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

In November, my group and I where told to take on our first ever proper filming work. We where put into a group of 3 which consisted of me, Derrick and Ibukun. We where told to film a little scene where we had to include different camera shots and techniques. This included shots like; mid shot, close shot, pan, tilt, long shot etc, and camera techniques such as; the 180 degree rule, match on action, eye line match and more.The film was really short and basically about a boy that was on his way to media, but sees one of his friends that he didn't know takes media. What I gained from the preliminary task was like a little warm up experience. It was just a preparation of our final film and gave as a little practice when taking into account the different camera shots and techniques when filming.  

During my Preliminary Task, there several mistakes that took place that we didn't notice. But since it was our first attempt on making a film, it was not too bad. One mistake was that the film when I was walking up the stairs was too long. When we were creating my final film, we realised we don’t need big chunks of unnecessary walking and how it could be cut down. Another thing we noticed was that ‘Ibukun’ first appears behind the door, then all of a sudden, he was at the end of the hall way. We didn't realise this till we started editing which means we didn't take into consideration of the surroundings. Another thing I noticed was that our 180 degree rule was not that good as well. It did not extend to how long we wanted it to.  The last mistake I realised was our eye line match was not very good as well. The camera was held for too long when zooming into my eyes and the zooming in of what I was looking at were not so good as well. We also didn't take into consideration the sound because towards the end, we hear derrick say ‘Yeah’ to indicate I was doing it right.

In the creation of our final thriller, I noticed a few mistakes which we made. For example, when the killer strangles the girl, she begins to shout. In reality, when someone is being strangled, they would be gasping for breath and wouldn't have the time to shout. Another mistake we made was around 2:40. When the killer runs past Richie, we see towards the ground but the girl is not there. During the creation of the film, the girl was not available so we had to try and record what we could without her. But this part is unnoticeable. 

Within this experience, I have learned various new things between both the preliminary work and my final film.

1. The first thing I have learned is how to really use the camera. During the preliminary task, I didn’t do any filming because I weren’t to comfortable when dealing with the camera. I didn’t fully know how to operate it and how to do certain things like zooming. But when it came to the creation of my film, I kind of picked up how to use it. Reasons for this was because there where some parts where I had to film and the other members in my group weren’t able to do.

2.The second thing I have learnt was how to use the tripod effectively. Although I already knew how to use the tripod, I learnt how I could use it more in an advanced way. For example, managing the timing of a tilting and panning shot. Also, how to get a low angle and high angle shot just by adjusting the legs of a tripod.

3. The third thing I have learnt how to do is use final cut express. During my preliminary task, although I did a little bit of editing I still didn’t feel confident when using it. This meant I had to learn how to take on certain things by myself. With the editing of our final filming, derrick and me took on the role of editing, but when derrick wasn’t around, I had to learn for myself. I learnt how to add music, cut and edit certain parts, add effects and many more. This was effective because I came back a lot during my spare time to edit and get the film one to a high standard. With the sound I added and the editing, I learned how to cross-fade certain parts and the impact it has when dealing with the interference levels. Also, with the editing, I learned how important continuity was. This made the film flow more and prevent unwanted jumps which would have made the film look unprofessional.