Question 7

Forming groups and working collectively on the project:  We began the task of planning by individually coming up with film ideas (as we had to develop a complete film concept) and then once we had them we explain the ideas to the group and then took a vote on which film we would like to work on, me and Charlie both voted on Tom’s idea. Then we created a group brainstorm with Tom and Charlie doing costume and comic research and any relevant research found I would add to the group research mind map.  Throughout the planning process we were putting forward ideas about the characterisation and the personality of the main character, we were also individually bringing forward ideas as to why he was obsessively stalking the main girl, and we decided on the design for the main characters room and we wanted a big board covered in papers and red or black tape. The only task we did collaboratively was when we were editing, we did this collaboratively because Me and Charlie had different strengths when it came to editing.

 Seeing as neither Tom nor Charlie wanted to be Project manager and I didn’t mind being a project manager, I decided that it would be more productive if I took up the role rather than us debating about who should be the project manager. From then on I delegated tasks based on there strengths that I knew about from completing the Preliminary task with them.  When it came to editing working in a group was rewarding because we could all bring our skills and knowledge of editing forward and that meant that the final cut was more diverse than if just one of the group had worked on the edit.  Working in a group was not so rewarding when some members did not do the work that they were delegated and then the members that had done there work had to do more work than they were meant to. This lead to some members of the group being frustrated and then the final outcome for the opening titles was compromised as then we couldn’t spend as much time on some of the tasks that we needed to.

Preliminary task – continuity exercise  The Preliminary task was a introduction to the practice side to media and film as we had to learn about how long it takes to complete a smile shoot like someone walking down a corridor and we had to edit all the shots so that they worked and when the character was walking down the corridor you would know that he was and that this would be illustrated through many different shots, not just one tracking shot.  When filming I started to understand how much work goes into having someone complete even a simple task. It also helped my understanding of the variety of shots that can be used to make a simple task look more interesting than it actually is. After we had see the final cut it really illustrated what you can make from a simple task and how it can turn into a cinematic sequence.  In my opinion the Preliminary task initial shoot was successful and we managed to get all the footage that we wanted but we managed to turn the external microphone off so then none of the dialog was recorded so then we had to do a reshoot. It was irritating to do a reshoot but it meant that we were carful for all the shoots after that the microphone was turned on so that it would record the dialog.  Apart from the filming and editing techniques that we learnt, I learnt the necessity to be organised and then it enabled us to be more effective when we were going to be filming. This organisation meant that we were able to achieve a greater final outcome. Within our group we had a wide variety of tasks and roles that we had to complete.  The main skill that I improved on in the Preliminary task was the need to be organised and then it meant that we would be able to produce the work in time for the deadlines and then we would get a better grade. I defiantly applied the organisation and then the task delegation to my group for the opening titles.

Planning – did you now start planning it with more of a filmmaker’s eye?  The planning was the most useful part of the process because it meant that on the day for filming we knew what we were doing and then we could get on with it without trying to work out what we were filming on the day. The storyboards were good to refer to throughout the filming because then we could achieve what we had planned to do initially.  When we were filming for our opening titles we were more confident and we were able to achieve more and we were able to work with the storyboards, we were able to make the shots fit in with the genre and help build the atmosphere. We more were predetermining where we were going to make cuts so that if one of us was off we would be able to achieve this. The shot that I am most proud of is split between one were my cat is jumping out of a box when she has been covered in comics and another shot where the main character Frank knocks over some pills and I like this shot because it worked really well when we put it in reverse.  We realised that when we were reshooting the dialog we realised that we could slightly improve the dialog and work on the clarity of the lines that we used throughout the preliminary. We learnt that you had to make sure that you were clear and concise when speaking on camera.  There could have been continuity issues when we reshot the dialog section of the preliminary task but we decided that we needed the main character to walk into shot again from when he was walking down the corridor, this would mean that there would be more consistency with our shots than if we had not done this. But because we shot inside this was not a key issue. We did not have to check for the weather consistency when we did a reshoot for the opening titles because the way we cut it would mean that no weather was shown from the initial shoot but we had to keep Franks costume consistent so that involved some planning so that we could keep the opening titles consistent.  I believe that the final product for our opening titles was to a high standard and this was down to the fact that all the shots were straight and this meant that this made our work seem more professional. There were a few shots that were shaky to add to the atmosphere, but the majority of the shots were kept straight as there was no need for them to be shaky.  If I were to do the opening titles again I think I would have spent more time on the shot development and less time on the characterisation, the characterisation for this opening titles was not as relevant and because we spent so much time on the characterisation this meant that we did not have such developed shots and we had to do a reshoot.

Editing  Editing was a lot more challenging when we were editing the preliminary task as no one in the group was familiar with the soft wear that we were using. But by the time that we came to the opening titles edit we were vaguely familiar with the soft wear and that meant that we were able to incorporate more complicated editing processes because having a basic knowledge of the soft wear allowed us to get further within the editing process, with the time that we were given.  It was easier to edit with the footage from the opening titles as when filming we had already considered some of the cuts that we could make while we were filming and if we didn’t think that something worked with the continuity then we would reshoot part of that sequence so that the continuity then worked with the shot that we wanted to achieve.  The main type of effects that we used for this opening sequence was overlaying footage of comics when it was from franks point of view and this was to illustrate the fact that Frank really thought he was part of the comic world. Other effects that we used were overlaying one set of footage over another to make a character disappear into thin air. If we had more time I think that we would have incorporated a few more special effects that we associate with the comic world just to really reinforce the link to the comic world.  Overall I think that my cinematography and editing skills have improved as we had to learn about a wide variety of techniques and shots that we had to incorporated into our work so that it look professional rather than a college project. But if I was to do the shoot and editing again I would have had more close ups on the girls eyes to really show that at this current moment she doesn't know that Frank is following her and so that the audience does not know he surroundings so well so that they think she is more illolated.