1. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY
TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU
HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION
FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

2. LOOKING BACK
I believe that I have made a lot of progress from the preliminary task
to the final product. The preliminary task was a quick task that
involved simple camera angles, no sound effects, had poor editing
and did not look very professional as a result. With the use of
research and inspiration from other opening sequences I started to
develop my skills further as we progressed through the course and
applied them to my final opening sequence.

3. CAMERA
When looking back on the camera angles
we used within our preliminary task it is
clear that we only used basic shots. We
did successfully create match on action
and stick to the 180 degree rule within
the preliminary task and continued to use
this skill within our opening sequence.
We did however change our use of shots
on reflection from the preliminary task.
We as a group ventured in to using many
other types of shots which created a
more enticing opening such as birds eye
and establishing.
The camera we used for our preliminary task was one
of our schools basic recording cameras which left us
with a poor quality picture. This meant that our
preliminary video was slightly blurry. In our opening
sequence we used one of our group members camera
which was a Canon D600 which resulted in us getting
a much clearer picture. In addition to this, this camera
had auto focus which resulted in us getting clear
footage with every shot compared to the camera we
used before had which produced blurry footage due to
the fact it had manual focus in which we forgot to
focus before every shot. Whilst editing, we did
however blur the first establishing shot in order to
make the shot more effective as it was the first thing
the audience see.
Opening sequence Preliminary

4. TRIPOD AND LIGHTING
When looking back on my preliminary task it is evident
that a tripod was not used as the footage is shaky and as
a result has caused the picture to be blurry. To ensure this
did not happen in our opening sequence we decided it
would be best to use a tripod in the shots that were
purposely planned to be still. In some of our shots we
didn’t use a tripod and purposely shook the camera in
order to show that the stalker is holding the camera; it
feels as though we are seeing events through the
characters eyes.
In our preliminary task we didn’t manipulate the lighting in
any way so we used the lighting we had. This resulted in
some of the shots being incredibly dark and resulted in it
being hard to see the characters.
This was avoided in our opening sequence because we used
equipment such as a large flash light in order to shine light
in areas that we wanted to be visible. We also brightened
some of our shots while editing as we found some of them
to be slightly too dark. With both of these factors we were
able to get the low key lighting that abled our characters to
still be visible. This factor ensured the audience knew what
the genre of the film was.
Using the
light
With no light
(preliminary)

5. MUSIC AND SOUND
We used no music or sound effects in our preliminary. After further research
and planning we found that the use of music and sound effects was a very
effective way of portraying the genre and creating an atmosphere for an
opening sequence. It was a difficult task finding the right music for our
opening sequence, but eventually (through YouTube) we found a piece of
music that we believed was perfect for creating tension which we thought
was great for portraying our genre to the audience.
In addition to this, we added non-diegetic sound effects/voice recordings to
our final piece during editing. We used police series as this is a very well
known iconic sound that something bad has happened. This mixed with the
voice recording of the police operator and the young girl (Katie) talking the
audience are able to grasp what is going on in these final moments of the
opening sequence and I believe this is very effective and enticing.

6. CONTINUITY
To ensure that we could create continuity throughout our opening
sequence we ensured we used the same location, costumes, actors
(characters) etc. I believe we did this very well. We filmed on multiple
occasions as we missed some important shots the first time we filmed
so we decided to revisit the location. We ensured that we filmed in the
same location at roughly the same time of day (lighting purposes) and
made the characters dress in the same costumes as previously before.
This is an important factor whilst making an opening sequence as It
adds a sense of fluency to the sequence. It makes the sequence more
enjoyable to watch and helps the audience easily follow what is going
on in the opening sequence.