Q7.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since my preliminary task I feel I have gotten a better understanding of mise on scene and what is needed in film to convey conventions such as location, character type etc, to tell a well-rounded, realistic story. Our preliminary task lacked in plot, character type and did not fit into a particular genre or represent a theme.

Because of this I was able to see how without challenging conventions it was difficult to present a story that was gripping and relevant to a genre. 

When doing our thriller research we looked at what directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers. By doing this it meant that I could take knowledge from my preliminary task and elaborate on aspects that were weak within it to hopefully convey ‘location, character types, themes and storyline/plot’ that reflected thriller conventions. 

Comments from my preliminary task showed that the steadiness of the camera used was weak. Since this I have learned how to use a tripod to steady shots. The tripod was used often in the filming of my thriller, especially when I was shooting longer, more enigmatic shots because it meant that without it I would need a steady hand for a long period of time.

One other comment was that the smoothness of editing was also weak. The preliminary task was the first time I had used Premiere pro so did not have knowledge on how the software worked. However, by doing this task prior to editing my thriller I was able to play around with the software and ensure that for my final piece I knew how it worked and how I could adapt and edit footage to make it look smoother, cleaner and to convey conventions of a thriller (for example, using Premiere Pro to play around with the lighting in my shots to make the location/setting seem more cold and bleak).

 
During the preliminary task we learned how to shoot a conversation and how to shoot people walking. The rule that stuck in my mind after this was the 180° rule. I learned that largely this rule is followed as without it shots can look messy and may also confuse consumers. Though some filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick purposely break this rule to show disorientation. When filming my thriller I decided that breaking the rule was not necessary for the opening. Although in my thriller we see Robyn kidnapped, I felt it enabled the audience to visually connect with the scene better without confusing the picture. Instead I decided to use the sounds of -Robyn’s actor Ellie- screaming to represent discombobulation.