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?

Back in October we create a short film for our Preliminary Task. This was the first proper film we produced and published with very little experience in the advanced camera techniques and editing methods. We evaluated the task at the time to say what went well and what could have been improved if we ever did it again. 

Click here to view the evaluation of the preliminary task

Issues with the preliminary task

During the preliminary task, we said we had problems with the match on action whereby we couldn't match up two separate shot angles to make it look smooth and running as if it were all one cut. I learnt that you have to repeat the whole action starting from the same point as they did in the previous clip to then match them up in order to prevent continuity errors.

Another issue was that even though you plan things, you don't always follow them exactly word for word and you have to come away from following your plan completely as changes do happen.

Similarities of the creative process

• We had to write a script for both the preliminary task and the main task so that the actors and actresses knew what they were saying and when.
• When creating the main task we made use of match on action when people were walking through doors or up the stairs

Here are the match on actions used in both the preliminary and main task to compare. 

Preliminary task-entering door

Preliminary task- other side of door

Main task- entering gate 

Main task- other side of gate

As you can see the match on action shots are using the same sort of principle where the same action is followed through as if it were all one shot.

• Both required the basic ability to edit and film on location using the software and hardware that film industry's would use.

What was better about the main task than the preliminary task?

1) In the main task when editing we used filters and colour effects to make the day time shots look like night so that we could get the ambience and set the tense atmosphere for our film. We didn't use anything like that in our preliminary task, just added the footages to the timeline ready to publish.

2) No sound editing software was used during the preliminary task. The only sound that was used was music added on final cut and the audio made by the actresses on screen. For the main task we had to add and edit music, sound and the actual audio made onscreen. This made the process of editing a lot longer than that of the preliminary task through the advanced techniques needed to edit.

3) There were much higher quality match on action shots. For example when Luke enters crimsons house there are fast pace match on action shots so that it looks as though Luke was filmed all in one take. The match on action shots in the preliminary task were good but they didn't have the fast pace editing that the main task needed and had at the end of production.

4) Another thing about the audio that was different is that there was use of split editing where by the audio when Crimson is on the phone to Luke, he is still taking but we cut to her reaction so the audience can see her emotions towards what Luke is saying rather than it being a tense competition going backwards and forwards.

What went well on the main task?

I feel that the editing stage went really well for the preliminary task. The way in which the day to night was edited to make it look as though all the footage we collected was filmed at night. This took a long time to do but created a great effect on the film as the dark setting is typical to a thriller.
Another thing I think went well was the planning stage of the main task. Each step was well thought out and researched allowing the process of production to be a little easier than it would be without the planning. Things like the shooting schedule helped enabling us to know what we were filming when and where so we had the right equipment booked for the right time. 
I think the fact that we chose to re-shoot our film in such a short period of time due to being unhappy with the mise en scene our film had due to certain features of the setting that were ruining the tension and atmosphere of our thriller. Below you will see the comparison between the two shots and the improvement the location change made on the way the mise en scene looks now it is set in the correct place. 

This is the first location choice- rough cut 1

 2nd location that was chosen to be Crimsons room.

As you can see the location looks far better and more realistic than that in the first cut of The Black Widow.

Issues with the main task 
There were a few problems we had to face when producing our main task. Things like:

• Unreliable actor
• Bad choice of location that ruined the mise en Scene
• The sound matching with the actors movements on screen 
• Time!
• Keeping to the schedule causing unorganised approach.

Solutions to these issues

We may have had problems when creating our main task, however we found ways around them or ways to solve them. 

Location Change- as said previously due to the ruin of the mise en scene, we chose to change location in order for our film to look realistic and believable to the audience. This gave it its thrill factor even though the re-recording took up the time of editing.

Change in actor- we changed our actor in the re-recorded version as the actor we first had was always 'unavailable' and so to allow us to adjust and improve our rough cut we needed a new actor. Ryan was willing to step in and so we were able to capture new footages.

Matching the sound- the sound when edited was out of sync with the characters movement on screen. This was solved by re-entering the film and its original sound into soundtrack pro to ensure that their mouths and speech were in sync again otherwise it would look like they were a ventriloquist which isn't the idea we were going for!

Getting back on track- When we side tracked away a little too much we would stop and regroup to re-plan which prevented us from missing valuable points of the planning and  production process.

Working in a group 

There were positives and negatives of working as a member of a group. It was still hard work but the process of planning and production was made a little easier. Our group did split due to two of us believing the film wasn't to the standard we wanted it and nothing like the planned finished product but this didn't cause any issues between any of us in Reflection Studios.

Overall I think our group worked well together and I feel I played my part as a member of Reflection Studios even when it was tough and time wasn't on our side.
As a group we had a difficult time and faces many hurdles. We're now pros and colour editing on final cut and we learnt as a group that planning and listening to each other is the key to success.


What have I learnt about myself?

From the start of production right through to the final editing stages I have learnt a lot about myself and the work ethics I have. I've learnt that: 

• I work well with people who have the same work ethics as me. 
• I like doing things independently sometimes to ensure that the work in the chronological order I plan out to ensure organisation and a high quality finished product.
• I don't like to be up against a close time limit. 
• I like things to be organised and in an order (OCD).
• I just like to know I have always done my best. 

Overall

Overall I feel that the main task of creating an opening for a thriller was a success. The high ability skills used in this task can clearly be seen compared to the skills used in the preliminary task. Alot more planning and hard work can be seen in The Black Widow which is the process we have learnt we have to go through in order to achieve the best results!