EVALUATION QUESTION 7: LOOKING BACK TO YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

BY TOM ASTLE

PRELIMIARY VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLSJAfJEes

Here is the link to my preliminary video which we uploaded onto YouTube.

PRELIMINARY TASKWhen we started the preliminary task, what seems a lot time ago now, we were very inexperienced with a camera and it shows in the difference between our preliminary task and our finished HD opening sequence.

We made various rookie mistakes filming our preliminary task such as not using a tripod, watching our task back we can see the camera was shaking a lot as I was holding it, and I don’t have the steadiest of hands. What we also did in our task is the editing wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, this was down to our inexperience at the time, and the fact that we were in a rush. Some of the cuts show some one walking the same place twice, in our final openings sequence it was clear we would have to smooth this out to make it look like a professional opening sequence. Sound was also a major issue when it came to editing as we noticed a lot of background sound, that we didn’t have the time or experience to edit out.

PRELIMINARY TASK CONTINUED The final two problems we found and would have to overcome in our final opening sequence was the fact that at some points we filmed into a direct light source. ( pictured bellow). The final issue we found is that the acting skills were seriously bellow par, and this had a massive effect on the overall quality of our work. Jacob mostly wasn’t acting to the best he could have.

Despite these negatives we did stick to the 180 degree rule, and the match on action rule which allowed us to make the preliminary task follow the basic rules of the media industry.

FINAL OPENING SEQUENCE When we started to compare the opening sequence to the preliminary task we noticed, first how much we have improved our technical ability, and secondly how much better the opening sequence looked. When we filmed our opening sequence we changed pretty much everything so that we could produce the best thing possible, we swapped a iPhone for filming for a good proper camera, we also used a tripod as this allowed us to keep our shots steady and we could instantly see a difference in quality. Also the camera filmed in HD which allowed us to produce a even better quality video that we had intended. We also saw a improvement in sound as we added in music and additional sound effects non-diegeticly which added to the experience of watching the opening sequence.

We defiantly didn’t make any where the same quantity and magnitude of mistakes, as the only mistakes in the final opening sequence were a couple of glitches when Grady was walking, and a small typo involved in the credits. We didn’t film into a direct light source which was a major improvement in our final product.

FINAL OPENING SEQUENCE CONTINUED One thing that we did fail to improve on from the preliminary task was the quality of the acting involved in the film. We again used Grady and Jacob and when we did our audience feed back using various media products such as Facebook and YouTube. Many people pointed out to us that Jacobs acting made the opening sequence seem less believable as he didn’t play the part as well as he could have.

Like we did in the preliminary task we again, stuck to the 180 degree rule and the match on action rule, which allowed us to make an effective opening sequence that followed the basic media rules.

COMPARING SCREENSHOTSTo the left are two shots, the one on the left is Jacob acting during the preliminary task, as you can see he looks at the camera, breaking the fourth wall. On the right is Jacob In our finished product, many people said that the way Jacob walked with his arms out wide made it unrealistic, the acting was a major problem in both of the clips. However the quality difference between the two is clear in these two shots.

THE DIFFERENCESThe differences between our preliminary and final opening sequence are:

Better camera quality and stability, by use of better camera and tripod.

Not filming at a direct light source as this looks bad.

Getting rid of diegetic sound, and adding in non-diegetic sound to add suspense.

However some problems remained, such as the poor acting, but this was only a minor problem. We also sticked to the two most important rules in media, 180 degree rule and match on action which allowed us to make a effective opening sequence.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT

All in all, we have learnt a variety of techniques which have allowed us to progress from making a poor quality, not up to a good standard preliminary task, to making a HD good standard effective opening sequence.

We learnt many skills including, camera work, post production, editing software, sound and special effects.

Learning all these skills allowed us to create a HD, effective opening sequence.