LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

PRELIMINARY TASKFor our preliminary task we created a two minute opening scene from 'Sherlock', called 'The Pill Scene'. The preliminary task allowed us the opportunity to film and use the equipment in preparation for our real product. Allowing us to gain experience using the equipment and a taste of what the editing software is like. The whole point in the Preliminary task was to get us working as a team, to complete a short 2 minute opening of a film using new technologies.

GROUPS

For the preliminary our team consisted of 4 people: Myself, Ellie, Tom and Josh (Groups were selected by random). We started off well working as a team producing the preliminary. For the actual production we worked in totally different groups selected by our teachers, my group was: Myself, Tom, Lauren and George. This was so that we were working with different people from the previous task, so it would be like in the real media industry, you don't get to pick and choose who you work with.

PRELIMINARY TASK

For the preliminary task our group had both strengths and weaknesses. As there were four of us in a group it made it easier to complete tasks, as we all set a task each, however we had no team leader. This made it hard to agree on things, such as what days we were filming etc. On the other hand, we finally decided on a filming date when every member in the group was free, and we got on with the filming in time for the deadline.

DIRECTING

From creating the preliminary I have learnt that a group always needs a good producer/ team leader in order to be successful. As when it came to filming our preliminary no one had a set role, so everything was a disaster on the day. However, whilst filming we turned this around and let Tom film and Josh direct, allowing me and Ellie to prep the set and actors. When it came to producing the actual product in our different groups, the first thing we did was assign roles: Me- Director Lauren- Script writer Tom- Cameraman George- Editor. This allowed us to be more organised, when completing preparation for our film, as we all had set tasks to do, which made the whole process easier and quicker. Personally from directing I have learnt to have control in how the final product should look before the footage has actually been filmed.

CAMERA WORK

Due to lake of team work in the preliminary task, we didn't gain good quality camera shots, so we had to re-film parts in order to improve the shots. However, I think we produced a good variety of camera shots to show our understanding of camera angles. For example when the actor goes to walk through the door 'Match on Action' is used to see his hand opening the door.

STORYBOARDING

When storyboarding for the preliminary, our group hadn't finalised a filming location, so the storyboards had to be redrawn again to fit the script. Furthermore, the preliminary storyboards weren't very detailed. Whereas, when it came to the final product, I ensured when I was creating the storyboards that they were high quality/ detail. One idea I had was to take photos of the camera shots instead of hand drawing them, however due to location issues, I didn't have time to do this. Filming the final product was easier than I thought it would be, as we followed the storyboard with correct camera shots, only making minor changes to some of the shots.

WORKING AS A TEAM

In the preliminary task our group didn't have very good team working skills to start with, as we hadn't worked together before in a team. However when it came to the filming, there was some disagreement on who was doing what role, then we decided in order to gain a good grade, we assigned roles. This became a success and we worked together to complete the filming, so we could move onto the editing stage. This helped me to be more organised for the final product, so it wasn't just a repeat of the preliminary. After we were put into groups for the final production, we immediately discussed everyone’s strengths and weaknesses from the preliminary task, to assign roles. This helped our product to be better than the preliminary task, as we got on with tasks quicker and worked well in a team to achieve our final product.