Evaluation 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I feel we have learnt a lot since the creation of our preliminary project and the progression between up until our now finished final film opening project.

This first screen grab shows a close up of Abby in our final project (on the left) and Lydia (on the right) in the preliminary task. As you can see the general quality of the shot is far better in our film opening. This is because we were able to use a higher quality camera and an efficient tripod. The picture on the right is much less balanced and is blurry compared to the one on the left.

We learnt from our preliminary task that using a close up shot is very effective in showing emotions, however the background in the right picture is messy, whereas on the left the picture is clearly only focussing on Abby. We also learnt that this was a good shot when in a conversation with another character as it shows the reaction to what they have just said and displaying their expression on their face.

As a second screen grab we have used a medium close up. In our preliminary this wasn’t as effective as our final piece as the shot was slightly angled and was too far away. We improved this in our final project mainly by using a HD camera and a tripod. With the two preliminary shots you have seen so far, our use of the 180° degree rule is demonstrated. The 180° rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other and we obeyed this rule in both our preliminary exercise and our final film opening so as not to confuse the audience. In both conversations we used shot/reverse shot. Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

We found this effective in the preliminary task as it made it more obvious what was going on. The eye contact between the characters also established a relationship between them. This was particularly highlighted in our final film opening since the focus was very close up on the face and the facial expressions demonstrated their personal feelings in general, and towards each other.

Here a long shot is typically used to establish a setting which is shown through Abby and Ella walking through a door and Lydia walking through a room. This made the audience feel more involved with the action. We made sure in our final project that this first establishing shot was realistic and natural and did not contain any distractions; this allows the audience to relate to the setting.

Above is a screen grab of both Abby and Lydia walking through a panning shot. Using this in the preliminary task of Lydia walking through a room was effective so we elaborated this idea as we thought that a panning shot of Abby walking to school is as though the audience are moving along with the character. This attracts and engages our audience and also established the characters surroundings.

The screen grabs above demonstrates a two shot in which involved a conversation. This conveyed the body language and expressions in the preliminary task allowing the audience to relate to the characters. This worked effectively and so we implemented this in our final project as portraying Abby and Ella’s friendship was a key part of the storyline.

The shot above Nancy throwing paper is of Lydia pushing open a door to enter a room; an example of match on action. These two consecutive shots depict accurate continuity, an aspect of film production which we learnt to be very important. Whilst editing it became clear that without precise continuity, the shots didn't flow and looked very unnatural. From this, it was clear that we would have to edit extremely precisely during post production of our final film opening so to make it look as professional as possible and as though it is completely real. The only problem with the two sequential shots above are that they are very similar and therefore seem a bit pointless; it would have been better for us to vary the angle and composition of the two shots so as to make it more interesting for the audience and to allow them more exposure of the situation. We took this into account when filming and editing our film opening. The two shots below in chronological order are another accurate example of match on action. We made sure to vary the shots and as you can see they are very different in terms of angles and distance. When watching the film opening you will also notice sound continuity, something we learnt post preliminary exercise and a technique that became very useful and effective throughout the film opening.