Question 7

Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to  a full product?

The preliminary task we shot back in January was our first time using cameras and filming techniques such as the 180° rule. In our preliminary task we used simple camera angles and acton shots, we did this as a introduction into filming. At this time we did not know about all the editing tools in Final cut pro or how to use Garageband, but we managed to piece together a short clip without music and simple transitions. This video ended up being a very simple one without any filters or much alteration to it. Our clip was of a boy walking into a school classroom full of people who bully him and a short conversation with his friend, where the only sounds produced were the diegetic sounds of him walking and talking. Our shot types consisted of: establishing shots, action shots, medium shots, close-ups, low angled shots and over the shoulder shots. Thanks to this clip we learnt the basics of film making and we used that experience as a stepping stone to move onto bigger projects, like out movie opening. we learnt about the rule of thirds - the spacing on the screen and where the character is positioned on screen. Also the 180° rule - where you must keep the same right to left relationship with two characters while they are on screen. The only time you don't need to follow this rule is when you 'Cross the line'. This is when a director challenges this rule in order to make a interesting clip or shot. We used the 180° rule when our two characters conversed. However, we did not know of rule of thirds until after our shoot. However we learnt from our mistake and used better spacing on later projects.

Before we shot our piriliminary task we went through sevral stages of planning such as a storyboard and animatic. When i first attempted to make a storyboard i found it surprisingly hard to emagin how to draw the angles of the shots. However after we made both the storyboard and the animatic we found them extremely useful when we begun shooting.

We learnt a lot of helpful information and skills after we finished our preliminary task, and since then we have improved significantly. Our camera angles have diversitied along with knowleage of different software and effects. As for equipment we have become more confident in using and experimenting with the cameras.

I believe our preliminary task was sucssesful because we learnt how to correct our mistakes and how to properly used the equiptment at our disposal.

Here is our preliminary task: