Sams Evaluation Q7

Q7. Looking back at your prelim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your full product?

I have learnt many things from when I first made the preliminary task, to our final product. Firstly, in our preliminary task we used limited amount of camera work and camera angles. For example when there was a hand shake in the prelim we did not zoom into it, or highlight that it was happening, we just continued with the same mid-shot. By looking back at this prelim task I have realised that I did not fully understand which shots to emphasise, and which type of shot to use at certain times. However in our final opening sequence we have used certain shots to show how lost and alone the protagonist character is, such as a high angled long shot as well as a panning shot of the location. When filming we also emphasised certain elements like, zooming in on her phone to show she had no signal, focusing on her high heels to imply she had been to a party, and having a close up of her face to highlight her bruising. We did not really use any of these elements in our preliminary task. However we did use shots such as shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule which we did not use in The Night Before, however this was not appropriate as there was only one character for the majority of the sequence.

We vastly improved our editing of our final sequence compared to our first attempt. This is clearly shown in both of our sequences, as in our prelim all of our transitions from one clip to another were straight cuts. However when we edited our final opening sequence we used the appropriate transition we felt was needed for each clip, such as between our flashbacks and at the start/end of the film. We used wipe ins/outs, fade ins/outs and straight cuts in our opening sequence to The Night Before. I also felt we chose the appropriate music to go with our final product, unlike the soundtrack we chose for the prelim task, as the newer soundtrack adds more to the tension and atmosphere we wanted to create. The way in which the whole film flows; through the timing of when one clip ends and the next begins, I feel is much better in our final sequence as in the preliminary task there are jumps and overlaps in the editing.

Therefore overall I felt that I have learnt when to use the correct camera angle and movement, the right transitions to use, and what speed of the clips and music I need to use when producing a film.