Kirsty - AS Media

Our preliminary task was a of a low standard, reflecting our unfamiliarity with each other, the subject and the course.


Our prelim hadn't had much preparation, there were only minimal signs of thought over mise-en-scene elements and cinematography, and we didn't have much skill when it came to editing either.

Our film opening is very different from our initial preliminary idea, as we needed a more thought-out idea, that had a little bit more depth than our original piece. Our preliminary production had a very basic script and the idea was thought up in around 15 minutes (if not less), so we had no emotional attachments to it.

Our film opening however, preparation-wise, was developed by several months worth. Not only did we write an in-depth script before hand, we created storyboards too (something we hadn't even considered for our pre-lim).  Our script actually went through several drafts and group members before it was finalised. Before we worked as a group to create our script and storyboards, we researched our target market, thriller conventions and theories, to make sure that our film was of a high standard, suitable to our target audience. We had those who fell into our target audience complete questionnaires, and we documented our research onto our blogs, many in the form of different Web 2.0 tools. The only research we conducted for our preliminary task was figuring out what on earth the camera angles specified to use, were, and how to film them.

 When we filmed our preliminary task, we only had mobile phones on our equipment list. If you look at this blogpost, you can see the equipment we ended up using. This included multiple HD cameras, a dolly, tripods and a flood light - all items we didn't use for our first filming task.
 We had an evening where we tested out different camera angles and used our equipment properly for the first time. I remember at one point, all four of us were trying to attach the camera to the tripod and the tripod to the dolly and initially, we were very confused. However, with a little bit of persistence, teamwork and practise, we solved the problem.

 In our preliminary composition, we really didn't look too far into mise-en-scene elements - however, this changed dramatically for our final production. It took several weeks of location scouting before we finally decided on (and earned permission for) our chosen setting.
 We used no props in our preliminary task, however, we had two major ones used in our final clip (a mobile phone and puzzle box).
 When it came to costume, hair and makeup, we just filmed Lauren and Yoli as they were on the day for our first filming task. This contrasts dramatically for our final production, as we looked into connotations of clothing and its colour, creating a mood board of our characters' outfits before filming.
 It's obvious in our preliminary task that we didn't take lighting into account, we just used what was available, which left us with hardly a tense atmosphere at all; definitely not something we'd expect from a thriller. In our final piece, we had a floodlight to create shadows spotlight our characters in a way. We also edited the footage so that the lighting was more low key - this way, we created the atmosphere a thriller deserves. I personally also edited the colour of the piece, making it less saturated and a modified the tone so that it was colder, a common technique used when editing thriller films.
 In our preliminary task, there are a couple of clips featuring those behind the camera - an absolute no-no move. We didn't really experiment much with positioning and framing when it came to our original composition, meaning the audience had to rely on the poor acting skills and dialogue for information on the relationship of the characters. We developed from this in our final piece, as we had characters Tyler and Charlie feature in a number of different shots highlighting their positioning from each other, which clearly represents their relationship to the audience, unlike our preliminary piece.
 When it came to casting for our preliminary task, we had two members of our group volunteer as it was the quickest solution. This resulted in the acting not being very professional, thus occasionally making it difficult for the audience to understand what feelings the characters were portraying. When it came to preparing for our final composition however, we held a series of auditions to find three people suited to our characters, who could clearly express themselves in a way that was easily interpreted by the audience.

One thing I have to admit that I liked from our preliminary task was the amount of different camera angles we used. Admittedly, it was obvious we needed a little practise or equipment support (such as a tripod for steadiness), but we included a range of shots within just 40 seconds. We carried this theme throughout our final product, developing it by researching and becoming familiar with alternative shots and angles. We featured a 'point of view' (POV) shot, a panning shot and a tracking shot in our final composition, adding more movement than we had initially in our preliminary piece, (which was mostly made up of still shots).
 For the preliminary task, we had a list of shots we needed to feature. We focused on these, and included them even if we thought they looked a bit rubbish on screen (such as our 180-degree rule clip). If we weren't keen on a certain angle for a clip, we wouldn't use it on our final product. Often, we tried it somewhere else - for example, we knew we wanted to feature a high angled shot in our piece to make our protagonist seem small and vulnerable, however, where we initially placed it just didn't work. When introducing our characters, we originally wanted to foreshadow their peril, but we also wanted our audience to relate to them, not simply perceive them as weak. Instead, we used eye level and over the shoulder shots for our characters' introductions, and moved the high angled shot to when our character Charlie is banging at the door, trying to get out, as this is a key moment where the audience realises how endangered Charlie is, and thus Charlie should definitely be represented as small here.
 From our preliminary, I realised how effective close ups were and after discovering how important they are in mise-en-scene as well, we made sure to incorporate more into our final piece. This added extra dimension to the introductions of our characters, and clearly showed their expressions (which exhibits elements of mise-en-scene in our film opening).

The editing in our preliminary piece is very basic, as I said in my question six answer, it pretty much shows where my editing skills were at at the start of the year - I knew how to split and crop clips. We edited it on Final Cut Pro, a software I hadn't used previous to being on the course, so I didn't know how to add text, transitions or sound effects.
 The first thing I taught myself was colour isolation, an effect similar to that used in 'Sin City'. It took a long time and a lot of fiddling around with different settings because my version of Final Cut Pro was slightly different to the one used in the tutorial I watched, but I was able to do it in the end. The video showing this can be viewed here.
 I also learnt how to manipulate the speed of a clip, as some shots appeared more dramatic sped up. For example, so as not to damage property, the actress playing our character Charlie didn't want to bang on the door too crazily, in order to control her movements, they weren't as quick and didn't appear as desperate as we wanted. To fix this, I sped the clip up, fast enough so it appeared dramatic, but slow enough not to appear unrealistic. Initially, I kept doing this wrong - I kept changing the length of the clip, not the speed of it. After a google however, I solved my problem.
 One problem we came across both in our preliminary and final products was that we filmed in different dimensions when it came to using different equipment. For the preliminary, we left the problem unsolved. However, we worked on this, and eventually I managed to figure out what settings to change on our Final Cut Pro project in order to make sure it was in the dimensions we needed it to be in. After that, it was simply a case of becoming familiar with transforming clips to fit the frame.
 Our preliminary task doesn't use any filters or transitions - something we worked on for our Final piece. Having created the audition and location videos, I experimented with different transitions and fonts to see what looked most professional and effective. The videos obviously weren't quite in the same context and mood as the thriller film opening, but it made me more familiar with what was available on the software nonetheless. One major problem I had was the fact that a large number of the filters apparently available on Final Cut Pro, just didn't work. When looking up the problem, most of the solutions seemed out of my ability to perform, as the software is on my school's computers (so I don't have permission to complete some actions on there). Nevertheless, I worked with what was available to me and used test footage to experiment with filters and glitch effects. After hearing feedback, I added what was most desired into our final piece. Although I'm proud of the editing I produced on our film, I am still disappointed as I believe some of the unavailable filters could have added just that extra little bit of magic to our product.

 Additionally, in terms of added in sound, we used none for our preliminary product. Neither did we change the levels of certain clips, which was certainly needed as there are some areas that are almost inaudible, whereas others are so loud it would partially deafen you had you had your earphones turned all the way up to hear the quieter parts. The reasoning behind leaving it unedited was simply because we didn't know how to select the sound from a clip and change its volume. Of course, that changed as I became more experienced with Final Cut Pro. Not only can I select it and change its volume, but I can detach it from its original clip, whilst dragging it over another so that the sound travels fluently as the shots change. We added in royalty-free music and sound effects that we deemed suitable for our clip, and I manipulated two different tracks so that they would work together underneath our piece. I made sure to try and level the sound, but I found it difficult because there were sound effects that were supposed to be somewhat uncomfortably loud. In general however, the dialogue is around the same level, and the louder sound effects only occur when there isn't anything else to hear. I made sure that the difference in loudness couldn't lead to partial deafness - which is an improvement to say the least.

Looking back at what I've learnt from the progression originating at our preliminary task to our final product, I can't believe how much experience and media knowledge I've obtained. Considering I knew practically nothing at the beginning of this course, to have learnt about theories, the importance of mise-en-scene and the range of camera angles has been a little overwhelming and scary at times. However, I genuinely believe that I've done well to have adapted to the course, and having applied my new earned knowledge as soon as I could. I think I struggled with the theory or essay writing the most, as I felt very inexperienced and somewhat intimidated by the rest of my class (as far as I was aware, they all had previous media practise). I was never sure where to begin or finish, and I felt like either I hadn't written enough... or that I'd written too much. This may also be a symptom of my perfectionism though, rather than just uncertainty. Nonetheless, though it took me a lot longer to produce my research blog posts, I feel like their standard is very high. I think I excelled when it came to progressing my editing skills - even though certain techniques took me a while to teach myself (the 'Sin City' effect, of course), I would still stand by the idea that I'm a quick learner, and if not that, certainly a determined and persistent one. Unlike the research aspect, I felt a lot more confident with what I was producing.  Overall, I believe I've become more confident in media in general, and I no longer feel like the lost, inexperienced student sitting in a seemingly alien class. It feels like home.