1. Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Setting
My preliminarytaskwasa comedysketchwhichincludedtwo characters.The
settingIusedfor mypreliminarytaskwasina school environmentina
classroom.Iusedthissettingbecause itwas convenientatthe time- Ididn’t
consideranyotherpotential setting.Incontrast,lookingbacktomy film
opening- Ihave learntthe importance of the filmssetanditsimportance with
establishingascene.Myfinal producthad
a settingthatsuiteditsgenre andwas of
the genre convention,forexample the
forestsceneryandthe engagingnarrative
openingset.These setsconformto the
genre conventionsof anadventure film,howevermypreliminarytaskdoesnotatall.This showsIhave learntto
choose a setwhichfullyconforms tothe genre conventionsof aspecificgenre.
Costumes
The costumes inmy preliminary taskwere
casual clothingwhichmyactors happened
to be wearingthe dayof filming- similarto
the setting,the costumeswere convenient
to use at the time andI didn’tfocuson
howto conformto a genre through
costumes. However, IthinkIhave used
costumesinmyfinal productmore effectively. Despite the costumesbeingverysimilarbetweenmypreliminarytask
and final product- the differenceisthatI wasmore aware of why myactors were wearingcasual clothing.Thisis
because the costumesconformtothe teen- adventure genre,asitwouldbe whatthe characters wouldwear.
Actors
In mypreliminary task, Ihadaskedtwo colleagues toassistme with filmingthe film- whomhadnoprevious
experience withacting.Therefore,thiseffectedthe final qualityof the preliminary task.WhatI learnedfromthiswas
that all my actors hadto have some experience inactingtomake my filmhave amore professional feel- andasa
consequence itwillbe more enjoyable forthe audience.Hence inmyfinal productIusedtwocurrenta-level drama
studentsandthe same actor from my preliminarywhoshowedpotential inmyopinion. Asaresultof gettingbetter
qualityactorsit made the filmmore relatable asthe characterswere similarage tothe target audience.
Lighting
In my preliminary taskIhad a small amountof change in lightingandfluctuationsinthe shots.Theyall reliedonthe
natural lightwithinthe room.Thiswasbecause Ididn’tconsiderorunderstandthe importance of lightingwithina
scene.Howeverwithinmyfinal productI
consideredthe use of lightingtoa much
furtherextentthanmypreliminary task.
Whilstfilmingthe openingscene I
experimentedwithhowthe camerawas
positioned inrelationtothe lampshade-
and howthe lampshade was positioned
2. to create the create sense of lightingwithinthe scene- soconformtothe mysterious conventions of anadventure
film. Also,inrelationtothe forestscenes- Icouldn’tinfluence the natural outsidelightsoIadjustedthe exposure in
premierproinpost- production.
Shot types
The shot typesthatI usedin mypreliminarytaskwere relativelysimple compulsoryshots- Match-on-actionandshot
reverse shotwhichobeysthe 180 degree rule. The lackof complex shotswasdue to my inexperience with
storyboards. Howeverinmyopinionincontrasttomy preliminarytaskmystoryboardformy final productduring
pre-productionwasalotmore detailedandthoughtthrough. Itriedto consideranduse a range of shots- suchas:
wide shots,close up,mid shotwhilstpanningthe cameraetc.All of these thingssuggestthatmythought-process
aboutthe importance of a camerashot has become more sophisticated.
Script- Storyboard
My scriptinmy preliminarytaskIusedMicrosoftwordandthe scriptwas notveryclear or easyto read- thiswasdue
to the incorrectlayoutof the script.Asa consequence the filmingprocesstooklongerthanexpected.Howeverthisis
somethingI aimedtoimprove formyfinal product.Istill usedthe Microsoftwordsoftware- butIresearched some
professionalscriptlayouts,andusedthese toinfluence how Ilaymyscript out. Which made the productionprocess
more free-flowing.Inrelationtomystoryboard- inmypreliminarytaskitwasn’tveryclear,sosimilartomy scriptI
didsome researchformy final product.
