The student learned several important lessons from completing the preliminary task and full product. They realized that proper planning through storyboarding is essential. While the preliminary task was rushed, the main task benefited greatly from careful planning of props, costumes, locations, and storyboard. The student also recognized issues with timing, group communication, and needs more experience with editing software. Overall, they gained valuable insights into filmmaking and confidence in their skills through completing these projects.

1. Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to
the full product?

2. Beginning: Preliminary task
From the preliminary task, I believe I have learnt a lot about what it takes to
construct a film and its not easy. When we were told to do our preliminary
task, me Deon and Richard (my group members) filmed it straight without no
storyboard whatsoever. It came out good, and then we drew up the storyboard
afterwards which was a smart move but no a good move to make when doing the
main task. But before filming we took pictures for the preliminary task which we
shot using a blackberry Smartphone camera which was easy to work with , the
phone was also used to film the task. I learnt what match on action, shot reverse
shot and 180 degree rule was which was new for me and the preliminary task
gave me a little insight into what filming will be like.

3. Photos from the Preliminary

4. Middle: Main task
Because we never planned properly in the preliminary by drawing the storyboard before filming,
I learnt that its essential to create a storyboard so it acts as a guideline for your final
product. We learned from our mistakes and constructed a storyboard for our main task
which was after we came up with a storyline. The storyboard we created helped a lot when
we started filming because we knew exactly what we were doing and didn’t miss a scene. I
would say in terms of props, location & costume, they have improved a lot and its mostly due
to careful planning and research. With the costume in the preliminary, it didn’t really
portray anything and didn’t have much meaning behind it but when doing the main task the
costumes worn by each character had meaning and it symbolised many things which is
essential in any film whatever the genre. In terms of location could of shot the task in any
room I wanted as long as there was something the actors could sit on, but as for the main
task the location also had to be significant to the purpose of the genre and what you’re
trying to show. So personally I would say I’ve learnt a lot about how to plan and research
into certain things in order to create a film. We didn’t even shoot a whole movie but just
creating those three minutes was hard work so I cant imagine the amount of effort that
directors, writers, the whole film crew experience from beginning to the final product.

5. Improvements?
If I’m honest I don't think our final product was that great because I feel there's more we could of added to it
or things we could of changed to make it much better. For starters I would say timing was a problem
because there were certain things we had to rush in so little time. Although we were given 2weeks to shoot,
we wanted to make sure our blogs were up to date and make sure we’ve planned everything through before
filming. Timing with the editing also proved an issue because we only got two days editing which was done in
lesson time so in total it was 10hours to edit. I’ve had experience before with finishing a project within 1o
hours because I took art GCSE and I know its not enough time. So I knew editing would be a problem form
before we even started filming and I mentioned it may times to the group. Because of timing, we had to
finish editing another time but we got it done and finished our final product. I also think group effort could
of improved because there were times when I felt like it was just me and Richard doing all the work but
then we’d talk to Deon and tell him what we expect from him. I feel like communication could of improved
between the group and certain group members could of done more in the filming process. But I did learn to
voice my opinions more because we are a team and if we want to get good grades we have to say how we feel
whether it hurts feelings or not. So were not only doing it for individual reasons but to help the other team
members progress for when and if they take it on into A2.

6. The End
Looking back at the preliminary task to the final product, I think I have progressed in terms of
confidence and this has allowed me to see what I’m capable of if I put in hard work.
Comparing the quality of the camera I used in the preliminary to the quality of the digital
camera I used in the main task, I can tell there's a huge improvement. Hopefully in A2 my
confidence with using digital cameras will be better and I’ll have a better experience and
enjoy it more. On the other hand these events have given me an insight into the professional
media industry and the issues they face within. In addition, I’ve experienced the editing
software on the iMACs, but I’m still not fond of using it because I’m an amateur when it
comes to it. Furthermore, I’ve learnt how to use sound, Mise-en-scene and editing to create
a certain atmosphere in the thriller genre, and how to make use of your surrounding because
every part counts when creating suspense and engaging the target audience.
The equipment such as the camera and the tripod were troublesome but hopefully in A2 we’ll get
better equipment or maybe my group will use our own equipment. I've learnt a lot and I will
take my experience and use it to my advantage next time because I have gained confidence
in my own judgement and use of technology and skills. Practice makes perfect and that’s
what I’ll keep doing so there will be fewer mistakes and issues.