[EVALUATION QUESTION 7 TEXT]
One of the areas of focus in the preliminary task was
continuity—while editing my preliminary task there were a number of shots that
I was unable to use because of continuity errors—therefore, when filming the
final product, I was very careful in terms of continuity. We were very
conscious of the weather conditions, but as it was overcast and cloudy on both
days of filming, thankfully this was not an issue. Continuity was not a problem
in filming the final product as the two narratives were independent of each
other, therefore each actor didn’t need to take off costumes and makeup and
have to recreate it the next day. We were very careful with continuity in the
sections that we planned to edit closely, for example the section when Joseph’s
character is walking up the stairs. He made sure to start on his left foot each
time, and count his steps carefully to make it easier for us when editing.
Another thing I focused on in the preliminary task was a variety of shot types to make the clip more interesting to watch. I made sure to carry this idea through to the final product when storyboarding, changing angle frequently and even using shot types to connote certain things about characters (for example the shot of Joseph’s character walking up the stairs from a low angle to connote his power. Another unique shot type that I included was the one from below the glass at the beginning of the sequence—it adds variety to our final piece. I think my creativity with shot types has greatly improved since planning the preliminary task, as there were only a few variations in the clip compared to the great variety in the final product.
The mise-en-scene was something that I didn’t pay much attention to in the preliminary task, but made sure to include in the process of making the final product, for example making the set look messy and creating the knife jar that is in the kitchen. However, there was a problem with some personal items left in one of the shots, but we used to Ken Burns feature to zoom and crop the shot slightly so that it was no longer visible, meaning we didn’t have to refilm.
The transitions generally stayed the same from my preliminary task to the final product. We used cuts, as we thought these looked the most professional and the cleanest. They are also the most prominent in the psychological thriller genre—within this genre, not many other transitions are used as they detract from the tension.
I used the skills that I learnt while making and editing the preliminary task in my final product, for example the match on action shot of the toast popping up, and throughout we didn’t break the 180-degree rule, even though I had trouble understanding this in the preliminary task (and came very close to breaking it). However, as there was minimal dialogue, I found it difficult to include more than one example of a shot-reverse-shot which was shown in the final two shots, where the characters meet.
I think the quality of our final piece is due to the preliminary task, as it gave us an opportunity to practice and hone our skills before using them on the final task, which made the process both quicker and more professional-looking.
Another thing I focused on in the preliminary task was a variety of shot types to make the clip more interesting to watch. I made sure to carry this idea through to the final product when storyboarding, changing angle frequently and even using shot types to connote certain things about characters (for example the shot of Joseph’s character walking up the stairs from a low angle to connote his power. Another unique shot type that I included was the one from below the glass at the beginning of the sequence—it adds variety to our final piece. I think my creativity with shot types has greatly improved since planning the preliminary task, as there were only a few variations in the clip compared to the great variety in the final product.
The mise-en-scene was something that I didn’t pay much attention to in the preliminary task, but made sure to include in the process of making the final product, for example making the set look messy and creating the knife jar that is in the kitchen. However, there was a problem with some personal items left in one of the shots, but we used to Ken Burns feature to zoom and crop the shot slightly so that it was no longer visible, meaning we didn’t have to refilm.
The transitions generally stayed the same from my preliminary task to the final product. We used cuts, as we thought these looked the most professional and the cleanest. They are also the most prominent in the psychological thriller genre—within this genre, not many other transitions are used as they detract from the tension.
I used the skills that I learnt while making and editing the preliminary task in my final product, for example the match on action shot of the toast popping up, and throughout we didn’t break the 180-degree rule, even though I had trouble understanding this in the preliminary task (and came very close to breaking it). However, as there was minimal dialogue, I found it difficult to include more than one example of a shot-reverse-shot which was shown in the final two shots, where the characters meet.
I think the quality of our final piece is due to the preliminary task, as it gave us an opportunity to practice and hone our skills before using them on the final task, which made the process both quicker and more professional-looking.
