The document compares the filmmaker's preliminary project to their full thriller product. It discusses improvements in planning, storyboarding, shot selection, camera technique, costumes, props, transitions, and editing. Mistakes from the preliminary like poor focus, lighting, and breaking the 180 degree rule helped them better execute technically proficient shots for the thriller. More planning and practicing skills allowed the thriller to have continuity and create tension, in contrast to the preliminary's limitations. The filmmaker feels their knowledge and skills grew tremendously from learning through mistakes in the preliminary project.

1. L O O K B A C K A T Y O U R A T Y O U R P R E L I M I N A R Y ,
W H A T D O Y O U F E E L Y O U H A V E L E A R N T I N T H E
P R O G R E S S I O N F R O M I T T O T H E F U L L P R O D U C T ?

2. PLANNING & STORYBOARD
For our preliminary we had ¾ lessons to think of an idea, plan it, film it and edit it;
therefore, our idea is nothing we deeply thought about, our main aim was to show
our filming/editing skills in a short clip with a small narrative. I believe planning was
our main downfall, going straight into filming resulted in mistakes being made, taking
this on board we knew for our thriller opening we needed to spent a great deal on time
sitting down together and furtherly plan.
We have a few weeks to plan our idea; during this time we brainstormed several ideas,
Pitched our idea to our peers, created a storyboard, shotlist, costume outline,
moodboards etc. This is in great contrast to our preliminary where no real time was
spent during pre-production. Our preliminary showed us a great example of why
planning and storyboarding is so important in the making of a successful film.
By creating a storyboard and shotlist it meant that when it came to filming we had
everything planning and we knew what to do, how many times to do it, what angle etc.
I feel without this our thriller would not have been a success and would have been more
like our preliminary.

3. SHOTS USED IN PRELIMINARY
LONG SHOT
SHOT REVERSE SHOT
OVER THE SHOULDER
CLOSE UP
When filming our premlinary we were still fairly new to media and how to work the
DSLR cameras therefore we did not consider making a shot list, during film we
thought of different shots and during editing see how they turned out.
This is in contrast to our thriller opening where we sat down beforehand and planned
a shot list that allowed us to ensure we incorporated a variety of different shots.
Also, we filmed each shot three times so that we could be confident that when we
went to editing we would have high quality shots.

4. ESTABLISHING SHOT
PANNING
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOTLONG SHOT
CLOSE UP SHOTHAND HELD SHOT
JUMP CUTS
SHOT REVERSE SHOT
match on action
ZOOMING
VARIETY OF DIFFERENT SHOTS – thriller

5. MISTAKES IN PRELIMINARY TASK
In this mid shot of myself the camera has not been correctly
focused on my face which causes it to appear slightly bad
quality. This was done a lot in our preliminary and after
noticing this we started playing around with the camera,
focusing of various objects which enabled us to be confident
with focusing when it came to filming our thriller.
Here we attempted to achieve an over the shoulder
Shot, however, during editing we immediately realised
that we had broken the 180 degree rule. This will lead
to the audience feeling disorientated when watching
the conversation on screen.
This mistake stuck in our mind ever since, which meant
when filming our thriller we ensured this mistake did
not happen again.
A constant issue that occurred in our group was perfecting
white balance; as seen there the window cannot even be seen
as the light is so strong and the white balance is incorrect.
After lots of experimenting we final mastered how to achieve
a correct white balance and this is shown throughout our
thriller opening.

6. COMPARISONS = PRELIM VS THRILLER
PANNING = In both our preliminary and thriller we used panning to show the main
characters walking, tracking their movements. In the preliminary clip the camera is still at
first and then begins moving, this is in contrast to the opening were panning is used
throughout the shot. I feel this enables us to achieve a higher level on continuity editing,
also, the audience are not waiting for the character to come on screen.
SLOW MOTION = In our preliminary we used slow motion in an attempt to create
suspense, however, when watching it back we felt it looked a bit fake and amateur. As we
still wanted to use slow motion we experimented with different techniques and found that
using zooming as well as slow motion presented us with a professional shot which
successfully created anticipation.

7. TRANSITIONS = One of the most important elements we learnt from our preliminary is
transitions. Looking back at the transitions used in our preliminary I feel they look
terrible, this are very visual and instead of slowly fading into the next scene it dramatically
swirls onto the screen. In our thriller I think we improves tremendously with our
transitions and successfully ensured we can continuity editing throughout.
USE OF PROPS = Due to our lack of planning and short period of filming for our preliminary it
left us with no time to find props, which meant we had to use objects we found around school,
which limited options we opted for a ukulele. We knew for our opening this could not happen as
we wanted to use props that created tension and a sense of fear, this is why we used a kitchen
knife. I feel the use of props highly affects how the film is portrayed, for example using the
ukulele added humorous, light hearted elements, whereas, the knife suggests death and danger.

8. COSTUMES = For our preliminary our main character was breaking into a school, however, due to our
lack of resources we had no “robber” costume, which causes the final cut to lack a sense of crime and
mystery. With this in mind the villain character identity in our thriller opening is never revealed. This
causes the audience to feel uneasy while watching the mysterious figure in black stalking the victim,
which creates tension.
THREE TAKES = As seen in our preliminary we broke the 180 degree rule and demonstrated poor
quality focusing and white balance. Acting upon these mistakes, in our opening we filmed each shot three
times and watched back footage to ensure it was high quality. Here you can see two contrasting over the
shoulder shots, the shot on the left is very bright, out of focus and breaking 180 degree rule. The shot on
the right successfully keeps to the 180 degree rule and presents a clear, natural lighting shot.

9. Overall, I feel as a group we have excelled greatly from our preliminary task, looking back it
is clear our knowledge and understanding of the production process has grown. We have
now mastered the DSLR cameras and can successfully set up white balance, focus in on
shots, follow the 180 degree rule and much more.
For the editing of our final product we already had a vision our how we aimed for it to turn
it, the same cannot be said for our preliminary, where editing was rushed. This is a clear
example of how we have progressed throughout the year, improving and increasing our
editing knowledge and performance.
Without our preliminary task I doubt our thriller would be as successful as it was due to the
fact our preliminary made us aware of certain areas of weakness in our filming, which then
allowed us to concentrate on perfecting them for our final product.
OVERALL