1. Media Evaluation: Question 7
By Clarissa Thompson
LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT
DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE
PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

2. Transition from Preliminary Task to Main Task:
My preliminary task was a short 3 minute clip about a teenage girl having conflict with
her mum for breaking rules. This idea meant that many people can relate and fitted the
stereotypical label of ‘teenagers are rebels’ and wasn’t so much a challenge. This task
gave me a chance to explore how to use the camera equipment and put it altogether
efficiently and practice using it to film a short clip. This gave me ideas on how to use
various camera shots to suit the actors movement and fit within correct lighting to
produce a clear understanding of what is happening in the clip.
The preliminary task was not very
good as I had very little experience on
how to film in correct lighting
(although lighting was not a main
issue), sound and editing. The film
was also at times shaky and the quality
of sound had too much background
noise and I therefore took note of
this for planning of my main task and
use sound blocks.

3. There was not much plan made for the preliminary task and this resulted in a not so great 3
minute clip. There was problems with actors movements and very little editing skills were used. I
had very little knowledge on editing software and therefore only knew how to use the basic
techniques on Final Cut Pro. No sound needed to be added and made things easier however
meant this would be a challenge when doing the main task. Within the preliminary task editing
skills were low as the change from scene to scene was very jumpy and sudden cuts and; later on
for the main task; learnt editing transition effects for a smoother transition to the following scene.
Within my preliminary task I only
discovered how to cut and removes scenes,
and fit it all together on final cut pro. This
made me learn that assembling various
short and long scenes together involved
patience and also helped be think on behalf
of the target audience.
Upon my main task I learnt how to increase
and decrease the speed of footage (like my
time-lapse), add editing skills such as
transitions, blur effect, various filters and
colour changes, lighting and reduce
background noise or add sound tracks.

4. Limited knowledge on camera shots and
angles affected the scene being filmed within
the preliminary task such us being aware of
unwanted objects within the shot, and a 180
degree angel should have been in place.
Bad angels such as this mid shot
has technical equipment in the
way of the current scene.
This shot was at a very bad angle being
behind a characters head.
I then learnt the ‘over the shoulder’ shot
for my main task.

5. My preliminary task had very little planning and research done, and therefore resulted in an
unorganised day of filming. Unlike my main task, there was no plan for mise en scene (i.e. props,
location and clothing) along with very limited knowledge of camera shots, lighting and editing.
Some things that were planned, such as the script, still did not work out as the film shooting
ended up being free versed and made up on the spot.
A lot of progression was then made for my main task. On the other hand thorough planning of
my chosen genre, location, actors, script, and development on my camera skills such as the 180
degree rule, over shoulder shot, pan from left to right (or vice versa), Dutch tilt, extreme wide
shot, extreme close up and many more. This all helped to engage my audience to see my opening
title sequence through various aspects to seem realistic yet scary.
180 degree rule in my
main task made the
scene clear for the
audience to understand

6. I feel that I have acquired many technical skills such as editing, camera shots and
forming new ideas through the use of Final Cut Pro to suit the target audience. This
has therefore increased my assurance as a media student by learning to adjust to
certain situations such as a team, filming in difficult situations (such as crowded
public places and bad weather) became quite a challenge. However, this enabled me
to gain broader ideas, flexibility and confidence. I developed more creative ideas and
planned more efficiently for my main task for filming, editing and planning.. Unlike
my preliminary task, I also knew that thorough research of the genre, audience
research/feedback and age certification for my main task was very important in order
to have a successful opening sequence.