Overlooking the preliminary task, I can see that as a group,
we have made an improvement with our filming skills and editing techniques as
we practised more and became familiar with how to work each piece of equipment.
Previously, it took us three tries to create the preliminary task as we made
several mistakes yet the last one was
successful out of the three however, we broke the 180 degree rule and because
of this, we had to constantly remind ourselves of this rule whilst we were
filming. Our teacher made us aware of this mistake so that we didn’t repeat it
again in our final production. On the other hand, we were able to show match on
action and shot reverse shot which showed that we knew what the task was asking
for yet the shots still needed to be worked on as they didn't look
professional/to a high standard.
Looking at both of the outcomes, our final video of the opening sequence shows that we became more confident whilst filming as we used a variety of creative shots to make our production look appealing and interesting and we took several different shots within each scene so that we would have a broader selection to choose from whilst editing. In comparison to the continuity editing task, we weren't experimental with the shots types as this was our first practice of filming and this showed that we weren't as knowledgeable about how to use the camera effectively to create imaginative and artistic shots. Along with this, as being the editor, I became confident and assured whilst editing the final footage and I experimented more to see what type of effects that I could create and incorporate within our sequence. At the start, I found that I couldn't drop the footage into the timeline to edit however, I had found an alternative to do this: copying and pasting the footage into the timeline. From there, I started to select the shots that looked most professional and started to experiment with the effects that were on final cut pro to create the atmosphere of the thriller that we were looking for.
As the production progressed,we became more patient and tried to work around any obstacles that interfered with the filming.
The camerawork improved a lot from the preliminary task as we only used a minimal amount of shots for the preliminary. We took the advice that we were given by our teacher and online research to use a variety of shots, especially imaginative ones so that our production wouldn't look repetitive with the shots that were being used. For every filming session that we had, this was one of our main focuses so that we could create a successful outcome. This also was an advantage whilst editing as it meant there was a larger selection of shots to choose from whereas the preliminary task didn't offer this as there weren't many shots. The editing looked much better in comparison to the preliminary as we incorporated sound to create verisimilitude, different effects such as fading in/out to create a sense of mysteriousness and imbalance and several different camera shots that allowed us to show our understanding of what different shot types there were. We applied this knowledge so that we could portray the conventions of a thriller meaning that our target audience would be intrigued along with the production being successful.
