In this document, the filmmaker reflects on what they have learned from their preliminary task to their full opening sequence. They discuss progressing in their understanding and application of continuity, the 180 degree rule, match on action, shot reverse shot, cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, and titles. They provide examples of how each element was used more effectively in the opening sequence compared to the preliminary task by employing a wider range of techniques.

1. 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 T H E P R E L I M I N A R Y T A S K T O T H E F U L L
P R O D U C T ?
Evaluation Question 7

2. Continuity Principle
 Continuity means that the actors must be wearing the same clothes, the
same jewelery, the same hair style. If a candle or cigarette is half burned
down in one take then it must be the same in all takes.
 Without visual continuity a movie becomes a series of unnatural jarring
moments that take the audience out of the illusion that your movie is a
depiction of real life. Carefully planned lack of continuity can be an
effective technique to create tension and confusion in a scene but
shouldn't be overdone.

3. The 180 Degree Rule
 The audience subconsciously forms a mental map of where the actors
are located in the scene and from the first master shot will be thinking
that "Mary is on the left and John is on the right".
 If you go to a close-up of Mary filmed from the other side of the line it
will suddenly appear that Mary has jumped to right side of the set. This
kind of change is very disconcerting to an audience and, at least
momentarily, takes them out of the story as they attempt to reestablish
their understanding of where everyone is located. You want to avoid
anything that takes your audience out of the emotion of the scene.

4. 180 Degree Rule in the Preliminary Task
Chris appears
on the left in
the first master
shot, so he
remains on the
left.
Bruna appears
on the right of in
the first master
shot, so she
remains on the
right.
Our ‘line’ was not crossed.

5. Example of 180 degree rule in real media
As previously explained, throughout the
progress of this project, we have learned that
the 180 degree rule is very important to help
the audience map out the characters in the
film, so they don’t become disorientated or
confused. It is used extensively extensively in
the most popular of films. For example; in the
scene Apathy in ‘Se7en’.
However, we have also learned
that this rule can be broken to
create a certain effect of confusion
and disturbance in film. This was
the case in ‘The Shinning’.

6. Match on action
 A match on action, a technique used in film editing, is a cut that
connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in
the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the
two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues
uninterrupted. For a real match on action, the action should begin in
the first shot and end in the second shot.
 It is used extensively in action scenes in most popular films.

7. Match on action in the Preliminary Task
In the first shot,
Bruna opens the
door. This is the
start of the action
In the second shot,
Bruna walks through
the door. This
completes the action.

8. Match on action in our Opening Sequence
The mother (Bruna) walks up
the steps. This starts the action.
The mother’s steps are followed
and the action is matched as
she continues up the stairs.
The action is matched again as
we follow her up the rest of the
stairs.
We have clearly developed our match on action skill as the project progressed. Our Preliminary task
included only a simple ‘opening a door’ match on action. In our opening sequence we have improved
greatly. Not only have we used match on action on a much more complex series of shots (different angles
and distances), we also extend our match on action beyond only two shots.

9. Shot reverse shot
 Shot reverse shot is a series of shots taken from angles obeying the 180
degree rule. Typically, the shot and its reverse angle will take us back
and forth repeatedly between the players, with some kind of master
shot or two-shot for occasional punctuation or other narrative purpose.
 It is used in films to show two characters having a conversation.
 It can also be used between a character and an object the film maker
wants the audience to focus on.

10. Shot reverse shot in the Preliminary Task
Obeying the 180 degree rule, we
flicked between shots of the two
characters in a shot reverse shot
motion.

11. Shot reverse shot in the real media
Establishing shot of the two
characters.
Shot of character one. Reverse! Shot of character 2.
Shot reverse shot is extensively used in real films all the time. Throughout this project we have learned its
importance on helping the audience map out where the characters out, understand their positions and not
confuse them so that they can focus on what is actually happening in the film. Shot reverse shot is used
mainly when two characters are having a conversation. Since there is no dialogue in our opening
sequence, we have not employed shot reverse shot.

12. Cinematography
In our preliminary task we used only
a selection a medium and long shots
and one close up.
In our opening sequence, not only did we use a
range of medium, long and close up shots, we also
explored extremely long longs, shots from different
angles and diverse camera movement such as
panning or zooming.
We have clearly improved and progressed since
our preliminary task. We are now able to use a
range of shots whilst exploring a range of angles
and movements to create different outcomes in a
shot. For example, using high and low angles to
represent power.

13. Editing
In our preliminary task we did not include editing
effects at all. We did cut and select footage, but at the
time we did not have the skills to produce transitions
between the shots.
In our opening sequence we developed our
knowledge of Final cut express and we learned
how to add transitions.
We used transitions extensively
throughout our opening sequence. In
particular we used the dissolve style of
transition because we thought that fitted
the best with our narrative.
Below, and example of how we used the
dissolve transition tool to create an interesting
effect.

14. Mise-en-scene
In our preliminary tasks we did not have to worry hugely about mise-en-
scene as we were playing students and we were already in a school
environment and wearing appropriate costume. We did not included
teachers or parents so we only had to worry about one type of character.
In our opening sequence we developed our knowledge and skill of
mise-en-scene to a greater extent. We explored a range of different
characters in our sequence. They all required their own type of
costume, make-up and props, which made us think more deeply
about our props setting and continuity.

15. Titles
In our preliminary task we did not give much
thought to our title. We used a basic font and our
title design did not link to the narrative in our
preliminary task. We also did not use any effects of
transitions in our preliminary task for the title.
In our opening sequence we considered out titles much more deeply. We linked our title to the theme of
the narrative. The style of the font was an old typewriter, and old memorabilia typical to our genre. We also
enhanced the effect of out title by using transitions to dissolve the letters in, making it more mysterious.