Evaluation - Question Seven



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



Our camera that we used

Over the stretch of the course so far, I feel I have progress rather well in media. I have improved in my practical and analytical writing vastly. I understand the ways of how a camera works, and how to compose shots better. I have progressed as an editor, and I can use ‘iMovie’ comfortably now. I have struggled in the past using equipment and software, but I feel now I can work these with ease.






A screenshot of our project in 'iMovie' the program we used to edit our footage in.



I produced the soundtrack for our peice in 'Garageband' (the only program avalible at school), these are the tracks withing the program. Using Midi/Virtual, i created the melody.

 

When we shot the preliminary task, we found things of which we needed to be aware of before we shot our real thing. It gave us more of a reality of using a camera, as it is not as easy as it looks. This made us eager to learn the ways of a camera. We also found sticking to the rules like the ‘180 degree’ rule, was hard. This also gave us the opportunity to experiment with ‘iMovie’ and editing itself. This gave us the experience we needed to become fully familiar with the software we had to use for the final product. We found that the time to shoot something so short, took a lot longer than we expected. This made us make sure we had plenty of time to shoot our final product.



When we were in production of the task, we made sure we planned out of day of shooting. We planned the variety of different shots, and the most important ones we sketched them out. We planned out a basic script, yet we let our actors experiment with the script, as this gave us a more relaxed/real effect for the scene. Obviously if we were to shoot the whole thing, we would have used a full script, but for the first scene, this is just what we needed as there are no mass amounts of dialogue. We also took a trip to the location before the scheduled day of filming. This is so we were familiar with the location and layout of the building. I feel with a little bit more planning, we could have planned the lighting and how it was going to be, and find methods to avoid our biggest flaw. This was our biggest problem, the lighting. We also went through other problems with the music and getting the sound track to fit the actions on the screen, after a lot of work, we managed to work it.

As a group we had roles to make sure everything worked smoothly.

Harvey - he had to play the main character and edit the film. The acting had to be acted well, to give of the right effect, Harvey delivered this, yet the dialogue could be improved. He then edited most of the footage; this was because Harvey had the most experience. Harvey also had an experience with the camera, as when he was not in a shot, he had a go with the camera.

Declan – he was main camera man. This was because, due to his efforts and success in the prelim task we thought it would be best for him to shoot most of it. He shot most of the footage; he also edited the movie with Harvey.

George – he was like the director. He produced ideas on and off set for the shots/editing/music/acting. On set he made sure everyone was doing there jobs correct. George also filmed a lot of the footage.

Me – as for me, I was in charge of sound. I composed and produced our sound track to keep it original and so it is flowed nicely. I also used the camera to shoot the corridor and last room shots.

Overall we all had a role or job, yet experienced each others through out the production of it. I think we achieved what we set out to do, with a few minor issues which we have learnt from, I think we can call it a ‘job well done’.