Evaluation-Question 7.

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

Our preliminary exercise was, in our group's case, the first time we had had the opportunity to film using a camera and edit the product afterwards. The task, in order to pass, required the use of  match-on-action shots, (this was done by filming myself closing a door and cutting the footage in editing, so that the shot flows into one action despite being filmed at a slightly different viewing perspective,) keeping continuity throughout the footage, and not crossing the 180 degree line whilst filming. The exercise taught us a lot about how to use a camera effectively and to consider lots of different aspects such as lighting, perspectives, varied shots and editing that we previously hadn't thought of. The exercise therefore helped us enormously when filming our actual media product, as we'd already taken the time to gather an insight on how to (and how not to) shoot our film.

Preliminary Task-
https://youtu.be/-WGRs0ACjgU

For instance, the match-on action editing technique is used at the very beginning of our film. This is when O'Brien moves her hand towards the record player. The next shot then cuts to O'Brien placing the needle on the record player as a song begins to play, so the shot appears to the audience that this has been a single, continuous action.

We also included an example of the shot-reverse-shot, using the 180 degree rule ( in which the two characters engaging in the scene must maintain the left/right relationship to one another, otherwise, if the camera crosses over the 180 degree line, it will look as though the characters are not interacting with each other and confuse the audience.) We used this in the scene where O'Brien and H look directly at each other from across the street, as this was an important reaction between the two main characters, and we wanted the audience to see their interaction.

Our task again therefore gave us a crucial insight on how to shoot our film. However, creating our media product proved to be a much bigger and more complicated task that required our full attention. We had to carefully plan our media product. Our preliminary exercise's only planning consisted on creating a basic storyline and script, taking minutes to think of and put onto paper. However, we took much more time and care when it came to our media product, all of us creating our own original idea for storyline after doing individual research through existing films and video clips of what the conventions of the chosen genre were. When we narrowed down a final storyline, our group then began to plan how to shoot our film and what we wanted to include in it through audience certificate research, location shots and storyboards. This not only allowed us to be fully prepared for filming  and for each group member to know exactly what was being filmed on a particular day, but also improved our effort and commitment to filming from the preliminary exercise. Our group now seemed more focused on the scene we were shooting, leading to us finishing shots and making progress at a much quicker rate. 

In addition, we also had to evaluate what features actually made our media product a psychological thriller. Unlike the preliminary task, in which there wasn't a outstanding genre featured, we had to carefully consider how we could use different conventions of our chosen genre to have an effect on the audience. This required us to combine previous research with our imaginations in order to work as a team and film together. This resulted in  tricky shots and editing that looked impressive and attractive to the audience, and fitted perfectly with our chosen genre. For instance, we used a variety of different types of editing to add a sense of surrealism and build-up in our media product in order to command the viewer's attention.

Here, we used editing to make H vanish once he is behind the lamp post, making him seem surreal and mystic.





We sped up this shot during editing of H shaking his head to again emphasise his element of seemingly supernatural power.

We also sped up this shot to establish O'Brien's locations and to add a sense of eeriness to the scene.




Overall, our media product was a success for a variety of reasons, and the progression from our preliminary task was an important factor. The task allowed us not only how to work the camera to ur advantage, but how to work and organise ourselves as a team. Our previous research and organisation of tasks for each person allowed us to pull together and produce what we see as a highly successful media product fitting to psychological thriller genre.