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

Since the November Preliminary task I have learnt a lot about how the sophisticated planning of a film sequence is very necessary and must be very in depth. For my preliminary there was little planning but in place for pre-production for example, there was no props needed particularly the other planning needed was getting to people to play the characters, which was easy and basic to achieve. This is compared to the vast planning which was needed to acquire the location of an abattoir, and find an actor who was perfect to symbolise the rugged and evilness of the act being done.


As our thriller had no dialogue it was essential to put across the plot and be sure that could audience understood, by only using shots which showed his evil disposition, sound which reflected this and lighting.


The shots that we used to show this evil disposition were mostly taken from below so that he was in shadow from the light, and from us being below him showed the sense of power which he had. Or in contrast we shot him from a wide shot, emphasising how he is on his own and alienated. This reflected that he must be mentally disturbed in some way to not have friends and be in contact with people. We planned out these shot through storyboarding to make sure he was seen and evil.
This is in contrast to my preliminary which was easy to understand as everything which needed to be said to understand the plot was said through dialogue, furthermore decreasing the amount of planning needed.

This extra planning for the main product showed through the improvements in camera work. Comparing the preliminary to the main task, you can see a large difference in the understanding of lighting to put your message accoss for example, as the prelim mostly has natural light which does the reflect the pressure and scariness which is trying to be put across. Whereas in the main product I used artificial studio light to make sure the light was consistence and showed the change between situations from being in the normal world(outside the butchers) to being in his distorted sense of reality inside the studio.

The main task also exercises more of the skills needed to make a good thriller and showcases our skills. This is represented on how we made sure we kept the 180 degree rule. This is furthermore shown on how we have kept varied shots and different angles.

I think what has adapted and improved the most is the use of sounds as instead of keeping the sounds which were recorded on the day we overlaid sound effects to enhance the ambient sounds made on the day, for example by using sound track pro we made the sound of the Clever smashing down on the table more enhanced and dramatic. Furthermore, by having a backing track of an AC unit to emphasise the fact our character was isolated and in a secret room.
My ability to use the technology at hand has also increased thoroughly as for the preliminary task the skills needed were only basic editing skills, but in the main task I had to be able to use final cut pro properly to make an quick editing film which didn’t look forced and that all of the shot matched up. The editing style was also a lot quicker than the preliminary as we wanted to show this sense of intensity. I also had to learn how to use sound track pro to add an ambient sound and furthermore increase the understanding and look of the thriller.

Overall I have come on leaps and bounds with my understanding of the processes which are needed to make a thriller of good quality. I am very happy with the finished product as I think it show cases my skills, and I really enjoyed executing those skills.