Evaluation Question 7

Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

One lesson I have just come to learn, the agonizingly hard way, is always keep a back up of your work at home. Now, of all times, at the last minute when it comes to finally uploading I find out all my work done on a completed question 7 is stored at college where I have no possible way of accessing it. Apologies for the lack of technology on this one but with 3 hours left until the deadline it's the best I can do.

Comparing prelim to final product:

Framing - The framing was much better in the final product, particularly when there was more than one character in the frame. In the prelim the back of the character in the foregrounds head dominates the screen when it attention should be on character talking.

 Prelim

CHANGE (Framing much better)

Pace and flow - The continuity of the opening is of a much higher standard in the opening compared to the prelim.

These improvements are largely due to the difference in levels of planning that was done prior to the filming of the sequences: the prelim only consisting of a script, whereas the final product was planned extensively so that when it came round to actually filming it was clear exactly what was needed.
A well planned story board and animatic made it abudandantly clear exactly what shots were needed, how they were to be framed and what kind of movement was required.

Animatic of CHANGE - Giving rough idea of outline of opening whilst also allowing me to develop my skills on Final Cut Pro

What knowledge have I gained and skills have I developed?

Making the product look more professional:

• From the prelim onward I have been developing my skills at match cutting as a way of seamless editing so that the footage flows smoothly and not disjointed. This form of continuity editing allows the audience to settle in to the piece as it creates a sense of reality
• I have learnt that jump cuts breaks the reality by making the sequence seem disjointed and so shouldn't be used unless for a specific purpose. This was a change that had to be made as result of feedback for my rough cut for my opening as one scene contained a jump cut
• The quality of camerawork is something i have also worked on and progressed in as it is this that determines whether or not the piece looks professional. Blurry shots and shaky camera movement being the main examples of bad camerawork and will break the reality of the piece.

About communicating to the audience with better clarity:

• I learnt the significance of mise-en-scene in establishing character types, and how using stereotypes make this task easier - location and costume being particularly useful tools in expressing representations of the character potrayed
• It has shown me the importance of sound and how it can change the mood. This was something we especially took advantage on in our opening sequence; changing the backing track to signify the change from a dark and hostile mood to a uplifted and promising mood.
• This was also reflected in the lighting - grey and dull to begin with and eventually getting brighter

Production Process:

• Difficulties of meeting production deadlines - The Breakfast Club remake had to abandoned without being fully completed as the production schedule doesn't seem to wait for anyone
• Working in a group - At times can be tense as tempers flare but as you learn to focus on members strong points rather than negatives it becomes an enjoyable process and lightens the load of stressful media coursework (which really is stressful - major lesson learnt)