Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task

what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Before we filmed our final piece, we also filmed a
short piece called “Did you bring it?” This was
right at the start of the course and so we were
unused to using the cameras and the editing
software. We underestimated the time it would
take to film and edit our preliminary task and so it
ended up at quite a poor quality. However, this
was definitely a learning curve for us, and meant
that when it came to filming our final piece, we
managed our time far better, and planned when
we would film and what footage we needed for both
days.
Our preliminary task had very poor continuity and
a lot of the shots were wobbly and not steady
enough, because we were getting to grips with the
camera equipment, like the dolly. The editing
between shots was also poor, and the film as a
whole looked very unprofessional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1GIJu_exM
&feature=player_embedded
Because of all this, we made sure to plan properly for our
film, Shadowing. We used storyboards, a Similar Media
Works presentation and mind mapped various ideas for
basing our story around. Later on, we made filming
schedules and shot lists, to enable us to work easily when
filming and make sure that we had all the footage that we
needed. The shot list especially was very useful because it
meant that we didn’t miss out any of the shots we needed
to get, and enabled us to do it in the right order, so we
could work out whether or not it fitted well and if we'd
need to film anything else. The similar media works
presentation was useful too, because by looking deeply into
other horror films and typical conventions, it meant that we
were able to create a film that the British public would
actually want to watch.
 http://www.scribd.com
/doc/28514178/Similar-
Media-Works-1

http://www.scribd.c
om/doc/26604195/S
hot-List
By the end of filming, we were definitely more confident
with the cameras and software we used during our course.
Despite the problems we had with Adobe Premier Elements
7, I feel that if I had to re edit our film now, I'd be able to
efficiently and far quicker than before. I think that the way
we edited between shots was quite effective and looked far
more professional than our preliminary task or our Scream
re-make. The overall effect of our film is good I think,
because it has quite an eerie feel to it, and successfully
keeps the audience interested. By using point of view shots,
the audience is also more involved in the film, meaning that
they pay more attention and feel more fearful, both for the
victims and for what is happening next, due to the fact they
feel as they are in the stalkers shoes.