Evaluation question seven

1. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Overthe last year,completingmyAScourseworkIfeel Ihave learntalot. My knowledgehas
advancedenough thatme and my mediapartnerhave been able tocreate filmopeningusingthe
genre conventionsof apsychological thriller we namedourfilmopening“`The Final Chapter.” Since
the creationof my preliminarytaskIfeel likeIhave developedonthe followingareas;usingthe
camera andthe tripodto use cameraanglesandeffectstoour advantage,special effectsandby
usingthe editingsoftware, soundsandmusicandlastlymise enscene.
Camera
As part of the preliminarytaskwe hadto create a short videoincludingthree differentcamerashots.
The camera shotswe learnthowto use were,matchonaction,shot reverse shotandmakingsure
we didn’tbreakthe 180 degree rule. Forourpreliminarytaskwe didn’tuse avatietyof shotswe just
focussedmainly onlearninghowtofilmthese basiconescorrectly.Whenwe filmedourpreliminary
task our knowledge oncameraangles,shottypesandcontinuityeditingwaslimitedwhichmade our
preliminarytasklookveryamateur.
Whenwe filmedthiswe usedabasiccamera providedbythe school, aSonycamera for the
preliminarytaskwe usedmanyhandheldshotswhichcame outveryshaking,we learntfromthis
and afterwardsalwaysusedatripod.Evenif thismeant spendingagesadjustingitall the time.
Whenwe came to do ourfilmingforourfinal productionwe realisedthatthe school cameraswere
reallyhardto workwith.Insteadwe usedaPanasoniclumix 2012 editioncamera.We usedavariety
of lensesfordifferentshotsI thinkthisbenefittedus.We alsolearnt onthe Panasoniccamera how
to do deepandshallowfocusshots.Where aswiththe preliminarytaskwe couldn’tworkouthowto
focusthe shot so unintentionallythe coffee tableshotlookslikeitisinshallow focus.
ContinuityEditing
In the preliminarytaskwe made some mistakeswhenfilmingthe 180-degree rule andshotreverse
shot.We crossedthe 180 degree line whenfilmingoverthe wrongshoulder,whenwe hadeditedall
the footage togetherandthe teacherhad a lookat it we knew itwaswrong.We wentback the next
day withthe same clothestore-filmthispartof the shot butthe room we were filminginwasonly
available ata differenttime of daywhenwe firstfilmeditwhichmeantthatthe lightinginthe room
was onlyslightlydifferentbutitmeantthat there wasa continuityerror.Fromthiswe learntthat
whenwe were filmingwe shouldbe checkingthe footage aswe wentalongandwe didthisin our
final production.Inourfinal productionthere wasnocontinuityerrorsbecause everythingwas
filmedonthe same nightforone inparticularlocation.
Editingthe preliminarytaskatfirstwas hard we were usingthe learnersoftware fromAdobe
elements,which meantthatthere wasn’tagreatamount of room to experimentwithdifferent
editingeffects.Thismeantthatourpreliminarytaskhadmanyjumpcuts inbetweenthe shotsand
had no fluidity.Lookingbackonit,itwas veryamateurand our editinghascome a longwaysince
then.Aswe gainedconfidence we usedthe expertpartof Adobe elementstoeditoutfinal footage
togetherbutalsowe experimentedwithothersoftwaresuchasIMovie. Ilearntthat IMovie wasn’t
as advancedas Adobe elementsbutitIsa lotquicker,simplerandmore efficienttoeditonand you
getthe exactlythe same effects.Fromexperimentingwiththe editingprogramsIhave learnthow
differenttransitionscangive differentshotsadifferentfeel forexample inthe finalproductionI
usedjumpcuts like inthe preliminarytaskbuttomy advantage.Iusedthemto create a fastpace in

2. the killingscene butIalsousedothertransitionssuchasfades,dissolvestocreate the calmbefore
the storm.
Music and Sound
Soundwise mypreliminarytaskisextremelydifferentfrommyfinal filmopeningproduction.Inmy
preliminarytaskwe didn’tthinkaboutsoundandhow itwouldeffectourproduction.There wasa
lotof backgroundnoise buta goodthingwe didinclude whichwe didn’tevenrealisewasthe use of
diegeticnoises,whichfollowsthe actionof the characterthisaddedto the match on action. From
thisI learntthat wheneditingourfinal footageIhadto detachthe audiofromthe file anddelete
some of the audiobecause itcontainedtoomuchbackgroundnoise.Backgroundnoise canmake the
productionlookunprofessional andamateur.Whenthe charactersare talkinginthe preliminarytask
the jumpcuts betweenshotsmake itseemliketheydidn’tknow how totalkinfull sentencesand
became a little bitmuffled.Thismade me realise thatif Iwasto have useda voice overinmyfinal
footage theni wouldhave recordedthisona Dictaphone separatelyandimporteditasan external
file.Inthe final footage we decidedtoadda musictrack. We spenta lotof time analysingdifferent
tracks and decidingwhichone wouldfit ourvideobest.The trackwe usedwasfrom The XX called
Intro.Thistrack addsan eerie effecttoourfilmopeningbutalsoconveyswiththe genre conventions
of a psychological thriller.Bynotusinga musictrack in mypreliminarytaskitmake me realise how
blandIt isin comparisonandhowmuch betterthe final productionsoundswithone.The ambient
musicwe choose had some legal problemslinkedtoit,we neededagratis licence touse itand the
producerstooka verylongtime gettingbackto us so we thoughtthat we may have to change our
choice of track. It all workedoutin the endthough.I have learntfromthisto maybe choose royalty
free musicnexttime.
Mise en Scene
In the preliminarytaskIdidn’thave muchknowledge of mise enscene andhow itcan effectwaythe
characters or the storyline canappear.We decided tofilmascene where a youngboywas having
problemsatschool and neededtosee acouncillor.The setting/locationwe choose strategically,we
usedthe actual councillorsoffice butIfeel thatthe costume thatthe councillorwaswearingcould
have beena little bitmore appropriate andbeenmore teacherlike.Ihave learntthatthe costumes,
lightingandchoice of actors needtorelate tothe genre.Forthe final taskI made sure that the
actors were wearingblackandthe lightingwasdimtocreate an eerie theme.