Evaluation Question: Preliminary Task and Full Product Comparison

Looking back at your Preliminary Task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Reflection on Prelim Evaluation:
In order to analyse my progression accurately, I looked back at my Prelim Evaluation. It helped me compare the development of my media skills over the course of my full production, after the creation of my preliminary task.

We decided that in order not to break the continuity, for example through a change in clothing, it would be best to film everything in one day.

We tried to adhere to every aspect of the Prelim task of using motion action, shot/reverse shot, continuity and the 180 degree rule. We believe it didn't work as well because our camera movements did sufficiently fulfill the tasks set.

Although, our filming was unsteady due to it being hand held videoing, however there are great film directors,(such as Danny Boyle director of Slumdog Millionaire),who do this it was not our intention and therefore we did not perform it well, so to improve in my coursework I will use a tripod in order to achieve smoother camera movements.

 We had individual roles that had been set previous to us undertaking our filming.  My role was directing, Lauryn’s was editing and the two boys Sonny and Conor were the actors.

In regards to editing we used iMovie and due to the rest of the team not being as knowledgeable as Lauryn on how to effectively use the editing programme, she initially took charge and when someone had any  ideas , it would be contribute to the group and if it was a good idea it was acted upon immediately.

I believe that our location deprived us from successfully showing a good shot/reverse shot because we were unable to film behind the boys properly because of the obstruction caused by the wall. What didn't work well as well was the fact that our location had a negative impact on our lighting which was not constant and varied depending on where the actors were- to improve a lighting dilemma in my course work I could edit my footage to for example be brighter, I could make it black and white so that if there is terrible lighting it would not be noticed as much or I can simply decide to change locations to a place that would provide better lighting, so I will try to adapt in order to produce the best filming possible.

Also we were inaccurate in assuming that our location would be quiet therefore helping reduce the occurrence of background noise- in actual fact we faced quite a bit of disruption and distraction from people passing to and fro our area. Consequently to improve my course-work, I will deter from making incorrect suppositions and instead be certain of what settings would be the most appropriate in helping me produce effective filming.

I have learnt that the production process requires a lot planning and construction of feasible ideas. I have also learnt that during the production process there can be problems and that if we encounter any we should take time out to find a solution instead of allowing the problems we face to stop us from producing our best. Also I have learnt how to direct and see the value of editing and the different form of editing techniques that are available. 

Our final film production followed the formats of:

• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-Production

Production from Esilva23

Pre Production:
During the creation of our film's opening sequence, we focused a lot more on the four micro elements (mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camera shots/angles/movements) than in the preliminary task. We continually tried to make the decisions that would enable our final production to be as realistic and engaging with our audience as possible-we wanted a unique creation and researched and planned multiple ways in fulfilling this desire.

In my Prelim Evaluation I stated that the production process requires a lot planning and “construction of feasible ideas.” So I was not surprised when it took a lot of hours of research and planning, as well as hard work to create our two minute final production compared to the few seconds our prelim task lasted for. As we were forming our ideas there were quite a few that we knew were not going to work (be feasible) at all, so we discarded them and found alternatives to the suggestions made that would work better. For example, when a member of our group suggested that we should film in an inconvenient location, we analysed the utopian and dystopian of filming at that particular location and when the dystopian surpassed the utopian it became a unanimous decision to look for alternative locations.

The location decision was a problem for us and when we encountered it we took time out to find a solution instead of allowing the problem to stop us from making further decisions, which during our prelim task would have required our teacher to intervene and make a decision on our behalf.

Unlike with our preliminary task, we had a lot of research and planning towards the final production of our film, as a result we could organise our thoughts and ideas easily and analyse the way current productions that are similar to ours presented their opening sequence to their audience and how they maintained interest amongst their audience through the use of enigma codes. The production schedule was one of the ways we organised our groups and and planned our filming formats...

Production Schedule by EnnySilva

Production:
When we were filming we attempted to use a tripod but we found that it was more of a hindrance to our filming than a benefit...so we decided to use hand held filming, even though we were aware that during the prelim task we used this format, and it did not work for our favour and made our filming look shaky. We decided that this could actually be advantageous for us because, through our filming we could make our production have a ‘home video’ effect, which helped to add to the realism of the characters (especially Sarah) and their situation.

This was because it made the images gritty and at times unclear and we had to make sure that the lighting was as good as possible because the camera needed enough lighting to make the images appear properly. On the other hand our filming location was not the best or most convenient so we did not use the camera accurately anyway. When we later used the camera, as we were aware of its at times gritty state; we used it to our advantage and made sure that when we were filming the dark scenes, there was minimal lighting which made the moving images of James appear more gritty, adding to the realism of the terrible situation and therefore highlighting the danger aspect of the situation and foreshadowing the occurrence of something horrific (Sarah facing physical abuse). When we were filming the happy scenes we made sure that there was plenty of light available and fortunately on the days we were filming the happy scene there was plenty of natural light available despite the autumn/ winter season that had arrived. The natural light helped make the images look a lot better and less amateurish and more like a real film production.

Screenshot from Prelim, in which the images are unclear due to the camera: this was not deliberate.

Screenshot from full production, in which image is unclear due to the camera and effects, such as radial blur-this was a deliberate action by Conor and I. We used the camera's gritty recording to our advantage, as it made the image more dark and unfocused.

Post Production:
We created juxtapositions between the happy scenes and the violent scenes. The setting of the happy scenes takes place outdoors, where others are around. The violent scenes, however, take place indoors to indicate that domestic violence is an issue that people are not aware of and is not exposed. By creating this juxtaposition we are representing what occurs in society, therefore giving an accurate representation.
Also domestic violence themed films portray the violence to take place in the presence of minimal numbers of people and are not so public (apart from “The Burning Bed” where the violent male attacked the female privately as well as publicly).
To subvert from other films with a similar theme to us we could have shown a public attack on Sarah by James, but due to us not wanting to cause offense and wanting to create enigma codes on the identities of the character being attacked as well as causing the violence; we decided to conform and in doing so created realism.