AS Media

2. Our preliminary task

3. OUR FILM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvl_MsRKnIk

4. WEAKNESSES IN PRELIMINARY
When watching our preliminary task back, we can see many weaknesses
that we have improved on throughout the making of our opening
sequence one being the camera; when filming our preliminary task we
can see the shots are very unsteady and shaky one shows the
unprofessionalism that it acquires. We can see from the preliminary
task that the tracking shot is just me walking closer to James; but after
finishing our final film, we now know the camera has a zooming in
function that would better fit the preliminary task. Also we have now
realised that we can use tripods when filming, this would keep the
camera shots steady and make the film look more professional.
Also when watching our preliminary task back we have seen that the sound
differs throughout the film. In part of it we can hear James walking and
when we get a close shot of James's hand pulling the door we can hear
beeping from a car in the background. This makes the film look to de-
similar to the rest of the shots as the sound differs from quiet to loud.

5. WEAKNESSES IN PRELIMINARY
Also within our preliminary task we can see that the post-production isn't
very good. When watching the task we can see that the editing is very
jumpy and isn’t smooth from each shot, which shows us that the post-
production didn’t go very well either.
As well as this we can also see that the acting skills aren’t as good as our
final film. One reason for this is because the actors look at the camera
when walking in and out of the door and smile at the camera; this
means that the actors are breaking the fourth wall, so the audience
think the actors are looking at them when watching it. Again, the acting
skills weren't up to scratch which made the film seem unrealistic

6. HOW WE OVERCOME THESE IN OUR FINAL FILM
Unsteady and shaky shots – After reviewing the task footage we realised
that tripods could be used when making the real opening sequence.
After using the tripods we could see that shots we smoother when
moving the camera as well as the shots not being shaky as the camera
was held by a steady tripod making it look more professional in post-
production.
Zooming function – After realising that the camera had a zooming function
attached, we found it much easier to do tracking shots and made it look
more professional. But when reviewing the footage we realised that
zooming shots took too long in the film so we overcame this by
switching to mid shots, long shots, close ups, to get the sense that the
character is far away.
Sound - When watching the preliminary task we could see that each shot
differed in sound. So by seeing this we did some research on post-
production, and Final Cut Pro and realised ways of making sound the
same in each shot. One way was adding sound effects, deleting all of
the clip sound and adding background sound and dialogue after and lip
syncing the dialogue with the actor, which we used in the making of our
film.

7. HOW WE OVERCOME THESE IN OUR FINAL FILM
Editing/Post-production – When editing the final product together we
needed a little bit of practice and also we needed to know how top add
features such as Slow motion and transitions, to make each shoot and
scene effective and make it look professional. So by practicing at home
on shots we did by ourselves we could develop those skills that we
transformed at home to our AS work within the school period.
Acting Skills – When seeing the acting skills on the low we decided to act
on it quick to make sure we could start the making of our film as soon
as possible. As I take A-Level drama, I thought that by having the skills
we could use me as a cheap and efficient way to put across my skills to
the actors and also this would make our film look more professional as
we are not breaking the fourth wall.

8. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT
Overall from the start of our preliminary task we have learnt unthinkable
skills that we wouldn't even think of being to be able to do 3 months
ago.
We have learnt many skills within the post-production such as sound
effects, transitions, and special effects. We have also learnt the amount
of equipment available to use to make the shots look realistic as well as
making them look steady and unshaky.
We have learnt all of these skills to make our film look more professional as
well as making it a successful film to watch.