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

2. Research & Planning
From the research and planning that I carried out I learnt about the typical forms
and conventions of a horror/thriller film opening such as the editing pace, the dark
lighting, the costumes and characters used. The research into genre helped me
have an aim and focus on the type of opening I wanted to create. By analysing the
openings to The Conjuring and Se7en I could copy the ideas and camera shots that
I liked. This helped me to create a better product that was more in line with a
professional product.
I learnt how to create a storyboard so that I could see clearly the exact shots that I
would need to film. The location recce that we had to carry out actually helped me
to manage my time as I could see where I would need to go first to shoot footage
and where I could go a little later. Similarly the shot list and screen play helped me
to manage my time a have a clear image in my head of what I wanted the final
product to look like.
Planning my product on blogger helped me to keep track of my progress and
subsequently lead to me creating a better product at the end .

3. Construction
The software I used and skills I learnt for my final product meant that there is
a clear improvement between my preliminary video and my final film
opening. This is evident in my work through the variety of shot types, the
smoother editing pace and the more impressive and professional effects that I
used. For example the titles that I created on Photoshop, the logo I animated
in after effects, the transitions between the shots (the white flicker between
footage and the newspapers).

4. Improvements to shot composition
Holding a steady shot:
For both my prelim and final product I
used a tripod so every shot was steady.
However a clear improvement that I made
by the time I created the final product was
that I could move the camera without it
looking jumpy or unsmooth.

5. Preliminary
Final Product

6. The composition of my shots has improved as for my final
product I thought more about the type of shot e.g. whether
it was a long shot, close up, extreme close up. I also took
into consideration framing decisions including where my
character was going to be in all of the shots. I had to be
conscious to keep him to the left of the centre of the frame
to show his importance and dominance. For my final
product I also thought about the angle, this is something
that I didn’t do for my prelim task. Within horror and
thrillers some of the themes included insanity and
paranoia. I decided to try and connote this through the use
of canted angles.

7. Titles
While making my final product I
acquired the skills to create titles
on Photoshop and then placing
them on top of my footage in Final
Cut. I downloaded the font from
dafont.com and removed the
background of the title on
Photoshop. I then imported them
into Final Cut and placed them
onto the time line. I then had to
adjust their angle, size and
sometimes colour for them to fit
within the footage. This made my
product look more professional
and was a large improvement from
my preliminary video.

8. Actors & Location
For my main product I considered who I was going to select to be in it in
much more detail. The reason for this was that my knowledge in
representation had improved and therefore I needed to select an actor
that would be right to represent the social group I wanted; youths and
young adults. The location also improved for similar reasons. I needed a
location that would fit in with my genre and subsequently improve the
quality of my product and make it look more professional. Therefore my
skills in identifying and selecting a suitable location has improved.

9. Sound & Lighting
The sound for my final product was much improved from my
prelim product. This is because I developed the skills to build a
larger soundscape that included both diegetic and non-diegetic
sounds. I developed the skills to create a soundtrack in Sibelius
and how to fade the music in and out on Final Cut, which I did
not know how to do for my prelim. In my final product I could
also make the diegetic sound more clear.
For my final product I thought about the lighting in much
more depth. I had to consider the way the lighting can connote
the genre and what the darkness implies. I also had developed
the skills to edit the footage after I had imported it into final
cut to make it darker and add effects to it. This made my
product look more impressive and professional compared to
my prelim.