Aisha Kemp: Evaluation Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Time management – For our preliminary task the time to create ‘Super Zer0’ was limited so, within our group we had to discuss time for filming and editing, however, out of lessons not everybody was free. To prevent the disorganisation that backfired from not having managed our filming and editing time, before creating our final piece we made a schedule. This was very useful as for our thriller opening our cast was bigger therefore, with a schedule everyone involved from the cast to the crew would be available to film at the same times.

Planning – Our planning was much more organised. For our preliminary task we had made a story board which laid out in drawn images what our preliminary task would look like. However, we took this planning further for our final piece and created story boards, mind maps, and any ideas would be posted on our blog. This further extent of planning was very useful as it made every idea clear and meant that we were organised.

Editing – Using iMovie was not a process that I was very used to at the early stage of creating our preliminary task. However, I developed my knowledge on the software from having to use it for ‘Super Zer0’ and therefore, for our thriller opening it was very easy to use. We used iMovie a great deal to edit our footage together, add sound and add titles. When we made our titles for ‘Super Zer0’ we used the fonts that iMovie provided. However, looking for something more exiting, we used the programme ‘Adobe After Effects’ to make our titles for ‘Locked In’. This made our titles creative and more effective as we could match our titles to the genre. 

Match on action 

In our preliminary task named ‘Super Zer0’ we didn’t succeed at producing a match on action shot. During filming we misunderstood the meaning of the shot. However, after feedback, reflection and learning how to film a match on action shot, we managed to successfully film it in our thriller opening. This match on action shot is of Bonnie walking out of the door. We filmed the first shot from the inside of the house, then during editing cut that shot straight to the second that we took of her closing the door from the outside.

180 degree rule.  

In our final thriller opening we never used the 180 degree rule as all of our shots were specifically short cuts of each character who never interact until after the opening sequence. Although we didn’t use the 180 degree shot in our thriller opening, we could have as we practised using this shot in our preliminary task. When ‘Super Zer0’ is rescuing the tied up girl, they have a conversation that is shot using the 180 degree rule.
 

Shot reverse shot.  

This shot was used in the same conversation as the 180 degree rule as both continuity techniques tie in together. We didn’t use this shot in our thriller opening as they is no conversation that takes place. Furthermore, we still gained the knowledge and skill of shooting a shot reverse shot and would use it later on in the film 'Locked In'.

This is a video of us as a group discussing what we feel we have
learnt in the progression from our preliminary task to our full
product.

Georgia Johnson: Evaluation Question 7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

There are many things we have learnt since out preliminary task such as:

1. The whole point of the preliminary task was to show our understanding of continuity editing but we focused too much on trying make the short clip enjoyable to watch and ended up not actually completing the task properly. We included jump cuts for a comedic effect which made it seem like we didn't understand the various continuity concepts we should have included which were shot reverse shot and match on action. We did include one example of shot reverse shot but it wasn't established enough.

Jump cuts from our preliminary task

2. Our preliminary task also included wobbly camera shots due to the camera being handheld which wasn't an intentional effect. This is seen right at the beginning of the clip. In 'Locked In', our shots are a lot smoother, particularly the tracking shots which is what a number of people picked up on during our audience feedback. Most of our shots were filmed using a tripod which helped us gain a lot more control and made our opening look a lot more professional. We only ever used handheld camera for a purpose i.e. to suggest Bonnie was in a hurry as she was running to get to the experiment in time.

Smooth tracking shot from 'Locked In'

3. We also learnt that muting the soundtrack from the footage and replacing it with sound effects we found from sound libraries helps to reduce the issue of background noise. Our preliminary task has a lot of background noise such as muttering from people passing by which distracts the audience's attention and generally ruined the tone we were trying to set. A lot of the sound in 'Locked In' was either muted or replaced by other sound effects which I think successfully caused the soundtrack to sound a lot smoother. Examples of this are the pen click, the pouring of the water and the bubblegum pop.

Sound effects added into soundtrack

4. By using Adobe After Effects, we were able to create a lot more interesting titles compared to our preliminary task which includes quite plain iMovie title effects. We were able to portray a lot more with our 'Locked In' titles and generally create a bigger impact by the end.

Georgia Johnson: Evaluation Question 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Georgia Johnson: Evaluation Question 5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I have used the YouTube annotations tool to discuss the various ways we targeted our audience. Please watch this in fullscreen in order to read all of the annotations.

Georgia Johnson: Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?