Looking back at your Preliminary Task, what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Exam Question 7

Mise-en-scene I believe I’ve improved a

lot on how to use mise-en-scene to show what’s happening in a scene.

In my preliminary task we used a classroom as a dentist’s office. Students could easily identify the room as a classroom, making the narrative of the preliminary task confusing. In my opening sequence I shot films in actual places that I’d like the viewer to believe the shots are in. (For example, woods or an actual railroad track).

Large room filled with tables, obviously

classroom

Posters and mess that also obviously show it’s

a classroom

Actual railroad track to show railroad

track

I don’t think that my use of props has changed too much since the preliminary task. In both my preliminary task and opening sequence I used a toy gun. Due to budget restraints I couldn’t get a realistic looking gun and the gun I used in my opening sequence wasn’t the type of gun I had initially planned to use. I wanted to use a bigger more powerful gun to convey Scarlet’s strength and power.

In the preliminary task there were lots of objects in the shots which weren’t planned to be there, but we hadn’t moved. In this aspect I have improved as in my opening sequence I strived to make sure that the scene was exactly as I wanted it, moving unnecessary objects or items (for example, for the shot of the corridor I moved the ironing board, ties that were hanging on the door and a shirt hanging on the other door. I did this to make the corridor feel more ‘empty’, the only signs of life ever being there would be the signs of death- the blood on the walls). The blood on the walls also signifies the enigma code.

One of my strengths for my opening sequence was the costume and make up. In the preliminary task we did think about the costume (suit, lab coat and rubber gloves) but in my opening sequence I made sure to go over the costumes and make-up so that nothing was out of place.

In the preliminary task the shoes of the man in the suit were trainers, as opposed to dress shoes that you’d expect him to be wearing. This was an easy mistake we made. In my opening sequence I created some of the clothes for the zombies to wear myself, making sure they were exactly as I wanted them.

I spent a lot of time on the SFX make-up for the zombies and make-up was also used for Scarlet. Mud was smeared on her face, helping to set the scene of an apocalyptical world. It also shows her character – not being afraid to get dirty.

Mud smears

Lighting

In my opening sequence I used a lot of low light, as well as editing most scenes darker, I did this to help create the feel of a horror film, conveying darkness, evil, monsters, etc. The use of this light makes the viewer feel on edge, which is how I want them to feel when watching my opening sequence.

I did however have to alter the lighting through editing, as when I got feedback for my opening sequence most of the audience felt the lighting was too harsh and the inability to see what was going on was too distracting from the film.

• I’ve learnt more on how to use lighting to convey emotions and feelings. For the preliminary task we used natural lighting, although we perhaps should have used more low key lighting to create tension or mystery as the man is running.

Sound Sound was one of my weakest points for the preliminary task. It

was more of an after thought once I edited the video rather than thinking about it all the way through. I don’t think the music matched the scene very well and the use of sound effects was poor- taking realism away from the scenes.

For my opening sequence I tried to think about sound a lot more. I spent a while looking for music that would fit well with the opening sequence and then tried to edit the video according to the music. I think the sound effects I used were also a lot more realistic, helping the audience to better connect to the world of my opening sequence.

After getting some feedback I also included other features for the sound. I added a static noise which slowly builds up throughout the sequence. I also added some parts of a radio broadcast which I had originally decided to cut from the sequence. I decided to do this as feedback showed that the narrative was slightly confusing, so adding this sound would hopefully help show the narrative more clearly.

Using the equipment I don’t feel as though my use of the equipment

has changed that much since my preliminary task, the only equipment I used in both my preliminary task and opening sequence were a tripod and a basic digital camera.

When taking the shots I have however considered taking into effect things such as head room and composition.

No unnecessary head room

Sony Vegas My use of Sony Vegas has definitely improved since my preliminary task.

When I edited the task at the beginning of the course I was unsure of how to use the software and other than putting all the shots together I didn’t particularly edit them much. With my opening sequence I had acquired the software at home and so had even more time to learn how it works and experiment with it. Therefore with my opening sequence I was able to do things such as add colour corrector to make some of the shots red, conveying danger. I also altered the brightness and contrast as well as taking other points into consideration.

• I’ve also learnt to make objects move through Sony Vegas and have used this technique a lot, especially in my production logos at the start.