Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
By RyderBS
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Thriller research presentation starts
We initially started with independant research into the Thriller genre. This allowed us to fully understand the genre and what a Thriller narrative should be. My research was conducted with the aid of websites like YouTube and IMDB which provided factual information about the a number of films. Study of multiple OTSs also informed me of what the opening of a Thriller should contain. -
Period: to
Foundation Portfolio
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Initial Prelim planning
Whilst still reasearching the Thriller genre we had a preliminary continuity excercise. We were put in groups of three and storyboarded a simple sequence of someone wlaking to a lesson, listening to each others ideas and deligated positions appropriate to individual skills. Once we had created shot lists and floor plans we shot and edited the piece in a two hour session. -
Filming of Prelim
Thanks to our planning, the filming was relitively painless and we all worked well together ensuring we achieved all of the desired shots. Roles were occasionally moved around, allowing everyone to expirience each key aspect of the exercise. We had to stick to rules such as the 180 dgree line and match on action which proved initially difficult and showed the complexity of filming as we all had a lack of expirience in the area -
Prelim editing
As the three of us had very little editing expirience we all worked together in creating a flowing continutiy piece. We used Adobe premier pro to edit the sequence and all contributed in judging key details such as leg and arm movements to ensure a fluid movement. There were occaional disagreements on how the piece should look which were settled through discussion and I feel we all worked well together and gained insightful knowledge into the early edit process. -
Formed OTS Groups - Initial ideas
After our Prelim excercise we were placed in groups and presented the ideas we had developed through our research. Like before we listened to each idea and attempted to blend the contributions into some form of narrative and understood the importance of clear thought out planning thanks to the prelim excercise. -
OTS Planning
From the Prelim we knew we had to be realistic in our planning taking plausable locations and time constraits into account. Creating shooting schedules, shot lists and having location visits properly prepared us for the filming day as it ensured prior knowledge of what we would do. Our research also gave us a more acute filmamkers eye, meaning we understood the need for a variety of shots to maintain an interesting visual expirience. -
Further OTS planning
One of our key locations was the Brighton Juibilee Library. To shoot here we required proper permissions and recieved a contact number. I established contact with the appropriate individuals and we were required to fill out a permissions form, this was a new expirience for me but went very well as each party was happy to cooperate. -
Finalised OTS ideas
Unlike the Prelim our OTS had to have a form of narrative, to create something we all had interest in we gradually refined the indivual ideas of each member into a conglomerative narrative. Despite only making the OTS we had the full narrative developed, this gave us an understanding of what may happen later and what we needed in the OTS. We also pitched our idea to the class and gathered positive feedback. -
OTS filming day
The knowledge gained from our prior expiriences made the filming day very calm and relaxed and I feel we all worked well as a group. We had technical dificulties with the camera due to its age ut these were eventually resolved, however this displayed how even well planned ideas can have issues that are beyond your control. We achieved a variety of technical shots such as graphic matches and match-on-action which created a smooth sequence. -
Edit compared to the prelim
Unlike in the Prelim I was the single editor for our OTS. This meant I had to make imprtant decisions about which shots were of better quality, this was done by taking a footage log whilst capturing the footage. If we were to recreate our OTS I would urge the need for more takes as I encountered footage issues more than once, especially with shots that had utilised the zoom feature. Despite this I feel our final outcome works very well and fits to the Thriller genre. -
Effects and transitions used in edit
I found the edit process very enjoyable and used a range of visual and audio effects in Adobe Premier. These included crossfades, "Old Time Radio" on the newsreports to increase authenticity and altering opacity to create a layered effect. The creative freedom provided by the software was an exciting expirience, allowing room for trial and error. -
How my skills and knowledge have improved
The entire project has vastly improved my practical skills and confidence as I did a large portion of the editing independently, based on feedback from the group. The concept of creating something for others to enjoy and expirience has massive appeal to me and I feel this was reflected in the quality of the final outcome.
