Evaluation question 7 for A Level Media
- 1. Evaluation Question 7 LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
- 3. Research and planning Storyboard The storyboard for our preliminary task the storyboard was less then 10 shots long and didn't take long to draft and draw up compared to the film opening which required a lot more detail because it was a lot longer Script The script we wrote for the preliminary task was only 5 lines of dialogue between 2 characters and had no depth or meaning towards what we were recording. The script was very wooden and easy to write which only took us a couple of minutes to do. As you can see above the full screenplay itself only took up half a page and was pretty small and very plain and non descriptive as we didn't have to have many shots to film. With our preliminary task we didn't have to as much in depth or any research and planning in the first task because it was such a simple thing to do and didn't require any research because we was already given a location so we only had to think about what to do. However with the preliminary task we did learn about shot reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule which is important when filming a piece. This was the closest thing we did to research. With planning, because there was only 5-6 shots the story board was really easy to draw and the script was very wooden and bland.
- 4. Construction
- 5. Camera Shots With the preliminary task having limited scenes we didn't have a lot of camera shots, We did 5 in total and they were very basic shots which included 2 over the shoulder shots from both perspectives, close up shot of the door handle with the door opening and 2 mid shots one inside the room and one outside the room Acting The acting in the preliminary task is very amateur and bad, There are a few acting mistakes in the film as well as multiple bloopers and takes as we could not get into character very well and was easily distracted as we failed to take it seriously.
- 6. Location Unlike our main project task we was based to one location which was a class room so there couldn't be much imagination done with the shot because of where we were. Also we was given the location we didn't choose so it was easier and more basic then the film opening. Duration The construction of our preliminary task was really easy to do and required about 10-15 minutes to do as there was only 5-6 max so was easy to film. Was easy to direct and act in because it only lasted up to 20 seconds max.
- 7. Evaluation For the preliminary task we didn't really do much evaluation on it because it was such a small piece compared to our film opening so we didn't used things such as blogger , Prezi or other devices to do this as we didn’t feel it was necessary compared to something of much greater size being our film opening piece.
- 8. Film Opening
- 9. Script The Script written for our film opening was a lot more in depth than the preliminary task the words meant a lot more for the story than words on a page. Also it took us a lot longer to script and write up as we also added in a narrative over the first few shots to add to the enigma of the opening. The narrative took very long to write as we felt we needed a speech to really go straight into the film and open with. The scripting for the 2 sets of characters as well took thought to write and was very sensible unlike the preliminary task. We also took a lot more concept and hidden meanings behind the words we chose where as with the preliminary task we just needed a basic conversation.
- 10. Storyboard The storyboard for our film opening was a lot more detailed and had to be more in depth than the preliminary task as it had to be considerably longer and also have a lot more variation of camera shots and also have a lot more dialogue to include in the shots especially for the narrative at the start. It also had to have structure to the shots as there were a lot more of them compared to the preliminary task however there was a lot more detail to go into, we also had to use a series of shots across the story that told a story about the characters which we never had the chance to do when we were constructing the shot list for our preliminary task.
- 11. For the Film opening we did so much more planning and research compared to the preliminary task because it would help us to get a better grade and make it easier to do. We had to do so much planning with things such as finding a location , script, shooting schedule, job roles etc. This also took a lot more research that we then had to do. Also the preliminary task was on a much smaller scale compared to the film opening task because we were given the camera tripod and the location to film on but with our film opening we had to find our own location and decide on what equipment to use in order to get the best possible product we could.
- 12. Construction
- 13. Sound The sound we used in this piece was a lot different from the preliminary task. We included non diagtetic sound such as music and a narrative right at the start and lasting part way into the opening. We did this and it gave us a chance to play around with different voice filters and different music to try and get the right mood. It also gave us to tell a story with more words than using characters which we felt added more enigma around who the characters were and what they wanted to do. It also helped tell its own story with the music how the music sounds helps to set the mood and portray some of the feelings across to the audience.
- 14. Editing The editing in the preliminary task was a lot easier and faster to do compared to the opening because there was a significant amount less and there were less shots and less complex shots to edit. There were a few cuts in the prelim task which was as far as the editing goes but with the film opening there were titles, cuts, fades, many shots to edit, narrative over the top to add then also music which took a lot more time editing. Also on another side of editing there was also less than could go wrong with the preliminary task compared to the editing of the film opening, if it went wrong with the preliminary task then it wouldn’t take long to edit back. However we learnt if the film opening corrupted then we would be in serious trouble in the sense that we would have to re edit the whole film so the editing was a lot more complex as well as the risk being a lot higher.
- 15. Lighting The lighting used in the opening was a lot of low key lighting but also had a hint of high key especially when the bag is taken off the hostages face which is our first show of real light in the film opening on camera , as I said it was mainly low key lighting to set a dark and airy mood for the themes and feelings for the film. This is big difference compared to our preliminary task as that was set in quite an open class room with lots of windows and high key lighting , however in the preliminary task we were not trying to put across any themes as we did in the film opening where we used low key lighting on purpose to set the mood.
- 16. Camera In the film opening we had to use so many more camera shots and angles than the preliminary task as the film was a lot longer and also had more detail and depth in it, the preliminary task there were only a use of 5 camera shots there may have not been a large use of camera shots in the film opening but there was more there and more to think about with the type of shots we used and the positioning we had the camera. With the preliminary task we used very basic over the camera shots and very standard close up and mid shots, on the other hand in the film opening we didn’t use a tripod for the majority of our shots instead we used a steady cam to create a more unique look of the film. This is something we would have thought about with the preliminary task as it wasn’t as complex. We used a variation of low angle and high angle shots, many of this hand held as I said before we used some close up but ultimately the over the shoulder shot was the favoured shot because it gave the perspective of the hostages being interrogated but also gave it a look of the hostages being in a police interview room which is a good twist with the villain being at the head of the table.
- 17. Acting The acting in this was a lot better compared to the prelim task where it was very amateur because of the actors we had in it where as in the actual media piece we had two former media students star in it so that brought a sense of professionalism to the scenes that we did and this also meant there were no mess ups like before when I looked at the camera. Also with the preliminary task we weren’t focusing on just one piece we had 3 other full sets of shots to do for everyone in the group , but with the film opening task we were completely focused on the acting of what was at hand and I feel this came across a lot better than the preliminary task where our minds where more fixated on the seriousness of the film.
- 18. Evaluation For the evaluation of my media production. We had to use more software and different sites compared to the preliminary task as that was a lot simpler and sort of a way to get our foot in the door in terms of media production. With the film opening task it was a lot more serious and required a lot more platforms to be used in order to get an accurate evaluation. We used programs such as PowerPoint and word which we uploaded to sites such as Blogger being the main upload hub and Prezi and slide share being a main contributor to where the evaluation questions and all other work done on the film opening.
- 19. Conclusion So overall I understood and learned a lot from doing my preliminary task with things such as scripting editing directing and acting getting a lot better and also heavily influencing my film opening piece being a lot better than my preliminary task and being how it is. Also the preliminary task took a lesson to plan ,35 minutes to film because of all the takes we had to do and then a lesson to edit where as the film opening took a couple weeks to plan , a weekend to film and then a week to edit and then still later on edit and tweak pieces as well as the evaluation taking a considerable amount of time longer. Also with the preliminary task we didn’t have to go through too much footage it took ten minutes to edit the clips down and find the ones we want , but with the film opening it took so long as we had 30 minutes to an hour of footage to work through and choose and edit to get the best possible end product which again took tweaks later on and little bits of editing here and now.