Jess Gell - Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at our preliminary task, I feel that we

have developed in a number of ways:

1)Shot Composition: There was a lot more thought put into the shot composition in our final piece, and more of a regard for what could be seen within the shots. For example, in our preliminary task there were a lot of small aspects of the shots that made the film seem slightly unprofessional. (E.g. the fact that you could tell it was set in a school when it was meant to be an office) In our final piece, we made sure that there were no unwanted aspects in our shots.


2)Camera: Although I feel that she shots looked decent in the preliminary task, there wasn't much of a variety, particularly with camera movement. In our final opening, there are a lot more viewpoints of objects using a variety of shots, and a lot more movement so that the film is more kinetic and engaging. Also, the movement in our preliminary task wasn't as smooth and stable as it is in our final piece. In our final opening, we used tripods and tracks to ensure that all of the shots were steady.

3)Editing: The preliminary task was very helpful for drawing our attention to continuity. I think that our preliminary task actually had quite a nice flow and continuity to it, and we were able to build on this in our final piece.

4)Lighting: Although we tried to make the room as dark as possible, it was quite difficult to control the lighting. With this in mind, we made sure that the setting for our final video was in a naturally dark place.

As well as our development of the visual elements in our film, there was also a development within these areas:

Planning skills: In our preliminary task, there was a lot less regard for our storyboards, and although we did make a quick storyboard, we didn't follow it very strictly, and some of the shots we made up as we went along. In our final film, we did pay a lot more attention to the storyboard, as it meant that we knew exactly what shots to film. However, we did add a few unplanned shots in which still worked well.
Time management: Although we tried to improve our time management skills from the time between making the preliminary film and the final one, we did still find that we spent a lot of time planning the production rather than getting down to filming it. I think that because we had a shorter amount of time to complete our preliminary task, we completed it quicker and more efficiently, whereas in the final film as we had more time, we felt like there was more time for planning.
Communication and collaborative skills: I felt that the communication between our group in both the preliminary and final film was really good. Before we had even started the preliminary task we exchanged phone numbers, Facebooks, and email accounts so that we could remind each other to complete deadlines and send files to one another.