Tom Astle reflects on the progression from his preliminary video task to the final opening sequence product. Some key lessons learned were improving camera stability with a tripod, avoiding direct light sources, and adding non-diegetic sound effects to enhance the sequence. While acting quality remained an issue, overall technical skills like camera work, editing, and sound design improved dramatically. Sticking to filmmaking conventions like the 180-degree rule helped create a more polished final opening sequence.

1. EVALUATION QUESTION 7: LOOKING
BACK TO YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK,
WHAT DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE
LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM
IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
BY TOM ASTLE

2. PRELIMIARY VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLSJAfJEes
Here is the link to my preliminary video which we uploaded onto
YouTube.

3. PRELIMINARY TASK
When we started the preliminary task, what seems a lot time ago now, we
were very inexperienced with a camera and it shows in the difference between
our preliminary task and our finished HD opening sequence.
We made various rookie mistakes filming our preliminary task such as not
using a tripod, watching our task back we can see the camera was shaking a
lot as I was holding it, and I don’t have the steadiest of hands. What we also
did in our task is the editing wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, this was
down to our inexperience at the time, and the fact that we were in a rush.
Some of the cuts show some one walking the same place twice, in our final
openings sequence it was clear we would have to smooth this out to make it
look like a professional opening sequence. Sound was also a major issue
when it came to editing as we noticed a lot of background sound, that we
didn’t have the time or experience to edit out.

4. PRELIMINARY TASK CONTINUED
The final two problems we found and would have to overcome in our
final opening sequence was the fact that at some points we filmed into a
direct light source. ( pictured bellow). The final issue we found is that
the acting skills were seriously bellow par, and this had a massive effect
on the overall quality of our work. Jacob mostly wasn’t acting to the best
he could have.
Despite these negatives we did stick to the 180 degree rule, and the
match on action rule which allowed us to make the preliminary task
follow the basic rules of the media industry.

5. FINAL OPENING SEQUENCE
When we started to compare the opening sequence to the preliminary task we
noticed, first how much we have improved our technical ability, and secondly
how much better the opening sequence looked. When we filmed our opening
sequence we changed pretty much everything so that we could produce the
best thing possible, we swapped a iPhone for filming for a good proper
camera, we also used a tripod as this allowed us to keep our shots steady and
we could instantly see a difference in quality. Also the camera filmed in HD
which allowed us to produce a even better quality video that we had intended.
We also saw a improvement in sound as we added in music and additional
sound effects non-diegeticly which added to the experience of watching the
opening sequence.
We defiantly didn’t make any where the same quantity and magnitude of
mistakes, as the only mistakes in the final opening sequence were a couple of
glitches when Grady was walking, and a small typo involved in the credits. We
didn’t film into a direct light source which was a major improvement in our final
product.

6. FINAL OPENING SEQUENCE CONTINUED
One thing that we did fail to improve on from the preliminary task was
the quality of the acting involved in the film. We again used Grady and
Jacob and when we did our audience feed back using various media
products such as Facebook and YouTube. Many people pointed out to
us that Jacobs acting made the opening sequence seem less believable
as he didn’t play the part as well as he could have.
Like we did in the preliminary task we again, stuck to the 180 degree
rule and the match on action rule, which allowed us to make an
effective opening sequence that followed the basic media rules.

7. COMPARING SCREENSHOTS
To the left are two shots, the
one on the left is Jacob acting
during the preliminary task, as
you can see he looks at the
camera, breaking the fourth
wall. On the right is Jacob In
our finished product, many
people said that the way
Jacob walked with his arms
out wide made it unrealistic,
the acting was a major
problem in both of the clips.
However the quality
difference between the two is
clear in these two shots.

8. THE DIFFERENCES
The differences between our preliminary and final opening sequence
are:
Better camera quality and stability, by use of better camera and tripod.
Not filming at a direct light source as this looks bad.
Getting rid of diegetic sound, and adding in non-diegetic sound to add
suspense.
However some problems remained, such as the poor acting, but this
was only a minor problem. We also sticked to the two most important
rules in media, 180 degree rule and match on action which allowed us
to make a effective opening sequence.

9. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT
All in all, we have learnt a variety of techniques which have allowed us
to progress from making a poor quality, not up to a good standard
preliminary task, to making a HD good standard effective opening
sequence.
We learnt many skills including, camera work, post production, editing
software, sound and special effects.
Learning all these skills allowed us to create a HD, effective opening
sequence.