This document compares the filmmaking techniques used in the author's preliminary and thriller film projects. For the preliminary project, shots were mostly mid-shots, lighting was basic, and editing relied on repetitive shot-reverse-shot. For the thriller project, the author used a variety of shot types including close-ups and tracking shots. Lighting employed both practical and non-diegetic sources to create tension. Editing techniques like cross-cutting and fades were experimented with to refine the cut and enhance the thriller genre elements. The author learned from the weaknesses of the preliminary project to improve techniques and produce a higher quality final thriller film.

1. SCREENSHOTS TO SUPPORT MY
QUESTION SEVEN RESPONSE
Connor Southwell

2. SHOT TYPES (PRELIMINARY LEFT VS
THRILLER RIGHT)

3. SHOT TYPES
 Preliminary Task
In our prelim task, we lacked
knowledge and experiment in our
shot types and composition of
shots. This meant on the whole
that our shots were mid shots.
This made the film boring to
watch as it was repetitive and
lacked identity or meaning. I
would say we relied heavily on
scripting and narrative to pull us
through. Also, the quality of shot
type was lacking because we
concluded to use an iPhone 7 for
filming, we learnt from this
experience to make our thriller of
a better quality by using a DSLR.
 Thriller
In our thriller, we used a better
variety of shot types, and were
confident in our use of tracking,
close up and mid shots to paint a
picture and manipulate the film to
portray what we wanted. This
has led to a better quality of
production than the preliminary
task. We learnt from not
experimenting or planning shot
types in our preliminary task that
this needed to change to give us
a better final product. We also
made sure the shot types were
relevant to the genre we wished
to portray. In our opinion, we did
that very well.

4. LIGHTING
Preliminary Task Thriller

5. LIGHTING
 In terms of lighting, we
were quite imaginative
and confident with our
use of lighting. As seen
by the screenshots, we
used three point lighting
and low key lighting to
create atmosphere and
allow us to manipulate
the audience into feeling
something due to the
atmosphere that was
created by the lighting.
 In our thriller, we used
the base knowledge of
lighting from our
preliminary task and built
on it to create a more
dynamic, meaningful use
of lighting. We used
diegetic and non diegetic
lighting to good effect.
Including naturalistic
lighting and also used
low key lighting to create
tension.
Preliminary Task Thriller

6. EDITING
Preliminary Task Thriller

7. EDITING
 Our editing was basic and
poor. It lacked knowledge,
skill and talent and that
reflected the quality of our
production. It was basic in the
sense it was shot reverse
shot throughout, lacked style
and identity of our production
team and the repetition made
it boring to edit as an editor
but also boring to watch as
an audience member, along
with shot types, editing was
at the top of our list for
improvement.
 As mentioned, we were concerned by
our knowledge and skill of editing.
However, as the course progressed
and we researched the sub genre of
our thriller, it became clearer what our
intentions with the edit was and what
we wanted to portray. Also, we
experiemented with different styles of
editing, fade, a cut, cross cutting, etc.
Our enhanced knowledge and the
experience of the preliminary task
made for a more refined and polished
final production when you compare it
with our preliminary task. The skills
we learnt were crucial. As the
screenshots show, we used editing to
cut between locations, in our
preliminary task, it was a basic and
repetitive shot reverse shot.
Preliminary Task Thriller