From the preliminary task and filming the full product, the student learned: 1) Effective planning is key, including storyboarding and shot lists. This allows for organized shoots and adaptation. 2) Continuity is important for realism and avoiding audience confusion. Factors like location, costumes, and lighting must be kept consistent. 3) Problems will arise during production, but can be solved through flexibility and alternative solutions like playing a role oneself. 4) Editing skills developed through practice, and the ability to work independently allowed for efficient editing on a tight deadline.

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

2. Preliminary task
• When we started in September we were promptly put into
groups and given the preliminary task- to capture short
footage of a character entering a room, having a conversation,
then leaving. In the process of the task I learnt the importance
of the 180 degree rule and continuity as well as using shot
reverse shot in order to film a conversation with its reactions
without breaking the 180 rule. The process began with
planning by story boarding and creating a shot list, then going
on to get the required props and camera equipment and we
went out filming. Prior to the task we had some time getting
used to the cameras and taking practising shots which helped
me as previously had little experience with cameras.

3. 180 degree rule:
When the camera
stays on one side
of the mise en
scene because if
the camera
crosses over the
imaginary line it
could confuse the
audience i.e.
tennis/football
match.

4. Planning
• From the preliminary task we learnt how to more effectively plan a production, even though this one
was much bigger. We began by brainstorming ideas as a group and then coming up with individual
storyboards and shot list which we combined in order to get one refined group idea. We then took
inspiration from aspects of our research and attempted to pay respect to that in "Of The Night” by using
inter textual references. We had a clear idea/theme in mind and from then on were able to make
informed decisions effectively over our use of lighting (ambient, non ambient, noir, chiaroscuro), sound
(sound bridge, non diegetic, diegetic), costumes, and actors. I disliked using story boards however
preferred using shot lists which can be easily adapted to and do not require great drawing skills to
describe what you want to portray in mise en scene. The shot lists came in very handy and mean that
we could structure our shoots to make the most of the tight deadlines and unavailability of actors. The
original idea for our film was much different and due to lack of organisation and to much ambition it
had to be changed however the original Our original idea for our film was different to the final cut, due
to a lack of organisation and too much ambition, it was just not realistic. Our original idea was inspired
by the changing room scene from “Jackie Brown”, “Psycho” and “Girl with the dragon Tattoo”. Our
original idea consisted of an enigmatic women meeting a loan shark’s mule in order to borrow money,
however then being followed by a shady witness who saw the exchange and wanted the package, or
possibly her, which was the main enigma for the audience. We simplified the idea to highlight male
dominance by having the victim killed off and cutting out the exchange as we felt our original idea was
to complex for the 2 minute opening to a thriller film. In the planning phase I found my love for Prezi, by
making one big plan all on one Prezi, illustrating all aspects of planning like a massive mind map which
made organisation easier for me as I like using visual mnemonics as a way of encoding information.

5. Shooting
• We had a very big problem when shooting with actors being unavailable which meant that
after we had shot half, with tight deadlines and same actors unavailable we had to re-shoot
for continuity reasons. However from this I have learnt not to rely on availability of
actor/external forces to effect the film and found a way around the problem by playing the
villain myself in the end by wearing the same coat and not showing my face. This solution not
only solved our shooting issue but meant we were able to complete and edit our film before
the deadline. Another problem we encountered was cars on the shoot location meant that
filming kept having to be paused to avoid traffic although we solved his by filming later on
when shots close which fits more with the title “Of The Night”. In order to keep continuity I
learnt from the preliminary that the location, costume and lighting etc. were all identical to
how they were on the last shoot. Without continuity the film would lack realism and look
unprofessional not to mention confuse the audience. The most important thing I learnt from
filming a project such as this is that it is not easy and planning is important for organisation.
Organisation is key to efficiently yet creatively creating a media product. A strength of our
shoot I think was the level of detail and thought we put in to locations and shots/angles
however this was weakened by lack of organisation of our group and especially the actors
within our film however from this I have learnt not to do this and am looking forward to our
production next year ambitiously.

6. Editing
• In the editing phase I worked independently on my own edit, “Of The
Night” which I felt able to do due to developing my editing skills
throughout the preliminary task. Working alone meant I was able to
efficiently edit at my own pace without any other variables as well as
creating my own cut the way I wanted it while still sharing ideas within the
group. The preliminary task gave us a chance to experiment with various
transitions of which my favourite was cross dissolve. I encountered
various issues in the preliminary task, as well as the thriller however both
taught me how to efficiently solve problems quickly. By asking for help and
learning how to fix it or even checking YouTube which is full of tutorials
which troubleshoot any problems as well as great reference on how to do
certain editing techniques. When it came to editing due to problems with
shooting my edit was very rushed having less than a week to complete it
however I got around this by being able to independently work whenever
at my own pace so quickly got the film edited to how I wished it to look,
including transitions, soundtrack, titles, and sound bridge.