on it. Post production
for my prelim task was a bit of struggle. This is because of the continuity
issues that were discussed above. We did not know what to do and it
took some time to figure out a way that out final piece would look decent. Overall
it took up a lot of the time
thinking of a solution which means time was wasted on an issue that was caused
from careless
error when shooting and we were then not able to go over other parts of
the clip and perfect them. I learnt that timing when editing is extremely
important because it allows us to go over other parts of the editing process
and perfect them. For this reason when it came to the main task I made sure
that many safety shots
were taken just in case we were not happy or an error had occurred. This meant
that when editing no time was lost on such errors because there weren’t any. We
were able to finish editing earlier than the deadline which meant we could
spend more time going over different parts and perfecting them to a point we
were happy with it all. I was grateful that I learnt this in the prelim task
because it meant that I would not make the mistake when it came to my main task
and that I would be pleased with my final product as I got the timing of
editing right. Once completing editing we presented it to the rest of the class
and received feedback from them. In general I think that the entire class enjoyed
watching the opening that we had created. Some said that because you usually
associate thrillers with urban
areas, the idea was really good and “the beginning establishing shot was
wonderful” was the comment that one of my classmates. The music was “sick” and
the way it matched the action on the screen “was just mad” said another. The
fact that the actor showed no
emotion was also noticed and appreciated
because it helped with the understanding of what was going on and what might be
soon to come in the film. One criticism that we received was that perhaps the
shots showing the main character walking were a bit repetitive as
there were so many from a variety of different angles. This could have been
improved by cutting some of the shots that used to show him walking. Other than
this overall I think that the entire class enjoyed
watching the opening that we had created and thought it was “sick” meaning good.
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