Evaluation Question 7

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

My film making skills have developed and become a lot more advanced since the preliminary task. The only advanced shot we used in the preliminary task was the match on action shot of the character pulling the door handle and walking out of the door. Other than that the shots and transitions we used were very basic and often looked unrealistic. In the preliminary task we managed to include sound and titles however these were all very basic and at times looked amateur. Compared to the preliminary task, I believe that the sound and titles I used were much more effective and realistic. I believe my sound fit in quite well and gave the correct mood I wanted it to. My titles were planned out and were much more advanced than in the preliminary film we created.

The preliminary task helped to show me the basics of Final Cut and Live Type. It allowed me to play around with music and titles and gave me a chance to experiment. The titles used in my preliminary task only appear on a black background, where as the titles in my final film appear both on a black background and over shots. The skill of placing titles over shots is one I developed during the course of making my film. Also in my preliminary task I had one sound playing at a time, however in my final film I had a main background soundtrack which lasted for almost the whole of my film, and then I placed other sounds over the top of this soundtrack to emphasis the tension in certain places. I didn't know how to have more than one sound playing at the same time in the preliminary task, but I learned how to use this skill for my final film.

The background sound in the preliminary task is too loud and it is very distracting. I think it would have been better if we would've cut lots if not all of the background sound out so the audience weren't getting distracted by the loud noises. For example, the door slams very loudly when the characters are talking and it is hard to focus on the dialogue. In my final film I thought the background sound ruined the effect I wanted to create. The sound of the wind was too overpowering and I felt it would have ruined the build up of suspense that I was aiming for. Therefore I decided to cut out all of the background sound from my final film, I think this worked well and improved the quality. Another thing that varies between the preliminary task and my final film is the use of dialogue. The preliminary film uses dialogue, however the dialogue is slightly out of time with the characters lip movements. I think that the dialogue used in the preliminary film makes it seem a bit too staged and unrealistic. It looks too improvised and it ruins the casual style the film was trying to go for. In my film I didn't use any dialogue. In thriller films it is hard to make the dialogue convincing. It has to be scary/tense enough but not too fake and this is a very hard balance to achieve. I think the use of silence or eerie music in my film creates a far more tense effect than would have been created if I'd have added dialogue between the characters.

The use of the rippled transition at the end of the preliminary film is very cheesy and it makes the film seem amateur. The transition either looks like the film is aimed at younger children because it is very emphasised, or it looks like the ending of a flashback/dream. This is not the effect that we were trying to create for our preliminary film. I think we should have used a more basic transition and ended it in a different way. In my final film I only used a small number of transitions and when I did they were very basic, most of the time I just cut the shots together. I think the use of basic transitions worked well in my final film as it didn't ruin the tense atmosphere created by making it look too unrealistic. In my film I used a range of different shots. I tried to include some advanced shots. For example I included a shot reverse shot of the victim turning and looking over her shoulder and then turning back. I think this shot worked quite well as it looked fairly realistic and the audience could see from the characters point of view. Also I included a zoom, I struggled with the zooms as they were often too fast and unsteady but I think the one I included in the end was just right. I tried to consistently check that I was using the 180 degree rule effectively and I think I managed to in a number of shots.

For my preliminary task I worked in a group of 4, however for my final piece I decided it would be best to work alone. In hindsight I think this was the correct decision. I did find it very hard at the start of the project during the planning section and often fell behind people who were working in groups as they were able to share the workload out however I was left to do it all myself. Although once I'd caught up successfully I found it a lot better to work alone. During the filming stage of the project it was good because I could film exactly what I wanted and didn't have to sacrifice any of my ideas or compromise with anybody. Yet it may have been useful to have a peer to share ideas and possible improvements with. The editing was good because I could work on the film whenever I wanted to and didn't have to coordinate my time around other people. It was good for me to just work quietly on my film as I didn't get distracted and I could focus on achieving the film I wanted. I think working in a group would have been difficult and caused a few disagreements or a clash of ideas. I think I'd still decide to work alone next time, unless I found the right group with a similar idea and attitude about the film as me.