1. Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from
it to the full product?
By Tina Hartnell

2. Since doing our preliminary tasks my researched has improved
greatly. For our preliminary task we did no research into genre as
the prelim task did not require a genre. Since the preliminary task
we have researched many films in the horror genre allowing us to
understand the conventions and then use them in our own way
for our own film. We also researched into production, distribution
and exhibition companies meaning that we could make our film as
close to a real film opening as possible.

3. Compared to in our preliminary tasks the planning played a huge
role in the outcome of our film opening. For our real opening we
spent hours finding the location, actors, music and much more. In
our preliminary task we used the first actor available to us and
most convenient locations, It is clear when you watch the our
final film compared to the prelims that the whole film has been
carefully and delicately thought out. The prelim helped with the
improvement because it made it clear what extent we needed to
plan our film opening to to achieve our desired end result.

4. Doing the prelim task allowed us to practice and choose which
camera techniques, shots and composition we wanted to use in the
film. In our preliminary task we were required to show certain shots
such as a conversation and walking though the door. Despite the fact
we used neither of these in our actual film it still helped us to rule
them out and to get used to holding and filming with the camera. In
our actual opening we used dolly shots and close ups that were a lot
clearer and smoother and with out the practice given with the
prelim they would not have turned out as well as they did.

5. In the preliminary task we only had access to the college hand held video camera.
Although this gave us good practice with the equipment it showed us that for our
real film the shots were far to unsteady and the sound was far to quiet and distant.
In our real film opening we chose to use our own camera’s as we had more
practice with these and we used tripods and dolly’s to create smooth, steady and
interesting shots. To improve the sound we used a proper microphone and
recording equipment and recorded in a location that we knew would not create
any background sound. Overall without the preliminary task we would not have
considered these issues and it would be unlikely that our film would have ended
up the way it has.

6. Since the prelim we changed the editing software to a more
advanced one so that we can get the best result for our end film.
The preliminary task once again was very useful practice using
editing software although we had to make an unrelated video to
practice using the new editing software. In completing the prelim
we learnt how to cut videos, put them together, add music and
export so without this knowledge creating our final edit would have
taken much more time than it did and would probably not have
turned out as well edited as it did.

7. Overall since completing the preliminary task we have learnt many
techniques in filming, equipment and editing. Mainly we learnt how
to use all of the different editing software, camera shots,
composition and angles as well as camera and sound equipment.
Without first completing the preliminary task our work would not
have been created to the quality that it is now. Most importantly
we have leant how important planning is from not using much for
our preliminary task as this can take more time than the actual film.