Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During peer assessment me and my group gained constructive criticism on what problems were evident from our preliminary task earlier in the curriculum, we also received insight into how our latest production is coming along in terms of conventions, and typical elements of films in the thriller genre. Finally I received peer insight into how me and my group have progressed overall in our media skills since the preliminary task.

Preliminary Task
There are a number of problems that are evident when watching my groups preliminary task and my peer was able to pick these out. Looking back at the preliminary task we see a constant use of handheld shots, leading to a constant shudder in every shot, and one of the curriculum marks is based around being able to hold a shot steady, and this could easily be improved by using a tripod, and a fig rig for moving shots e.g tracking. The evaluation also suggests that the shot types in the preliminary task are simple and not very creative, and this is down to the fact that little planning and meaning went into using certain shot types. However this lack of planning was not our choice, but it was down to the fact that we learned of the task the same lesson that we filmed. This evaluation also suggests that during this task our actors had little confidence, as there seemed to be a constant giggling throughout, and the plot seemed too spontaneous and wasn't very serious. However i feel that our new product will show how our group has gained greater confidence in our ability of using media technologies and in acting.

Main Task
The peer evaluation has shown great improvement in all aspects of planning and creation. One of the biggest improvements evident since the preliminary task, was our ability to keep all of our shots steady, and when we did notice a slight shudder in part of our shot, we cut and deleted it in the editing stage. The sheet also shows that the masses of planning for the plot and shot types has a positive effect on the outcome. Since the preliminary task we have learned about how each shot and angle has meaning and creates an interpretation for the audience, and we constantly had this in mind when we went through all aspects of creation. One thing that is in great need of improvement is the soundtrack, it is very one dimensional. We found a single droning sound and repeated it, this has left the soundtrack feeling one dimensional and not very textured. We are planning to improve this, creating music specifically to play with the pace of the music, changing on specific shots.

Overall this constructive criticism has shown what we have done well, but what aspects are in great need of improvement, and we can now focus on these areas when creating our piece in the future

Here is our final draft of our production submitted Monday 30th Febuary




Throughout both of these productions I took the lead role in filming, meaning I also had to contribute largely to the creative side of things, designing and framing interesting shots for the viewer. The preliminary task entailed a series of simple and safe shots, to provide a naturalistic situation, for example a close up. In the new finished product we attempted to avoid this completely by displaying a wide variety of different shots at different angles, with a wide selection of shot distances. Here are some examples...

We also improved our film in terms of mise-en-scene. Our preliminary task was very spontanious in terms of decisions made about mise-en-scene, leaving us with a piece with little atmosphere. Contrasting to this is the mise-en-scene of our new product which creates an eerie atmosphere, and makes the audience feel unsettled and anxious.

Another great improvement since our preliminary task is the believability of the piece. Throughout the preliminary task Grace didn't take her role very seriously, as she was perhaps lacking in confidence. This can be seen through the nervous giggling and exaggerated movement i.e passing the paper to the teacher...

However throughout the duration of our film making Grace seemed to become allot more comfortable in front of the camera, and performed her role greatly making a very believable character. I believe that this was due to constantly filming throughout the preliminary task, and introductory tasks. She eventually became completely comfortable and displayed her skills as an AS drama student...