Evaluation Question 7

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


In the process of creating our film opening, I think we have progressed in terms of what we were capable of in comparison as the preliminary task was one of the first times we had ever used an editing software before. During our film opening production, we were more familiar with the program allowing for more options in terms of how to improve our post production process. The editing software allowed us to make full usage of the camera shots that we took and adapt them to our opening whereas the preliminary task mainly depended on the raw footage captured. We were also able to learn how to add text to the film opening at different points giving us the ability to add titles to our film opening. Finally, we was able to add music in the background of the film opening in order to make the opening more tense and therefore more like a thriller genre film.


The planning stage towards our film opening was more detailed such as the storyboard having more scenes to work with and we had a better shot list in order to guide us what camera shots to take. The detailed planning helped us because it gave a better idea in terms of how our opening was going to be filmed and as a result had a clear plot to the opening. The process was also much smoother as we had knowledge in terms of typical genre conventions based on our storyline. This would make the opening appear more genuine and improve the quality of content as a result. In terms of the location we chose, we was able to choose a location that would suit the opening instead of relying on a school environment which generally made the opening seem more interesting.


In the production of our film, we were able to make better use of the camera such as activating manual focus, making better use of the tripod (at certain scenes) and panning the camera to allow the camera to capture a characters movement. The manual focus helped us focus on the scene where it featured the girl crying because we would be able to closely focus upon her tear which showed her emotions much clearer. We also used it when the detective walks from the bush though this would end up being less successful in comparison as his face wasn’t in focus when he reached the camera.


I think our film opening was quite successful as it clearly illustrates that it is a drama genre film with the narrative showing what the detective is thinking and that moment in time. It also has a clear plot which has benefited from more research than compare to our preliminary task. I also think the quality of some shots is quite effective such as the voice over which can be heard quite clearly. However, I believe we could have improved the film if we had stabilised some of the shots to make them look smoother and for certain moments could have improved the focusing of the camera. I also think we could have planned our film opening in more depth to give us more information when recording our film.



Kieran Belshaw