The document summarizes what the author learned between creating a preliminary task and a full film opening for a horror genre project. Some key things the author learned were: 1) To choose locations, costumes, props, and lighting that better reflect the genre and help tell the story. For the full project, a forest location and costumes that characterized the characters were used. 2) Skills in planning locations, acquiring props, and using costumes, lighting, and cinematography to reveal character details and build atmosphere improved. 3) Editing skills expanded to include color grading, visual effects, and titling to create a more polished, cinematic product. 4) Areas for future improvement include developing lighting

1. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Location
One of the most visually noticeable differences
between my preliminary task and my film opening is
the choice of an appropriate location which reflects
the genre. During the filming of my preliminary task I
used my school as a main location, this was
because of convenience and meant that filming
could be done more spontaneously as no travelling
was required to get there. One problem with this is
that the school environment is very structured and
not very abstract meaning it wasn’t suited for a
dreamy atmosphere and hence didn’t reflect the
weird style of the script. My full product however had
a setting which was much more suited for the horror
genre – a forest which often denotes themes such
as isolation and the supernatural within movies. Not
only does this demonstrate that I have learnt to
choose a location which fully conforms to the genre
conventions of horror but also that my planning skills
have improved since the creation of my preliminary
task as I needed to arrange transport and catering before the shoot.
Costumes
Similarly to my choice of location, my choice of costume has also
noticeably changed from making my preliminary video to making
my full product. While filming my preliminary video my choice of
costume was whatever my actors happened to be wearing that day
which (predictably) turned out to be casual attire such as jeans and
hoodies (although did include some more bizarre items such as a
pair of wellies which were neither appropriate to the mise-en-scene
nor the genre of the film). In my full product costume is used much
more effectively to relate to the audience and to connote the genre.
For example, Oscar is wearing casual attire including jeans and a
hoodie which are both items that the target audience will feel very
comfortable wearing and hence seeing on screen. Rowan however
was wearing a large military overcoat, welding goggles and big
boots which is something the target audience
won’t be used to. This ensures that Whisk Boy
stands out as a foreign and menacing character,
demonstrating his characters danger and
conforming to the horror genre conventions by
dehumanising him into a monster. From this I
have learned that costume must be used both to
relate to the target audience but also to reveal
details about characters and their intentions.
Props
Another difference between my preliminary task
and my full product is the use of props. In my
preliminary task there were very few props used
as I had failed to properly plan ahead to see what
props were going to be necessary during
shooting. At one point a mineral collection box is slammed down on to the table by Rowan which

2. although could be argued adds to the surrealistic nature
of the scene, I feel it was executed sloppily and was not
relevant to the action at hand – only being included
because we found it on set during filming. Other props in
my preliminary task were some chairs which I once again
were not used to convey any strong messages towards
the audience and hence were largely unimportant to the
story. My full product on the other hand made very
effective use of props throughout the film, one example
of this is the whisk which was definitely fundamental to the storyline of the
product. Although the whisk was instantly represented as a dangerous
weapon to the audience (converged through Oscar’s fear) it is a domestic
item which is not typically dangerous meaning that it breaks a lot of weapon
based conventions in horror films where large, bladed items such as axes
are much more popular in use. I think that this effectively adds comedic
elements to the film but the use of fake arms and blood still grounds it in a
horror setting. This shows that from the creation of my preliminary to the
creation of my full media product I have learnt how to effectively use props to
build an atmosphere within my film. I have learnt how to select appropriate
props and to not use props when they are irrelevant to developing the
storyline or the characters.
Lighting
I think that one area I have struggled to show any
improvement from my preliminary task to my final
product is with the use of lighting. In my preliminary
task I spent very little time thinking about lighting and
only used the indoor light available at the time to
shooting. Although I don’t feel this was massively
detrimental to the product I think the use of planned
artificial would have been an excellent way to
exaggerate the dream like atmosphere of the scene.
I think I fell for a similar problem in my final product
which was filmed in the day using bright natural light.
This meant that all the scenes had high key lighting
which was neither atmospheric nor appropriate to
the genre which made the characters and action less
impactful. If I was to re-film my final product I would
make sure to focus on the use of low key lighting to
heighten the horror aspects however from this
mistake I think that I have learnt the importance of
lighting on a scene and would like to develop these
skills further in the future to create stronger media
products.
Sound
Sound is another area where I felt there was little improvement from my preliminary work to my
finished product. In my preliminary video I think I used sound effectively to create a strong sense of
atmosphere and to clearly illustrate the genre. I chose an appropriate soundtrack which built as the
tension increased and used sound effects like a squeaky door to heighten the suspense and
exaggerate the silence. I think that the speech was also clear and easy to hear as it was filmed
inside so that there was no wind whistling. The original audio for Whisk Boy was to windy to use as
I didn’t use a microphone during filming meaning all the vocal noises were overdubbed. Although
this arguable does follow some of the conventions of the messy B-movie style that I was trying to

3. create I feel it was detrimental to the viewing of the video as it distracts the audiences attention
away from the action on screen. I do however feel that sound effects are still used with good effect
to compliment the action such as the hitting noise as the stick hits Whisk Boy (making it appear
more violent) and the wind at the start which helps add suspense and increase the feeling of
isolation in the scene. From this I have learnt the importance of using a microphone during filming
and would like to further develop my microphone skills so that I could create a more realistic and
engaging sound scape in my next media product.
Cinematography
I think that the cinematography of my main media
product I significantly more developed and
appropriate than that of my preliminary video which
used relatively simple shot types throughout but were
still effective such as over the shoulder shots during
the conversation to allow the audience to feel truly
involved and a close-up of the door handle as Oscar
opens it to exaggerate the significance of entering a
new room. In my full product the camera is much
more versatile in order to reflect the atmosphere of
the scene at hand. An example of this is the crabbing
shot which tracks parallel to the chase alongside the
runners crating a sense of fast paced action as the
audience is moving at speed. Another example of
more complex cinematography is the standoff between
Rowan and Oscar on the hill where Rowan is
represented through a high angle shot and Oscar a
low angle. This works to effectively reflect the power
dynamic between the two characters, showing that
Rowan has the most authority in the scene. This
shows that since the creation of my preliminary video I have learnt cinematography skills which
allow me to create a sense of pace and action through a moving camera and also use shots
(specifically high and low angles) to better reflect the role and position of the characters on screen.
Actors
For both my preliminary video and my finished product I used the same 2 actors - Rowan Elwell
and Oscar Jenkinson. This is because both of them have experience acting in school shows and in
lessons meaning that they are able to create realistic portrayals of my characters as they have
experience reading scripts and performing from them. Because I made such a strong choice the
first time round I decided I wanted to work with them again meaning I didn’t learn any new skills
during the creation of Whisk Boy in relation to actors however in the future I think it will be
important to get experience and skills working with larger groups of actors as I imagine this to be
much harder to organise, control and film efficiently.
Editing
During the production of my preliminary
task I used no visual effects from the
computer except some blur in the
beginning to illustrate the hazy and
confused mind of the protagonist which
I added using Adobe Premiere Pro.
When I made my final product I made
use of a much more extensive range of
visual effects. This included some
simple colour grading on all the shots to
make my film look more cinematic and
holistic but also the use of chroma key
on the stock footage of blood dripping

4. during the titles at the end of the
film introduction. These effects
allowed me to make titles which are
covered by dripping blood which not
only is a convention of the horror
genre but creates a much more
fluid and exciting title which keeps
the audience’s attention for longer.
Because of this I would say that
between the creation of the two
films I learnt new skills in post-
production editing in
Premiere Pro such as colour
grading for a more professional look and Chroma keying.
What would I improve?
One thing that I would like to improve in the future is (as stated earlier) my use of lighting to create
a stronger sense of atmosphere in my films as I feel this was lacking in both my preliminary task
and my final product. Doing this will involve both developing my skills with the use of artificial lights
and learning how to block and frame natural light to exaggerate other relevant elements of my
mise-en-scene.Another thing I would like to improve would be my editing, specifically to include
more cuts than just standard jump cuts. I think that the addition of fades or other relevant cuts
could be effectively used to enhance the narrative and compare/contrast different scenes and
hence create a stronger and more professional media product overall.