Leila developed her production skills throughout a school project to create a film opening. She conducted research on similar films for inspiration and used Pinterest boards to plan character outfits and props. Prior to filming, Leila practiced different shot types and editing techniques to prepare. During production, Leila planned shots using storyboards and call sheets, and filmed scenes using various cameras and lighting setups. In post-production, Leila learned to use editing software like Final Cut Pro to assemble the film opening, adding sound effects and transitions. Looking back, Leila recognized improvements in her editing, filming, and planning skills from the start of the project.

1. How did my production skills
develop throughout my project?
By Leila Saville

2. Research
Prior to filming our film opening we researched into similar films that we gained inspiration from, including
‘A simple favor’. We then created Pinterest boards to give us ideas on the different character outfits, props,
social groups and magazines we would need in the film opening.
We also gained inspiration from looking at different types of drama on art of the title. This is a website that
gives you access to many film trailers. Looking into art of the title allowed me to gain insight into different
editing techniques, fonts and graphics we could use in our film opening.

3. Research
Our key objectives for our film opening includes:
- Motherhood
- Wealth
- Social class
- Celebrity lifestyle
Throughout the research process of the project we looked into many different factors which would
effect our film opening and how it is conveyed to the viewers. The first factors we looked at were
location and character outfits, the location is important as it conveys the status and wealth of the
character which was one of our key objectives, this is the same for character outfits. For our character
‘Blake’ we had her dressed in a leather jacket, a Burberry scarf, holding a louis Vuitton duffle bag and
wearing sunglasses.
To develop our research and to find out what types of films our target audience would be interested in
we developed an audience questionnaire and an audience profile. Both of these allowed us to
understand what the audience would want to see and what type of person they are.

4. Research
Prior to filming our film opening we created preliminary exercises,
these allowed us to research different shot types we could use and
what would work best for our type of film, drama. This also allowed
us practice using our editing skills before we edited our film
opening, this put us at an advantage as we knew how to use editing
platforms such as final cut pro and iMovie.
Another practice we did was creating ‘Saudade’ meaning ‘missing’
in Portuguese, this was a table top practice where we were able to
develop our tracking shot skills which then lead to something darker.
By doing this we were able to get a glimpse into what we would be
doing throughout the media course.

5. Planning
We created a storyboard to refer back to when filming, it allowed us to
plan when we would film certain bits of the film opening and allowed us
to adjust certain bits which lead to the final film opening.
In addition we also created shot list and call sheets, this allowed us make
sure we used many different types of shots within our film opening. These
steps allowed me to develop my production skills and gave me an idea of
what production companies do prior to filming.
The call sheets meant that our actors and team knew whey they would
be needed and kept our team organized by listing the equipment and
props we would need. We also included a risk assessment which involved
any risks that our film could cause to our actors and production team

6. Construction
The construction of the film was the most challenging when creating our film opening. Planning in advance
helped us to be organized and film the correct scenes we needed at each location so we didn’t have to go back
to it.
Creating our preliminary exercises gave us ideas of different shot types to use and also knowledge on editing our
film opening.
For the first two scenes (bed time scene and news scene) we thought it would be best if the lighting was warm
and subtle, this was their home environment, somewhere that you feel safe- we wanted to convey this with the
lighting. The contrast between these two scenes and the paparazzi scene with natural lighting and the flashing of
the cameras that is quite harsh. We used a series of shots and angles of our protagonist edited together to create
a sense of stress. In the background we had a soundtrack of a heart beat to convey the stress that Blake is going
through.

7. Construction
Using a canon camera allowed me to use my knowledge of how to use them in our construction of film opening,
we also used a tripod so the camera was stable when we needed it to be. Occasionally, we used an iPhone 11 for
some short shots as it was easier for hand held shots and allowed us to move more freely.
We thought it would be a good idea to create a film poster that we could post on all of our socials. Photoshop
was an easy tool to use to make this poster, as I was familiar with it. The background of the flashing camera
conveys to the audience that she is in the public eye even before they watch the film opening. I created the film
poster and came up with different ideas of what we could include on it.
We created this BBFC age restriction warning using adobe photoshop and finding a template on safari. Due to
our film opening containing mild threat and infrequent, malevolence we have classified it as a 15. The next age
classification up is an 18 which deems it to be ‘sadistic threat'. We feel this does not reflect our film. Our category
allows violence to be strong but should does not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. We also aim our film at
15-35 year old which caused us to construct our film to fit into the category that this audience would relate to.

8. Editing
The film editing was the most exciting part of the process, although it is long and there is a lot of
experimenting to do we could finally see it coming together.
During the process I learnt how to use Final cut pro and how to adjust the sound, cut videos if there are
anyway unwanted clips such as any bloopers. We also researched into suitable music and sound affects to use
for each scene such as the lullaby song in the opening scene.
We overlapped the paparazzi shouting at the protagonist and muffled the noise so it sounded more realistic.
In the final scene we created a voice message by recording someone and then editing it on final cut pro to
make it sound like it was coming from the phone

9. Conclusion
Looking back at my preliminary exercises I noticed how much my editing and filming skills had improved
throughout the project, I have now got better knowledge about the research and planning phase which will
help me in our next project. I have increased my knowledge of finding out who our target audience is and
then attracting them to come and watch the film opening. As well as I know more about the different camera
angles and techniques and how to incorporate it into our film.
I think our final film opening was very successful and also a very enjoyable project to be involved with, it
would not have been as successful without the skills of all different team members.