The document compares the filmmaker's preliminary project to their later thriller project. For the preliminary, they had limited equipment, space, time and experience which restricted what they could achieve. For the thriller, they had more resources which allowed them to utilize more sophisticated camerawork, costumes, props, locations, actors and editing techniques to create a more polished and effective final product. The document reflects on the lessons they learned from the preliminary that helped them improve their skills for the later thriller project.

1. By Alex Harris

2.  I feel that the camerawork in our prelim was very good considering we were
very new to the subject. We used medium shots, close-up, a wide shot and a
minor pan. The quality was good as used the tripod to make the camera sturdy.
For a ten second video I feel we used a good variety of shots in such a small
space of time.
 The wide shot you can see below was used to show the setting and situation. We
used high and low angle to clearly demonstrate the man is the one with power
and the girl has little power. The image below also dictates this as you see the
man seems to be making demands to the girl.
 For the prelim we had to film in a very small space so we were limited to
filming angles, as well as atmosphere and lighting.
 Also we forgot to white balance which
could’ve had a negative effect on the
camera quality. In the prelim, as we
were quite new to the camera we didn’t
know what all the wheels on the lens,
did so we just filmed in and mostly kept
the camera still.
 The camerawork for our prelim was good
but basic.

3.  In comparison to our prelim the camerawork was a lot more
effective. We had a lot more space which allowed us to use zoom to
have more of an effect. As well as this, we had more room to make
handheld action shots for the basketball.
 We used a variety of sophisticated camera shots: over the shoulder,
tracking shot, close ups and point of view shots.
 This allowed us to make an opening sequence that was intense and
exciting which really suited our thriller. By having more space we
could film handheld action shots which flattered the basketball really
well.
 Because the thriller itself needed to be longer it gave us a chance to
experiment with a variety of shots. By over filming it gave us an
easier task when editing as we could choose our favourites.
 We used a number of close up and over the shoulder shots to
continually show the killer intentions and how little identity he gives
away. We recorded a high angle shot where the killer was going to kill
someone coming out of a toilet with his hands rather than a gun but
we couldn’t get it to look real without it hurting the actor. For us this
further highlighted how little we had to produce our thriller as for
films from big distributors they hire stunt artists when filming those
type of shots.

4.  In terms of props for our prelim, we had very little. We had a computer, a
chair and a USB. By having a very small use of props it is hard to make your
film effective and believable.
 As we had to film in a corridor we were unable to adjust lighting. In the film,
the lighting looks very blue as we had to use natural light and when the light
shines on the blue carpet and walls, it looks blue.
 For actors, we used our teacher and a year 13 media student. They were very
good at acting and picked up the storyline. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to
spend time choosing actors who were right for the role. We also weren’t able
to use make up as it was a quickly made project and the storyline didn’t really
require it.
 As the film had to be made within an hour or two, we were unable to think of
or buy good costumes for the character. As the man is speaking in a Texan
action, it would’ve been nice for the actor to where a resembling costume.

5.  Costumes much more effective in our thriller. As
we had more time to plan we were able to think
of proper costumes to use. We chose a suit and
mask as it is more mysterious as why would a
killer dress smartly to kill people.
 We brought a gun and mask to make the killer
more scary and the mask to hide his identity
from those he was about to kill making it more
scary.
 The location was far better than our prelim.
The locations we used were bright and spacious
and were all inside one school which helped the
sequence to flow.
 For our thriller, we were able to ask a friend
who was the most suited to the role. Luckily,
another of our friends was good at basketball
which made the acting really easy.
 We used tomato ketchup in the beginning which
looked like blood to emphasize danger and that
he was a antagonist.
 As we used real lights rather than natural light
we were able to make the thriller brighter and
more effective. Also, as we had more practise
with the editing software Adobe Premiere, we
were able to add lighting effects to enhance it.

6.  For our prelim we used very basic editing techniques. We
used a cross dissolves to make the scene flow and go to each
shot.
 We were unable to make the editing any more enhanced as
we simply were untrained and didn’t know how. As well as
this, we didn’t as titles which can always give the audience
an idea on the theme of the film.
 We were introduced to Adobe Premier Pro and After effects,
yet our editing wasn’t very cutting and meant the prelim
didn’t run smoothly.

7.  The editing for our thriller progressed a lot from the prelim. We
had a much better idea on how to use Adobe Premier Pro and
Adobe After Effects.
 We used two different fonts in our titles as seen in a different film
‘Ae Fond Kiss’. As from researching similar films this was quite a
common occurrence.
 We also added lighting effects which added tension and coupled
with the diegetic deep breathing which further shows how much
more experience we are with the editing software.
 Furthermore, part of our editing was done on Sony Vegas Pro
which allowed us to add different and unique effects to our
thriller to make it look better.

8.  By using Adobe Premiere, we could allocate
each individual clip that was recorded, and
change the position of the footage in order to
match the storyline of our thriller. We were
also able to find footage that we did not need
to include, therefore we cut them out. Adobe
Premiere also helped us to find out exactly
how long our thriller would be, as by
positioning of the footage allowed us to know
exactly how long the footage should last for
each clip, therefore we could organise all of
our clips together in an efficient way.

9.  Sony Vegas is an editing software that allows for
easy title sequencing, inserting video and audio
effects and also positioning and altering clip
lengths. We used Sony Vegas to add our title
sequences, and change the font style and size.
We also added fades to our clips using this
software. The ending few seconds of the thriller
were made with this program, which was the
black screen with the title ‘Blacksburg 32’ on it.
The audio effects such as the screaming and
gunshot sounds, as well as the non-diegetic
music that we used for the killing scenes and the
basketball scenes were added and edited with
Sony Vegas.

10.  Adobe After Effects is an editing software
which allows for importing video effects in
an efficient way. We used this program to
add the muzzle flash effects and the lighting
effects for the gunshots. This program was
helpful, as we could import clips that were
already exported on the other editing
software, therefore we could add the video
effects and render the footage again to make
the final video.

11.  We did not have the use
of sound effects for our
prelim or any non diegetic
sound at all.
 From the storyboard given
to us we already had a
basic script set up for us
that we had to follow.
 From little use of sound
we were unable to make
the prelim have any
effect or intenseness
during the argument and
it was harder to convey
emotion to the audience.

12.  In our thriller we used binary oppositions to our
advantage as we used two non-diegetic sounds that were
opposing, creating an effect of mystery and intenseness.
 We were also able to add gun shots when the film shows
the gun being fired, as this made the thriller look more
realistic.
 We used heavy metal like music as well as classical
music. We were also able to add an emphasis on the
killer breathing in the beginning to help build up tension.
 We had no diegetic dialogue because we felt that by the
killer not talking it would help hide his identity and add
to the killers mysterious nature. We felt it was
unnecessary to have the victims talking as they were only
going to be in the thriller for a few seconds and as they
were only playing small parts, they didn’t need dialogue.
 As a result of this, the sound for our thriller was much
more effective than the prelim because we were able to
add as much sound as to create effect.

13.  I was part of different teams for the prelim and
thriller. However, I believe that the teamwork in our
group was as good in our thriller as it was in our prelim
if not better. We all treated our colleagues as equals.
 I also believe that we all helped to ensure that we all
played a role in our thriller, so that we all felt part of
it and could make the best thriller possible.
 We all had a turn at editing, and some of us used
different programs to edit, nevertheless this was not
an issue because the programs read the same file
types.
 This helped us as different people specialised in
different areas of editing. Similarly, some people
specialised in filming, so were
mostly responsible for that.