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

I think that my knowledge and skills have greatly improved since the prelim task and that can be seen in the increase in quality of my work from it to the actual brief.

The Briefs

Below is our prelim task

To achieve the continuity specified in both briefs we had to include:

• Match on actions
• The 180 degree rule
• Shot reverse shot

Pre-Production

The pre-production for the prelim was very different to the process for the actual brief. Some of the differences are detailed below.

The main difference was that for the actual brief we went into a lot more detail in the planning stage as we found in the prelim that if you only had a rough idea of something it was very hard to get a good shot to represent that idea and time would be wasted.

Production

Whilst there was cross over in the basics of each task - we used the same standard principles of continuity - the production for each was very different. The prelim was a lot shorter and took a lot less time than the actual brief. 

Below is an example of the similarities between the two shoots.

Match on action in the Prelim



Match on action in the film opening

The match on action for the opening was smoother than the one in the prelim and was a lot more visually interesting with the pan and varying angles.

Differences

In the main shoot we got to experiment with more challenging and interesting shots for example the hand held runner and stalker POV shots seen below.



We also took a lot more takes for the main task as the shots were generally more tricky needing greater accuracy and detail.

Post Production

Although we used the same software in both cases to edit, for the main task we got to use more complicated tools, such as Constant Gain for smoother audio transitions and the zoom keyframes, as well as having a lot more time to 'perfect' our edits. We were also not required to grade our shots for the prelim where as for the main task it was a very important part of the post production process.

From the prelim I learnt that:

• Naming your rushes was important for ease of sorting out the timeline on Premiere
• Edit on alternate tracks to make everything easier to see
• Roughly cut the shots down first and then when they are on the timeline do the fine editing 

Conclusion

From the prelim to the main task, I have showed a huge increase in skill in using the equipment and software as well as confidence in my ability to create a media product that meets the conventions of real life examples. I have enjoyed this project so much, even though at times it was stressful and am so proud of myself, the rest of my group, our learning curve and our final product of the film opening for 'Shadow of your Past'.