EVALUATION QUESTION 7: Pairs (Anna Gajda & Keiley Dutton)

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

Pre production Stage:
During this stage for our preliminary we had limited time to research and create our idea, we had limited time on location, cast and script which had to be done in the 50 minutes we got given. This lead to our preliminary to lack in depth and high quality standards which are required when filming.

(Preproduction research on Costume)

This contrasts our preproduction stage for our thriller opening where we had more time to plan our thriller concept which was weeks before we got to film, narrative and location which allowed us to gain full depth of research in every aspect of pre production. we were able to discuss our ideas, think about which one is the most appropriate and amend it to satisfy our team members.

(Pre production research on Location)

We had more time to consider what our thriller will be and detailed research into the genre (thriller) and the concepts of it so that we don't go off course and create the wrong genre such as horror which is similar to Thriller. Additionally our script, shot list of what scene goes where and health and safety issues when recording to prevent any dangers.

Due to us being new to the camera equipment and terminology we had to research the effective camera angles that thrillers use which can help us create the same effect which we want in our thriller. In the preliminary we started off with the basic camera angles and shots such as shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule and match on action these were the basics of the camera work which we tried to include into our thriller. Such skills that we leant in Preliminary helped us in the editing stage of implementing match on action and continuity editing.

Example comparison of our shot reverse shot from preliminary to Thriller opening

  

Example comparison of our match on action from preliminary task to thriller opening

Example comparison of 180 degree rule from our preliminary task to thriller opening

With such research in pre production for our thriller opening it allowed us to focus on characters and research in depth on clothing, what camera angles are necessary to portray the thriller genre.

What I learnt from research in pre-production:

Research from our blog on thrillers

We have learnt that research is key in creating a thriller, you cant create a thriller without preparing for it or it will create a unsuccessful thriller which is messy and unfinished. There is a difference between our research on preliminary and Thriller opening due to us having little knowledge on what is needed in a thriller and what is needed to create one when doing our preliminary. This contrasts to our Thriller opening as we have included timelines and had deadlines when the filming should have been finished and when editing starts which helped us plan out what goes when.

Research on target audiences 

The research into genre is the crucial stage in pre production, this was where we had to research films which could have given us an idea on what our thriller could consist of the films I've looked over at was 'Prison break(Paul Scheuring,2005)' and 'Pretty little liars(Marlene King, 2010)' even though these films were series they had a thriller concept in them they had scenes of suspense, enigma and clues which link to a thriller. This is where I have gotten my inspiration from in creating the narrative for our thriller, I have focused on the genre, age group they target, lighting, and camera angles they use to create mystery which then we tried to embed in our own thriller.

What we could have improved in our thriller opening is the time spent on research. We should have spent more time researching locations as the park wasn't ideal for us due to how far the park was 'Virginia Waters in surrey' so we had to compromise and choose a more local area to film in which was Ashford where one of our member of the group lived. this would have saved us time on retakes and travel time.

Production stage:

 in the preliminary task we had little knowledge on the DSLR which meant that we didn't know how to use manual focus and when to use auto focus additionally we were new to the concept of white balance, ISO, noise on screen and shutter speed which meant that we didn't really experiment with those settings as we didn't know what they did. In contrast to our Thriller opening where we took in consideration of time of day which allowed us to change the white balance and ISO to reduce the on screen noise.

Theres a reflection in the mirror which was due to us not taking all the little things in consideration, this was due to the lack of time we had to prepare our locations.

Post production: 
The editing from the prelim was basic, we included continuity editing, music, enhanced dialogue. We didn't have much time to edit which meant that we didn't have much time to experiment with the software which we were all new with. We couldn't experiment with colour correction and transitions as we didn't know how to do it due to it being the first time we use the software.




 Post production for our thriller was different we had a storyboard to follow which had the transitions and effects written on them so that we knew what to follow. We had distributors names and logos already researched ready to implement in thriller, we had more time to try effects and colour corrections such as a tint to create mystery.


Preliminary Task camera angles and shots compared to thriller opening shots:

The improvement in the shots is visible as for our Thriller we had focused our shot on whats in front of the character rather than shoulder.


  

The improvement in this shot is that the camera is more stabilised creating a smooth effect this is due to the tripod which we had when making the thriller.

                           

In this shot we have the corner turn, we have progressed from our prelim as we have used a different shot (wide/long shot) which creates an effect of someone being behind her when shes around the corner.

                          

We had improved our back shots as we had centred them more and used the rule of thirds to create an effective atmosphere of us watching the character.

                         

We have improved our character placement from when we shot our preliminary, in our thriller we focused on character placement so that the character can build mystery on who it could be which is why instead of revealing his whole body we reveal his shoulder and half of his face which creates enigma of someone being after her.

The mid shot of the character: we had focused on the angle to be the same height as the character not above her like we had done in the prelim. in the prelim she wasn't in the shot properly as we could see the buildings behind her which made her look small.

                           

The credit placement was improved, we have chosen to reveal the title near the end to create suspense this means that the audience will see the images first which will help them remember the film and then the tile will appear which then next scene will roll

Inspiration for the prison scene from 'Prison Break( Paul Scheuring,2005)

  

Inspiration on costume and camera angles from 'Pretty Little Liars(King,2010)'