Evaluation - Q7

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

I think that doing the preliminary task beforehand has benefited me. This is because as I haven’t had any past experience with filming, it helped me get used to the equipment such as holding the camera steady and how to move the camera around in a steady pace. It also boosted my confidence on how to use the camera whilst filming and how to use it in the correct manner so that I don’t cause any damage.  Before starting this project, I didn’t know how to use the different functions on the camera such as the zoom button but overtime once getting used to moving them and doing some practise shots with the zoom button, I now am able to move the zoom in and out steadily and in the pace that I want which stays the same throughout the whole shot.

In the preliminary task we had to produce a 2-3 minute piece which involves a character going through a door and also interacting with another person and exchanges some dialogue with them. We did this task so that we get used to the filming procedure and also are able to practise some camera shots which we will be using for our main production. The angle shots that we had to do were over the shoulder shot/over shoulder shot reverse, match on action and the 180 degree rule. This task was very beneficial for us as after being able to get used to doing these, we then were able to use these in our production. In the preliminary task, I wasn’t the one who was filming the piece as I was in the filming piece itself but we did some practise shots with each other and I felt that very helpful. In my main task I tried to use the camera angle shots from the practise of the preliminary task which I was able to efficiently from my point of view. Even though we didn’t get our characters to exchange any dialogue in the final piece, we still were able to use the over the shoulder shot and then in reverse when the male character put his hand on the actress. This turned out to look very efficient and it worked well which let the audience see them individually from each other’s point of view making it look professional. In our final production piece, we were also able to use match on action in our piece whilst filming when she runs through the gate. However when we were filming with our original actress and we did the same shot, it didn’t look nice and looked as if it was not a real film. This is because when we filmed with Sabah, when she was running in this shot she stopped at the gate and then we moved inside the park and shot her from the same placed she stopped and got her to start running again. Then when we were editing and put it together, it didn’t fit and you could see her stopping and starting again. However in the preliminary task, we didn’t have this problem and so it never occurred to us that it could go wrong. And so when this problem did occur, it was quite difficult for us to reach a solution to fix this. But then when we looked back at our preliminary task again to see what we did different, we saw that the character didn’t stop and then carry on but she finished it the whole way and then we got her to do the same shot again but from filming from the front angle which kept the flow of the filming constant and it fitted with each other when put together. This is when we decided to do the same for our final piece and got our actress to keep running the whole way through the gate until she was no longer in the camera. We then started filming from inside the park and told her to start running from where she starts running from the start so that it looks consistent with each other. Then when we edited the piece, we were able to cut some pieces out so it looks as if it’s one. Though our preliminary task was a first practise but it’s because of that task that we were able to develop our filming skills so that it’s more of a high quality and looks professional.

In the preliminary task we ended up having to rush the task a bit. This is because, it was our first time filming and as it was 2-3 minute piece we didn’t think that it will take long to do the whole piece. But once we started filming, we found that doing all of it could be time consuming if not done right which then rushed us to complete it when we didn’t have much time left and so wasn’t that good in the end. In our main task whilst filming Sabah’s shots it took us quite some time get these due to many reasons but when we started filming with our final characters, we were able to complete the whole film within 2 hours which we were quite pleased with. I think that after the preliminary task, we thought that we needed plenty of time doing it and then when we filmed with Sabah we felt that we were taking too long to do these simple shots. But once we filmed with our characters, we did leave time in case we go over but we planned it out beforehand and wanted to get the work done in a certain amount of time which we achieved.

I think that overall I have learnt so much and progressed with my work since I first started. This is because when I did the preliminary task I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t have any experience in this as it was my first time however over time once I got used to it and practised around a little, I found that I was getting quite good with the work I was producing. If I didn’t do the preliminary task and went straight to the main task, I know that the production that I have created would have been less efficient and wouldn’t have been that good because of the constant faults. I have learnt how a film is created and what you have to do to keep the production looking professional otherwise the audience will not be satisfied.