Evaluation Question 7

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

Preliminary Task:


Final Cut:


One of the first things that I learnt was the importance of continuity editing and how to use it. This involved using the 180° rule, match on action, cross-cutting and shot-reverse-shot to create the impression that everything is happening in sequence.

I have also learnt lots of different technologies that are used in the film making process which I have mentioned in Evaluation Question 6.

In our preliminary task we didn't use a tripod so all of our shots were shaky. This made the video look cheap and unprofessional and it also was distracting, so in our final cut we made sure that none of the shots were shaky.

We also thought a lot more about mise-en-scene in our final cut and what signifiers it was giving. In our preliminary task we had the camera bag on the table for example, so we didn't think about mise-en-scene. In our final cut we considered it a lot more and used what we'd learned about semiotics to improve our mise-en-scene.

Our basement mise-en-scene

Something else that I've learnt during this process has been to take lots of shots when filming so that we have more to edit with and there will be more shot variation in the final product. We not only took shots of the action but got loads of cutaway shots which we could add to our final cut if they were needed.

I also did more directing when we were shooting as the time went on. In our preliminary task I only told Will and Sean what to say and where to walk, but in the final cut shooting I was concentrating on directing the smaller aspects as well such as facial expressions and the characters movement.

We've also learned a lot about the film industry, such as different companies in the film industry and the differences between British and US Cinema.

The majority of what we have learned between making the preliminary task and the final cut comes from our research and planning. Through studying codes and conventions by analysing past film openings, looking at related theories, studying key directors and so on, we were able to obtain a good understanding of how to produce a good film opening by applying what we learned to our final production.

Initial Research and Planning