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

During this whole experience I have learnt and developed so much as film maker. I now appreciate how much hard work goes into creating a film. Now I have a full understanding how vital planning really is. From our audience research, we learn what type a thing people wanted in a thriller, which inspired us when creating a storyboard and it help use to create an opening people enjoyed watching. With the storyboard and shot list I am glad we spent so much time into putting a lot of detail into it as this made the filming day a lot easier. On the day of filming, we spent time putting each shot together before we even started filming, from creating a messy room to covering up the fire extinguisher in the house. Then when filming I learnt how important to film each shot more than once, as when we looked back at each sequence there was thing we had to change or add in (for example for a couple of shot we forgot that the girl need to wear the bracelet, which if we hadn’t looked back at, we wouldn’t of notices). Also I learnt how much a tripod can make a big difference in making each shot look steadier, as we didn’t really use it our preliminary task which made it look amateurish but we used it all the time in our opening and it really made the whole thing look more professional.  When editing I learnt a lot, including that something may look good when planning but it may look bad once you get it into editing. For example we thought a couple of shots from outside the house before the girl entered would help establish the location. But actually it was boring sequences to watch, as nothing was really happening, so the audience would disconnected from our film and less likely to keep watching, so we deleted it in editing.

In our preliminary task there was number of things that went well. This includes;

·         The composition and framing of each shot was correct in our opening- we didn’t have an unnecessary thing in the shot and it was very easy for the audience to understand what was happening in each shot.

·         The editing of the preliminary- we edited the preliminary really well, we were able to follow the 180° rule, have match on action,  shot revers shot and continuity. 

·         A variety of shots- We did have lots of different shots in preliminary task including;  including high angled, low angled, mid shot, close ups and extreme close up, all of which fitted perfectly into what was happening in the scene.

However there was also a lot we needed to improve on from our preliminary task;

·         Spend more time filming carefully and use the tripod more so the shot won't be as unbalanced-We did this in our opening by spending time planning different shots we could use in our opening, which we then did when filming.

·         Ensure that the credits don't go so quickly and the audience can understand what they say- We did this in our opening by using a different credits style which lasted longer and suited the thriller genre more.

·         When planning and editing think more about transitions and use them more-We didn’t really do this when planning, but when we edited we add lots of different transition, especially in the build up to the girl’s death.  

·          Spend more time on the storyboard and shot list, so we know exactly what shots need to be filmed and how we will film them- we did spend a lot time on the storyboard and shot list, which did make filming these shots a lot easier for our group.

 

When creating the preliminary we had to include the following; shot reverse-shot and match on action. Also we had to make sure we didn’t break the 180° and that the sequences followed the continuity rule. I found this very hard to originally, as before starting the producing I didn’t know what any of those were in film making. But once we had the chance to plan how we were going to show these skills it became a lot easier and we did do all of them. So it was important when creating our thriller opening to show and improve these skills. We didn’t use shot reverse-shot as we felt it wasn’t necessary to our storyline and wouldn’t have helped to create tension. But we did use match on action; a good example of this is when the girl opens the door to enter the room. We were able to edit so well that it just looks like it was normal action and not one we had to stop and start a number of time. Also we didn’t break the 180° rule and all of the sequences followed continuity rule. A good example of when we followed both of these rules was the sequences of the girl walking up the stair, there are a number of different shots in the sequences all of which follow each other perfectly as we made sure the girl used the same foot per step of each shooting and she is always on the same side of the stairs.

Another really important factor to our filming was we wanted continuity to be perfect. This was a challenge, as when the girl was walking we had to make sure she started and finished on the same feet in each shot. To do this properly we spent a lot of time working out with the actress what foot to use at different points and between filming we looked at our footage ensuring it followed continuity (and re-filming shots if the footage didn’t). I think by doing this (with the help of editing) our continuity was perfect, with no shots in our opening that didn’t make sense. 

We felt as a group that we didn’t have enough variety of shots from our preliminary task, so when creating our opening it was essential we had lots in our opening. We spent a lot of time on this when creating the storyboard and even on the day filming we add shots to ensure we had enough variety. By doing this we in our opening we had; mid shots, close ups, panning shots, low angle shots, long shots, extreme close up and over the shoulder shots.  For our opening we used specific shots to help create a feeling of tension and mystery throughout. So, when the opening begins there are a lot of mid shots and long shot of the girl. We did this to help keep the distance between her and the audience-it created mystery and does not allow the audience to connect to her. As she is walking up the stair, there are some unusual shots of the girl’s feet and low angle shots that follows her as she goes up the stair. We did this to introduce the idea that the girl is being watched and she is not alone in the house. This raises the tension and creates a creepy atmosphere.  When she enter the room there are shot taken from her point of view, so the audiences start to see and feel what the girl does (it also help to show more detail of the room). 
 

Then the build up to her death there are lots of different, obscure shot in a very short space of time. This helps to build up to the climax and connects all of the different thing within the room to the girl (e.g. the doll, the dead images of the girls and the bracelet). Also it makes the audience anxious and confused as they start to realise something major is going to happen-but they don’t know what. During the shooting, there is only close-up of the girl face and of the blood from the shot wound. This is the first time the audience get to see the girls face in detail which make them connect and sympathize with her as they can see her emotions clearly. We showed the blood from the bullet wound so the audience would understand exactly what had happen to the girl and it made the sequences uncomfortable to watch (something which is done a lot in thriller films). Once she had the girl had died, we used another panning shot of her body to a close up of her hand. We did this to suggest that murderer was looking over their victim and to slow everything down after the very fast paced sequences.

I think there a number of things we did really well in our opening; this includes;

·         The steadiness of each shots- for our preliminary task one of main criticisms we got was our shots were very wobbly. So in our opening we made sure we used the tripod as much as possible. By doing this, all of shots  look very professional and there wasn’t one shot in the opening that looked wobbly.

·         The way tension is build- In our opening I think we created tension really well which help to make it look like a thriller opening. We did this by using lots of different sounds, making the editing fast-pace towards the climax of the story and by placing lots of different item around the room to suggest sinister things.

·         The mystery created-In most thriller films a mystery follows the storyline which isn’t revealed until the end of the film. So when creating our opening we wanted to do something similar and the main way we did this was by not explaining to the audience why the girl was at the house, who the girl was, who killed the girl or who own the room the girl was looking around.  By doing this, it makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film to find out the answers to those questions. Also it helps to create an interesting storyline.

·         Our editing- the editing for the piece, I think it really strong. When we did a first cut of our opening was four minutes and forty-six  seconds long, which was too long, not interesting enough to watch and didn’t create enough tension  because the editing was poor and the opening wasn’t to a high standard. But, we worked on the time of the sequences by; deleting certain footage (like the shots taken from) outside of the house, sped up certain shots (mainly the shots of the girl walking up the stairs) and changing the build up to  the girl's death to a very quick showing of images that relate to the narrative By doing this we had an opening that had lots of transition, follow the continuity rule well and had cuts with in that really helped to build tension.

                                                                              

·         Good shots the fitted perfectly with the storyline- for our opening we used certain shot to create certain feelings. By doing this we had mid shots, close ups, panning shots, low angle shots, long shots, extreme close up and over the shoulder shots-all of which fitted well with our storyline and did help to create tension.

However, I also think that if we going to make this opening again there would be a couple of thing I would improve; this includes;

·         The effect used on each shot- Although the effect we used of each shot help to make the opening more dark and sinister, it wasn’t the same colour for every shot. For example; when the girl enter the house the shot are nearly black and white but when she enter the room the shots are coloured.  So if we were going to do the opening again I think we should film at night time with the correct lighting equipment so we wouldn’t need to add an effect to each shot but it still be dark enough to create the sinister feeling.

·         The sound- I do think our sound worked for our opening but it wasn't perfect for a real film and was weaker at some  in the opening compared to parts of the opening. For example I don’t think the heart beat from the build up to the girl’s death was strong enough for what was happening. So if we going to create the opening again I would suggest that we record our own music, that way we can create exactly what we want and don’t have to rely on music made by someone else.

·         Our title- The idea of having each member of our group as a photo actually in the opening worked really well-it connected them both. But I didn’t like the fact our names were added on in editing- as we didn’t do this for the titles. So if we going to do the opening again, I think we should write our names by the photos on filming days so we wouldn’t add anything in editing.