Our choice of cast and costumes helped highlight Ethan's neglect and lack of privilege. While the preliminary location of an upper-class school did not fit the genre of social realism, we followed filmmaking rules and techniques like the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. For the main production, I helped plan shots and apply editing skills to depict Ethan's unstable life, but wish I had taken more individual responsibility earlier in the process. Going forward, I want to get more audience feedback and solidify ideas before production.

3.  Our choice of cast was very appropriate for the character Ethan. The narrative of the film bases itself
around neglect and the mistreatment of Ethan throughout. My slim build gives connotations of
malnourishment and therefore highlighting the neglect that Ethan has suffered. Ethan is the Hero
from Propps character types as he is the one in which the narrative is based around but he is the one
who is on the quest to find his father after finding the letter in the bin from him. The clothes that I was
wearing during the preliminary weren't chosen particularly well. This is because in the preliminary
Ethan is wearing a suit which obviously connotes that he is from a good upbringing and goes to a
good school, these are connotations that we don’t want to provide to our audience, however this is
slightly justified by the fact that the preliminary is set at school and therefore he is just wearing school
uniform. When we refilm the preliminary we will underdress Ethan and make Shaun (the other
character in our preliminary) better dressed than him creating the binary opposition of ‘rich vs. poor’
and ‘privileged vs. unprivileged’. Which gives the correct connotation and stereotype that we want to
give to our audience. In the preliminary we used Alex (another group member) to play Shaun. This
follows the convention that niche independent British films use minimal actors because they are
available. This is the reason why we used Alex to play Shaun because he was available at the time
of shooting. This convention was also evident in our main production where we used Lilly, our sound
director to play as an extra in the clip we the girl walks into the businessman. Using group members
is a bad thing because we aren't using anyone who has some form of acting background however it
was easier for use to use them just because they were available.

4.  I think that the choice of location in the preliminary could have been better. We set the
preliminary in a upper class boarding school which isn’t conventional for social realism
or does it give the stereotype the Ethan isn’t nurtured and looked after. Because it was
set in an upper class boarding school it doesn’t follow any stereotypes of the working
class such as, they go to state schools and cant afford good education especially in
somewhere as prestigious as where the preliminary has been set. The fact that we
didn’t follow the location stereotypes and conventions in our preliminary also meant
that our main production was also affected by our habits as well. When filming the
shots where Ethan discovers the letter we filmed inside a big kitchen that was also for
the upper class. We didn’t learn from our preliminary that we should film in a location
that is suitable for the genre of production, however when we refilm our preliminary we
will film in a location which is more suited to the genre and form of our production, an
independent niche social realism film.

5.  In our preliminary task we followed all of the rules of filming and editing to ensure that our
preliminary would have good continuity. We followed the rules regarding the 180 degree rule,
this is a crucial aspect of film, we also stuck to the 180 degree rule when filming our main
production as well showing that we didn’t change anything from when we filmed our preliminary.
We used an action match during the filming of our preliminary within the first two shots. You see
Ethan walking through the door from behind and then as he fully walks through the door the
camera cuts to see him from the front. In these two different shots we get to see the majority of
the setting around Ethan, the corridors are completely empty accept Ethan and the walls are far
away from him connoting that he is lonely and isolated also because of the setting being in an
upper class boarding school it connotes that Ethan aspires to be as privileged as the people
who work and go to the school. The shot reverse shot is an effective way to display a
conversation between two or more people. We used this technique when Ethan was speaking
to Shaun to connote the back and forth relationship with Ethan and his piers, family, and so
called friends.

6.  The specific technical elements that we used for great success within our preliminary
task enabled us to show our audience connotations and subversions of connotations
within the working class background that Ethan comes from. Using these elements
well and sticking to the rules behind them during our preliminary we were able to take
these skills into our main production and therefore we were going to obtain higher
grades due to our knowledge and ability on these technical skills.

8.  I maintained a good leadership role when it came to filming the main production and also
during the planning part of the coursework.
 I had good editing skills which I was able to apply when we were finalising the main
production. These skills include; using the stabilization tool (very good at creating the
connotation that Ethan’s life is so out of control as the camera follows the hand due to the
stabilization tool), blade tool, being able to apply successful filters to create a depressing
tone to the production.
 I worked well within the group on production day.
 I was organising how everything was going to be shot, e.g. the storyboard etc.
 I enjoyed thinking of new ways in which we could make the production more exciting for
example during the editing when I thought to key frame the credits to the surroundings of
the train station.
 I was good at varying the amount of work that I did on different forms of presentation. For
example Prezi, Emaze, Slideshare, and of course video work.
 I was good at being able to see what would look good on screen or within a frame. For
example our establishing shot with Ethan’s hand clutching the letter was a very well
composed shot, the framing was good and use of the stabilization tool also was very
helpful.

10.  I would like to do more work individually as opposed to working within a group, and if I am
to work in a group I would like to do more work than I did this time especially for the
research and planning stages.
 I would like to make some of the camera shots more unique and adventurous and make
sure that I do loads of takes until I know that I have the perfect shot to ensure that I obtain
full marks. This in turn would create a greater sense of verisimilitude and realism making
my production more realistic. This could also give the audience who view it personal
identity, because if it is more realistic it becomes easier for the audience to relate to it.
 Although my leadership skills improved as the coursework went on I felt like at the start I
was quite laidback and I would like to be able to get involved with it all straight away.
 I would like to involve the audience more with the production and get more feedback on
how to improve it. This could involve me doing more focus groups and interviews with the
audience to make sure that we are attracting and addressing them like we should be.
 I think that I would benefit more from being able to get a solid idea straight away or prior to
starting the coursework as with this coursework it was very gradual and the narrative was
constantly changing.