1. Thriller Opening
Evaluation
Question 6: Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?
2. At the beginning of the course we were given a task to
create a short sequence with continuity using a varied
range of camera shots. The task we set to help us get an
understanding on how to use the camera, shoot from
different angles, what camera shots convey and how they
are typically used.After learning the basics of filming we
then had to gather an understanding on basic editing and
how to configure our way around final cut pro.
3. Over the course of the academic year I have learnt a range of
different skills that enabled the opportunity to produce our final
thriller opening sequence. Alongside our inspiration for
the sequence and access to more resources, the skills I have
learnt for the filming and editing processes have meant that I
have come quite a long way.
4. Since the preliminary task my camera work has greatly improved. During the preliminary task my
camera shots were very shaky and were off centre, however since then my skill improved and the
establishing shots from the thriller opening looked a lot more professional than in the prelim.
The first frame is a screenshot of my camerawork
from the prelim. As you can see the rule of thirds rule
hasn't really been applied or taken notice of,there’s a lot of
empty that isn't needed. The second frame is from our
thriller opening sequence. The whole frame has been filled
and there isn’t any negative space.
5. For our preliminary task we were given about 10 minute planning time
and went out with a very rough idea of what we were doing. This was
obviously reflected in the prelim as our plot wasn’t very imaginative;
neither were the shot types. The thriller opening took a lot more planning
than expected, we had to produce a shot by shot list, shooting schedules
including many other documents that are in previous posts. This level of
organisation meant my group spent most of our time being productive.
From the preliminary task we learnt that it was important to plan and to
also have a lot of extra footage, cutaways and a wild track incase you
wanted to change your ideas slightly or if you had problems with some of
your shots and the continuity wouldn’t match up you could use the
cutaways.
These shots from the prelim show how bad our
continuity was and how little we took it into consideration. In the first frame
you can quite clearly tell that I’m not in the hall way but as Denzel carries on walking
I suddenly appear
6. I learnt that it is always important to dress the shot appropriately, it makes it clearer to the audience what is
taking place. For example in our thriller we had the chain round our necks which added to the realism of our
idea. For my preliminary task we had no props and our location was a hallway in our school which did not
seem realistic at all.
During the editing process I learnt about adding non diegetic
sound and transitions which I didn’t experiment with in the prelim this
it a lot more challenging for us all especially when trying to match
the pitch up of Megan screaming.
Overall the knowledge and quality from the final
opening sequence increased and the newly learnt
skills along with improved skills are clearly shown
when watching the prelim and then the opening
thriller sequence.
