Looking Back at Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt in the Progression From it to Your Full Product?

Evaluation Task 7

Completing a preliminary taught me lots of different techniques and I learnt about features such as the 180 degree rule. This task enabled me with the basic skills for producing a short part of a film which I was able to transfer and use when filming and editing our own film.

Camera Shots

In our preliminary task we learnt the basic skill of how to use the 180 degree rule, creating a sense of realism for the audience. In addition we also used a range of simple shot types to film the such as long shots, mid shots and close ups. The long shots we used were useful as it allowed us to establish settings, characters costumes and also incorporate it for match-on-action when the character opens the door. We also used close ups in the task, for example on Joe's hand when he opens the door, this helped show how the opening of the door was a main feature of the short clip and was the first part of the match-on-action. Lastly we used mid shots during the conversation between the characters to engage the audience in the conversation. We also ensured we used the 180 degree angle between the mid shots so the shots made sense for the audience and looked real as we didn't want to break the verisimilitude.

The first improvement that we made from the preliminary task to the filming of our own film was the range of shot types. In our film we used a large variety of shots such as extreme long shots, point of view shots, high angle, low angle and extreme close ups. We learnt to use this larger range of shots compared to the simple shots used in our preliminary task allowed us to emphasise different aspects to the audience. For example we used a point of view shot of Tommy as he looks to hand Rose the papers she dropped on the floor. We did this to emphasise the importance of how Tommy is helping Rose in her confused and vulnerable situation and to provide a representation of how it looked from the characters point of view. Furthermore we also used an extreme long shot of when Lucy Lou first walks through a door. We learnt to use an extreme long shot opposed to a long shot like in the preliminary task. This is because we wanted to show the characters walk and presence which would have been restricted if we had just used a long shot like in the preliminary task. Along with the long shot is the introduction of a rock song that is very different to the previous soundtrack. This, combined with the extreme long shot of her walk and her flicking her hair emphasises the strong personality of the character and adds to her mode of address which is very confident and sassy. Lastly we used a high angle shot go Rose laying down on the floor when she has been pushed to the ground by Lucy Lou. We used this shot opposed to the simple shots in the preliminary task as we felt it emphases how Rose is very vulnerable at this point in time and makes her appear small and insignificant. This portrays Rose as a weak character with little confidence which is the mode of address we wanted to use for her at the start of the film. The last improvement we made between the preliminary task and our film was the steadiness of the shot. Our preliminary task made it clear to me how important it is to take care in ensuring the camera is steady at all times of filming because it is very noticeable when the camera is knocked or touched. To avoid this in our film we made sure that nobody touched the camera when filming and we gave ourself cut times at the start and end of each clip for when we pressed the camera to turn it off. The made a great improvement for our film as our camera was steady in all shots necessary.

Framing

The change in framing from our preliminary task to our film was very clear. This is because we did not concentrate on framing throughout the task. Although storyboarding what we wanted to include in each shot we still found our framing was weak. This was because we found unintentional objects in the shots such as posters, piles of books, bags and cups. These objects were simply unnecessary and also drew attention away from the characters and the conversation they were having. We learnt from this and greatly improved our framing in our film to ensure that everything in each shot had a purpose. We also had to make sure that the objects in the framing fitted our genre and added to the iconography. For example in the shots of Rose's bedroom we had objects such as make up, a hairdryer, hairspray, teddybear and love heart shaped ornament. These objects all relate to a character that is very girly and cares about her appearance which is the mode of address we wanted to give Rose, therefore the iconography in the framing allowed us to portray this. Lastly the framing was important for the settings because have different setting in the frame showed the audience where each scene is set and how this relates the the film. For example we had the school in the frame as Rose walks up to the door to show a clear change of setting from Rose's house.

Mise en Scene

We took care of Mise en Scene in our preliminary task, although focusing in greater detail in our film. The first piece of Mise en Scene we had to consider was the costumes. We took little notice of these in our preliminary task and just used whatever clothes that the actors were wearing on the day. This meant that the personalities of each character was not represented by their costumes which is important when portraying different modes of address. We learnt from this error in our preliminary task and ensured that each character in the film had the personality reflected by their costumes. Firstly we had Rose dressed in dark clothing which is a counter type for the stereotypical girl in a teen angst. However we used this as it forebodes her dark personality that is later apparent as the film progresses. On the other hand we used very bold colours for the antagonist's (Lucy Lou) costume as it reflects how she is fake and these bright and pretty colour are covering up her nasty personality, that is seen when she barges Rose over.

Secondly lighting was the next important piece of mise en scene because different lightings can reflect different moods. The lighting in our preliminary task worked well because it stayed the same throughout as high-key lighting was important was it created a neutral and positive environment as the characters were engaging in a typical conversation between teenagers. Lighting also a major part of our film opening as we felt it was important to use high-key lighting as we saw that the majority of teen angst films use high-key lighting. Although we found it was difficult to maintain a high-key lighting when we filmed in Rose's room due to the lack of windows to provide sunlight. However we avoided this problem because low-key lighting can be used to represent a more nervous and anxious atmosphere compared to a positive one. As it was Rose's first day of school we felt it was important to portray this mood so we decided to incorporate this low-key lighting into the first scene instead of adapting it into high-key whilst editing. However in the rest of our teen angst we maintained a high-key lighting which reflected a positive and upbeat mood which is important as it is generic for the opening of a teen angst film to do this.

The preliminary task also taught us how setting are a very important factor of miss en scene to use. This is because we were very confined in the preliminary task as we were given a door to use to show match-on-action, therefore the settings were unplanned and shows no relevance to the storyline. However we learnt from this a made sure we used setting that reflected our storyline and were relevant to our film. For example we used the school setting with iconography that was relatable to our target demographic such as the iconic school lockers and corridors. We also used Rose's bedroom as a setting so we ensured this was relevant to her girly character by having iconography that reflected this like teddybears.

Lastly we used props that were relatable to a teen angst, we lacked the use of props in our preliminary task so we learnt from this and used them to full effect in our film. This is because the only props that we used we simply a table and chairs for our characters to sit down on, which is very impersonal and didn't reflect any mood or personality of the characters. An example of how we used them in our film is the make up that Rose uses when getting ready and the handbag that she prepares before heading off to school. We used these props as they are stereotypical iconographic of teenage girl accessories and this makes Rose more relatable to our target demographic of teenage girls. Lastly we also used a collection of books that Rose was holding when Lucy Lou knocks her over. We used this because books are iconographic of a school environment which is typical of a teen angst film and to also emphasise the excitement of the collision as the books are dropped.

Use of Titles

In our preliminary task we did n't use any titles which meant we didn't have this understanding of how to add them onto clips which made it difficult when we came to use them for film opening. However through trial and error we eventually learnt how to add them and after putting the first few on it was like second nature. We decided to use pastel based bright colours for our titles because we felt this would be most appealing for our teenage girl target demographic. However we decided to use different colour for each of the actors names as this made them unique and stand out, such as 'Ella Thwaites', who had a bright pastel green on a dark background. This was very effective and really emphasised the name of the actor to the audience instead of it being lost in the background. For example in our first draft all of the titles were white but after watching the film opening we decided there wasn't enough differentiation between each title and this took away from the importance of each individual. We used a serif font that resembled a slightly hand-drawn doodle as this related to our teenage target demographic, although the font was still easy to read therefore maintaining to desired effect and conveying a professional look. We also used to different colours for the production company, director, editor, director of photography and main character. Wed decided to do this to emphasise the significance of these titles as the are the most important. For example we used a pastel purple for 'Shauna Ellis as' and then a Pastel pink for 'Rose' as this has the connotative effect of love which forebodes the events in the film and the purple connotes femininity which also represents our young female target audience. We placed our titles on places around Rose's house so that the seemed to blend in with the background props and iconography in each shot. This was important because it engages the audience as the look to see where we will place each title and emphasises the importance of the props in each shot. Instead of having the titles suddenly appear on the screen we decided to use a transition where the titles rise letter by letter, moving downwards and spiralling. The effect that this had made each shot more interesting and engaging for the audience whilst creating an energetic world which our target audience value. Lastly we decided to make each of the fonts the same throughout instead of changing between production company to actors etc. This meant that we kept continuity throughout and didn't cause confusion as changing lots of different titles could cause this.

Mode of address

Mode of address is a key part of producing an effective film as it is the foundations of the characters personality. However in our preliminary task we did not really consider the mode of address for our characters as the task was more focused around editing and getting the match-on-action correct. The downside to this was that our characters engaged in dialogue but showed little about their personality and character. We recognised this weak area in our preliminary task and realise how necessary it was to have good mode of address in our film opening. Rose's mode of address was introduced with a non-digetic soundtrack that is upbeat and easy-listening. This suggests immediately to the audience that she is a fun and interesting character, and due to the lyrics "you're like a love song in my mind", suggests she is a character involved with relationships. The actions of Rose also represents her mode of address as confident such as when she flicks her hair back in a sassy style and she drops her towel over the camera which also emphasises her confident personality.

Editing

Our preliminary task's main focus was on editing and we learnt some new editing techniques to aim to carry out effectively. Match-on-action was the first technique and this is used to represent continuity within filming and that cuts fit together properly. To do this effectively you have to make sure that each clip is cut down within the smallest degree of error so that the film flows properly. We learnt how important this was because of the shot of Joe's hand on the door handle was just slightly too long which meant the film didn't flow as nicely as it could have. We learnt from this error and made sure that we cut all of our clips down effectively for our film opening. Further to this we used what we learnt about match-on-action to represent the action between two different cuts and we also used this for when Rose opens a door in our film opening. The next technique was shot reverse shot which showed the conversation between the two characters in our preliminary task. From this we learnt how to effectively construct a shot reverse shot, such as filming all of one characters lies first, so that you are not moving the positioning on the camera for the same side. This was important because we learnt that filming like this made the conversation confusing due to the constant changing of camera position and took away from the value of the conversation. This helped us in our film opening because we used the same technique to film the digetic dialogue between Rose and Tommy after he helps her to her feet.

We also made great progression from our preliminary task with regards to our transitions. This is because in our preliminary task we only used simple cuts between different shots which showed little for the audience. However we learnt that we could heighten the excitement of our film opening through that use of transitions as it adds a depth to the narrative. We therefore decided that it was important to include a swoosh transition between when Rose leaves her door and walks up to the front of her school. The swoosh represents a ellipsis between the two shots and this adds the narrative that may have been confused without this.

Sequencing was also another major part of our preliminary task because we had to ensure that it all in chronological order so that it made sense. This is because sequencing is essential when constructing a conversation like in our preliminary task otherwise it wouldn't make sense for the audience. We used this skill of effective sequencing in our film opening because we also used a chronological order. This meant that all clips needed to be correctly in chronological order for the opening made sense and transferring this skill effectively benefited our film because of this.