Evaluation Question 7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Emily Newell

Continuity and editing During the editing of our preliminary exercise we learnt how to properly use premier pro. We learnt about the many factors that go into the continuity of making a sequence. During my preliminary exercise we had difficulties with the movements of the actor slightly off, so in the final piece we tried to be extra careful to make sure they remembered what they were doing. In the preliminary exercise, the continuity from one shot to another didn’t always work. As with these shots, the one on the bottom left the actors hair is in front of their ear then it cuts straight to the next shot, top right where the hair is behind the picture. We learnt from this that our continuity would be a key factor to focus on, as well we had trouble with the exposure of the footage, which we focused on in our final to get right.

180 Degree Rule During our preliminary exercise we learnt techniques to use during our filming such as the 180 degree rule, meaning that during a conversation with two characters the camera isn’t allowed to cross an invisible line that goes through the character, ie has to stay on the left of both characters or to the right. In our final piece, we didn’t use the 180 degree rule since there was no conversation between our character. But this is an important factor that we have learnt from our preliminary exercise that we can use in other pieces and that we notice being used in other thrill films.

Shot Reverse Shot Shot reverse shot is used when two characters are in a conversation, we learnt this during our preliminary exercise and just how to shoot this technique. We learnt that the best way to shoot this is an over the shoulder shot. By doing this you are showing the audience that the characters are in conversation and that they’re looking at each other. In our final piece, we used shot reverse shot in the last scene. We did this to show the reaction of the character as he finds out that someone has been in his house. We started with a shot of the first character at the realisation of someone closing the door. We then cut to a shot of the 2 nd character behind a glass door, then back to the first characters reaction. We tried to stick to the 180 degree rule as well.

Match on Action Match on action is produced when the footage is edited from one action into a different shot of the same action, ie when some goes to open a door have a long shot of the character reaching out, then a shot of the hand on the door handle then to a shot inside the house of the character walking into the house. The audience are focusing more on the action rather than the cut of each shot. We decided that match on action was an effective technique that we learnt from the preliminary exercise that we ought to incorporate into our final piece to show just how much we have learnt. It made our piece look more professional and made the whole sequence flow better together.

Filming the opening title sequence For our OTS we started planning from a filmmakers point of view, trying to figure out what angle we wanted each shot to be from. One person in our group had the solid idea from the piece. We listened to a song from Insidious that we based the piece on because we wanted to incorporate it into the piece some how. We started out by drawing a rough storyboard and developing on the ideas within that to create our final storyboard (left image). On our filming day, we had the storyboard with us and tried to use it as a outline to use throughout the day. On the day on filming, I felt that we were able to use more of a range of shots after doing our preliminary exercise. I felt this because we had already gone through the process of shooting and then seeing what the final product looks like and seeing different shots and how they look once perfected. In our final piece we used, tracking shots and panning shots, something that I don’t think we would have felt confident enough to do if we hadn’t done our preliminary exercise. The shots were successful and made our piece look a lot more professional.

Filming the opening title sequence After doing our first day of filming and looking back through the footage that we had, as a group we decided that it would be best for our end piece if we refilmed. We did this because during our first filming session we had to film late at night because of issues with actors, this ended with really grainy footage that ruined out piece. During our second shoot we decided to use Daly, a member of our group as both actors as it would be easier to coordinate when to film, and their wouldn’t be trouble with actors not being able to attend etc. When we decided we were going to refilm, we were only going to refilm the shots outside, but when it came to the day the weather was drastically different from the first day, so we had to refilm all of the piece. I feel that the end product we have developed is extremely successful as to what we tried to achieve. With the feedback we got from different people it showed us that our piece was fitting to the genre of thriller. If I were to do the opening title sequence over again, I would definitely try and plan exactly what we need to get done during the filming days and have a schedule to base the day on.

Editing the opening title sequence During the filming of our opening title sequence, I felt as though we had thought more, and knew more about what we wanted to accomplish whilst we were filming. For the fact that we had put more thought into it, it made the editing process a lot more straight forward. Whilst we were editing, we wanted to make sure our piece was as successful and looked as professional as possible, so made sure the continuity was on point, ie. making sure that the foot of the actor that was in front was the same from one shot to another. In these two shots from our final piece, it shows how closely we tried to focus on the continuity throughout. With our opening title sequence we used different transitions such as fades from one scene to another, whereas we did not get the chance to do so with our preliminary exercise. In doing transitions such as fades, it makes the piece flow better and just gives the final project an all round more professional piece. With having the experience of filming during the preliminary exercise it made it a lot easier for use to think of factors to our opening title sequence that will give us the best looking piece we could create. It made it easier for us understand what goes into the making of a film and gave us a better outlook on the project overall.