Q7Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Compared to our preliminary production i have felt i have learnt a lot and developed a good understanding filming and how to achieve slick and effective camera work and editing. As well as learnt media skills i have also learnt a lot about time management and learning how to meet deadlines which i found challenging sometimes. With iMovie i learnt how challenging it can be  would think is easier such as importing footage on to the desktop. Covering the basics was fairly easy such as adding text and changing the colour of the footage. What i learnt about iMovie is that with some of our footage was fairly slow and we could make it a faster pace by speeding up the footage.

What i also learnt from our media production was taking a management role. This is where i had to tell the group what they should and shouldn't be doing. I found this challenging as i don't like to be demanding although i like to get the work done. On the other hand, this caused a few disagreements within our group as they didn't get a say in what they wanted and what was needed to be done. However, i felt after these disagreements and working things out as a group we became stronger. I felt that being in control gave me confidence and people were listening to my ideas and other people adding ideas to mine. Our idea was taken from one of my thriller ideas and the others in my group added to our narrative. I think sharing some of the job roles together in our group made some of the bonds closer.

When we came together as a group there was Aaron, Damien, Grace and I. When we did our preliminary we had to create a story board, shot list, and created our preliminary video. Our preliminary task gave us time to practise the skills we had been taught  such as the 180 degree rule, variety of shots, continuity, and the stability of the camera. What was successful about our preliminary video was that we showed someone opening and closing a door,  also we used a variety of shots.

Even though  we did try and use the 180 degree rule, we found it very challenging to do as it is difficult to understand if we had done it right or wrong. We watched other peoples preliminary  videos we didn't know if we had done it right or wrong as other groups did it differently. We  also struggled a bit with continuity for two reasons. Reason one was because we didn't film our preliminary video in one shot as we had different availability timing this meant that we had to re film a couple of times because we had to change our location setting. Our second reason was the continuity with the camera for example if we used a tracking shot then used a close up the camera position has to be similar of where the tracking shot had finished. From our issues from our preliminary tasks we wanted to make sure our continuity was suitable for our main production

When we got to filming our final production we were key with our continuity and stability of our camerawork to make it look professional. If the continuity and stability wasn't key then our production would look unprofessional making it look like we didn't know what we were doing. We had a challenge when it came to continuity because of the change in weather and the fence had been put up the second time we went back to re film meaning that we had to change some of our shots to make the continuity clear. Without the continuity being clear the audience would be able to notice and may not wish to remain watching the film as they think it is rubbish. From using a iPhone 5 to film our preliminary video we thought the video footage was clear enough this is why we used it in our production. We had the opportunity to use a DSLR within our piece however neither i or Aarron had used one before and we didn't know if the footage would look any different and we had no clue how to use one. What we found with the iPhone for  our production video was that it was difficult to zoom in and out on the camera and when zooming in on it disorientated the camera footage slightly meaning that we had to re film some of our shots.
As we didn't have both actors in the same shots as the same time we didn't get to use the shot-reverse shot. This was down to the idea of not being able to film it for us. We thought the idea of having both actors in the same shot would be showing they have some sort of relationship with both of the characters and we didn't want that. We tried to use props to build up tension and mystery. The starting prop we used to create tension was the dangerous signs and the missing poster caused question to arise within in the audience of what happened how did she go missing. Our next prop was the idea of finding a mystery knife on the floor, when Aaron picks this up this creates more tension and mystery within the audience as they don't know where that knife has been. We used quick edits and black and white quick transitions and flashbacks when the tempo of our music increased to make our production more dramatic.

For deciding what narrative we wanted and the shots we wanted we had a shot list and sorry board. For a story board we drew a picture of what we wanted in the shot, we kind of sound we wanted, what type of shot we wanted.

For our main production we had to use a minimum of 40- 50 shots. With using this template as shown above it helped structure what we have planned for our production. A story board is supposed to be a rough guidance as what you are supposed to be doing. As a group i think we stuck to the story board well as well as the shot list. On our shot list we used a table with the number shot, the location of the shot, the action within the shot, the dialogue and the actors and props within the individual shot.

To also plan our production, we had a production schedule.   In our production schedule we schedule we planned when we were doing our planning pieces, creating our vox pop, When and where we are going to do our filming, we tried to fit different bits of narrative in to different times within in the day. Having a production gave the group structure and know there deadlines making them prepared. If one group member didn't meat a deadline it was in there free time that they had to finish the work.

For our editing we based our editing footage on our shot list and story board which helped us put our footage in order. we had a deadline which we did complete with a few difficulties on the way. We spent our lessons editing our production and then also out of lessons to meet our deadline. As me nor Aaron was used to using iMovie we struggled a bit with importing footage and exporting footage. In my free time at home i tried to get an understand of iMovie on my laptop however, my software was newer meaning it was easier to work with. What we learnt about imoive is that we learnt how to speed up footage from a ricter scale given to slow/fast the tempo, also we learnt how to add transitions in to our piece, a transition is fading from black to white (vise versa) between footage this looked effective in our footage as we used transitions to split up our clips and create tension along  with the non-diegetic soundtrack.   For an improvement our footage and editing i think we should of made our own titles and added to them our piece instead of using the ones provided. I would also tried to add a variety of transitions instead of just white and black fades out. I am fairly happy with our editing as we used a range of skills on iMovie and i think when we have to produce another production it will be easier as i have a deep understanding off the software. Compared to our preliminary i would say our production editing has better continuity and looks more professional. For improvement i wish we did our editing as a group as because editing was a big role in our production and i found that i spent a lot of my time on my own editing our thriller.  For the future i would change the people i work with as i felt the work was not distributed well in our group this lead to some of our group getting kicked off the course.  I think for an improvement I would try and influence good communication within our sequence and a good distribution of work

Also in our planning we had to create a risk assessment this is where we had to list the dangers we may have to face and how we can avoid these dangers. In our risk assessment we included about how we  could get hit by a car and how to prevented this. We also wrote a few paragraphs about our mine-en-scene which included our costume, lighting, props and location. We wanted to have a solid plan of our mine-en-scene because this prevented wasting time when it came to filming our production.

   

Our shots varied between our prelimiary and final production. Our shots were more varied and clearer. Here is a few weak shots from our preliminary that we improved on in our final peformance.

 Here you can see we did a close up of my feet but the camera was at an angle making the shot look unprofessional to make this professional we should of used a tripod as this would of made the shot straight. In our production we made sure our camera was straight so that the shots weren't at an angle.

This shot is from our production even though this isn't a close up you can see that this shot is straight and not at an angle. This shot looks more realistic and professional. In this shot you  can see me walking away from the camera and walking towards the opening to the gate. When watching our production the shots either side of this shot look smoother as they are at a straight angle. 

Another shot from our preliminary that we improved on was the stability of the camera.Meaning how shaky the camera was. In the giphy below it shows how shaky the camera was. This was because we didn't use a tripod again and use Grace's hand to film the movement. The key is to use a tripod or check your footage to make sure your footage isn't shaky. 

via GIPHY
In our production this was something we worked on to make it look professional.
via GIPHY
In this establish shot you can see that we used a tripod as the footage is smooth. This makes the footage look more professional then the first shot. In this shot also there is a lot more in the frame and the shot is clearer then our preliminary this is because of the lighting and also an iPhone 6 has a better camera than an iPhone 5. The iPhone 6 bought out more specific detail as it captured small details compared to the iPhone 5 camera which blurred small details out.

Another thing that improved between our preliminary and our production was the continuity. We noticed in our preliminary that we were missing a few shots to make the continuity smooth. For example, When i come through the door i leave it open however when i go to leave the door is closed this makes the piece look unprofessional.

If we were to do this again we should add another shot showing me closing the door to make the contuinty  clear and smooth.

Overall, i felt that our final production was success in the end after a few minors on the way. I think that i have improved a lot since beginning our media thriller. When starting our research from the summer i was never a person who was interested in Thrillers and i have learnt what a thriller is sub- genres of thrillers, types of shots and why they are used, Diegetic and non Diegetic sounds.  My camerawork and editing has improved a lot i think. I feel that editing was the main strength of our piece considering i had no clue how to use iMovie before starting our production i think we came a long way.  From our rough edit to our final production our editing was quicker, smoother and we fitted our music to our shots to creates tension. If i had to redo our production i would like to get the chance to use a DSLR to gain an understanding of how to use one and to compare the two cameras. I was glad with our location setting, in my thriller ideas i came up with filming under a dark tunnel and after doing test shots i am glad we didn't use this location as the lighting would of been very poor meaning that the audience wouldn't be able to see specific detail. I am overall happy that i have finished my media product and happy with my editing and footage off our film