Evaluation: The Preliminary Task Evaluation

For our preliminary task we created the story of a terrifying briefcase taken around the globe by a Russian spy. The briefcase shows people their worst fears and they can do no more than attempt to run away from them even though they are told not to.

As a group the film was made to an appropriate standard, taking in to account the fact that none of us had made a film in this way before. Yet some of the factors that affected the film we failed to take in to consideration and so aspects of the film suffered. As the first part of the film was shot outside the actual weather conditions caused an unexpected issue, as we had intended to do a close up of the text message. However the sunlight meant that the message could not be filmed on the camera and so I had to read the message aloud. My voice was not projected well enough and so this caused some confusion during the middle of the film. To avoid this problem in the future either a message should present itself across the base of the frame or shoot the shot in advance to avoid the lighting being a problem.  In addition the film was set in a changing room causing bags to enter the frame and obstructing the view of my face in the shot. Due to use being inexperienced in filming the camera pan was unsteady and did not follow the subject the way we intended and so the frame at one point was empty. To develop this we should properly check the equipment to make sure the tripod is set up in order to allow the pan to flow more freely, as well as practise the shot before filming.

However as we had never used final cut pro the editing went according to plan, solving certain timing issues we had and the transition of the piece. For example when the shot changed from me turning the corner to walking up the ramp in to the changing rooms the filming itself caused a gap in timing. Final cut pro helped us so that the shot ran smoothly and showed match on action.

In the original script and storyboard we did not plan to have music yet when editing we decided to add a sound effect to create tension and suspense towards the end of the piece which fitted in really well and allowed the film to end on a cliff hanger. Also by entering titles in to the piece we created suitable pauses in the film to improve on this we would have like the titles to enter the frame with the subjects.

In terms of camera our planning allowed us to have an effective shot reverse shot when the protagonist and antagonist are having a conversation and we were able to use the 180 degree rule well and create a film that showed continuity and was not confusing for the audience to watch.

Overall for our first time the filming, editing and introduction of non-diegetic sound was done well. Yet we were inhibited by our story line and the weather conditions at the time as well as the set we chose to film in.