Evaluation Question 7 (Blog Post)

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

The Prelims:

Firstly research. When filming the Prelims I did NO research, in contrast to this, I researched into the genre of film I was going to produce, finding examples and producing a pitch based on my idea, proving there is an audience. Looking back, research is very important. It allows you to follow general conventions/ or not, in relation to titles, the mise-en-scene, locations, characters along with how scenarios are handled (e.g action film = chase and violence). Along with research, planning was also very important. Setting out our story board, planning what days to film on a judgment on the weather to achieve continuity, call sheets etc. In the prelim task I created a brief story board before filming, whereas as progression from this, in our film opening production we spent a few lessons on the story board, designing a call sheet and which camera to use as to whether it would be a DSLR or the GoPro. So both of these have improved dramatically.

Thirdly, time management. When shooting the prelim, I got the shots then edited them, there was very little time management or structure to it. In contrast to this, with our production, time management was vital! This was especially the case as when I started filming as it was nearing the end of the calendar year, so days were getting shorter and light was so important for our shots. I was also set deadlines to hand in work so we had to make sure I met these! Therefore there was a significant difference between time management with the prelim tasks and with the overall film opening production and I have learn't a lot!

As I previously stated, I had to pitch the idea I came up with to the class. This required a lot of preparation and planning in order to come up with the idea and present it to the rest of the class. I did this by creating a video and played it in the background on the projector and pitched in front of it, timing what I was to say to the pitch. In terms of the prelim, no one pitched, whereas with the film opening it was the first step and was a major part of production.

When it comes to casting in my production we as a group didn't cast anyone, and nor did we for the prelim, we just filmed each other. The main reason for this is that we could cover this with who we already had in the group. I was nominated to play the protagonist by my group and was happy to do so, and Will was happy to ply the protagonist, we both are athletic and physically able to do the shots required and it worked out well. So there was no progression from the prelim to the production when it comes to casting.

There was however a significant change in relation to props, costume, set-dressing and general miss-en-scene. With the prelim, there was no thought about the props, costume, set dressing or the mise en scene, whereas with the production I really paid a lot of attention on these areas. We used a bag, memory stick and a phone as the props, the costume was dark/ black shoes grey joggers and light grey hoodie with the black bag for the protagonist and blue shoes black joggers and black hoodie for the antagonist. The general mise-en-scene was also focused on, I made sure to film on days with the same weather to achieve continuity, and also worked on framing shots to make it look like something it isn't, for example when the protagonist was cornered it wasn't infact a corner as I explained previously in my blog.

Next, location scouting. In the prelim there was no focus or though towards this, we simply filmed in school where the teacher said. In contrast to this we had to decide where to film for our production. We first wrote the story board and then decided on where this would work well. In our film opening we have made it look as though its one long route in the chase scene, however these shots were taken in various places al over Ilkley, edited to look like they are in the same location.

Moving on from this, sample shots. We didn't use these with the prelim, I quickly shot and edited all within 2 hours. With the production however I always did a test shot to see how it would come out and to judge whether it would work, and if not, what I could do instead. In relation to rough cuts we didn't have any with the prelim, it was a one take shoot, whereas with the production we went out and filmed, then edited what we had, then decided which parts needed re shooting, I have in total gathered 7 rough cuts. So in these areas is a dramatic change and learning point from the prelim to production. I used these rough cuts to get audience feed back and tips via posting them on YouTube, this way I could show my friends and carry out primary market research on what needs to be improved. We also uploaded the prelims to YouTube as you can see however I didn't go around trying to get audience feedback, so again this was another point I learned a lot.

Sound/editing was overlooked in all honesty with the prelim tasks, whereas in production the was vital. As I said in my previous blog (evaluation question 6) we attempted to make our own music but as it didn't work we found copyright free music online. The music in my production completely changes the quality of it and improves it massively, so again, here was a big learning curve.

With company idents, each person in my group made their own in their own time, we then put these all together at the beginning of our film opening. With the prelim tasks I didn't have an ident and overlooked it. During the process of making one I learn't a lot about different platforms and editing styles.

We used a lot of shots and tried to vary them as much as possible. This contrasts greatly with that of the prelim whereby there were 4-5 shots max, whereas with the production we couldn't take enough, we took as many as possible and edited the best ones having selected our favourite as a group.

At the beginning of the production I signed roles to the group trying to organise things, we then all completed our roles and came back next lesson with it all done. From here we could crack on. In terms of the prelim there were no roles, we all did it all and got it done, however with little organisation. Organisation is a key point I learn't, it can improve the efficiency and quality of the outcome massively!

In terms of working in a group it went well. Its always going to be difficult working with in a large group as you have four opinions to balance. However everyone pulled their weight and I feel the outcome shows that. There was teamwork involved in the prelim as we filmed in groups so there was little change but the size of the task was different. There was little questioning of shots in the prelim, however more so during production.

Conclusion:
-I now understand Final cut and editing
-Understand the importance of organisation, research and time management 
-I better understand the significance of a variety of shots and sample shots

(These three areas are the things I have taken away from the whole production most!)