Evaluation

For this preliminary task our group was asked to create a short 30-45 second long thriller product that incorporated a shot-reverse-shot and used continuity editing alongside match-on-editing. In our product we wanted to go for something different rather than going for the generic thriller sequence for instance, we didn’t want to use any guns or props likewise. Instead we used the school environment to our advantage and made a piece that was easily recognised as to one that is actually based in a schooling environment.

I was in a group with Zack and Saskia which in my opinion worked well in the end, we ensured that everyone in the group had an good input if not equal input in the creation of the product. We decided that we wanted to film during the first few days of the opening week of the preliminary task in order to give ourselves time to re-shoot if need be, alongside with the oncoming process of editing. In hindsight this was the correct decision to have made due to our need to re-film because some of the shots were out of focus and had it not been for our collective decision to film earlier then some of these problems would have been difficult to rectify. Following on from this, because we wanted to embrace the school environment rather than neglect it, we chose two actors who are both in our year at school and therefore are rather flexible when it comes to choosing shooting times because of the free periods. We cast Sam Smale and Tom Lindsey in our project because they had lessons corresponding to our Media Studies lessons which helped us massively when filming because we could use them whilst being in our Media lesson. Moreover, they fit the idea of using the school environment perfectly because they were always in uniform when they were needed for filming.

Before we began filming we decided that we were going to use the corridor outside the conference room, along with the conference room itself. Looking back at this choice I believe it was a very good, well-thought out conception. The conference room had a large window which let into the room natural lighting which was nice during the filming process because it meant that we didn’t need to take any external lighting with us, also, the days we filmed on, it was sunny outside which meant we used high-key lighting. This was helpful because it made the camera shots look more crisp and clear. The window in the room also enabled our actors to run over to it and look out onto the field after the explosion had gone off which was a key point in the extract. The conference room itself is an extremely well-kept room which meant that the environment looked far more professional.

I believe the filming process went well. We were able to use all the appropriate shots that we were required to use due to the big room and wide corridor we chose to film in. The wide corridor was helpful when filming the tracking shot of Sam walking down to the door because Zack was able to track alongside him and also behind him which was effective in the final product.

Looking back, I would change the fact that we filmed without really using a steady cam, this meant that some of the shots - most notably the tracking shot of Sam walking down the stairs and the corridor was rather shaky. Secondly, I would ensure that before we chose our actors, we took into account the days and times they filmed on because in the final piece, one shot is out of focus. This is due to Tom being unable to film on the day we wanted to re-shoot on, thereby, making it impossible for us to get a clearer shot which is frustrating.