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

Son Of The Law (Main task)
Preliminary task

In the construction of my preliminary task my group, who consisted of Yusuf, Nile and I, used various forms of continuity editing. For example, we used parallel editing, which is crosscutting between scenes happening simultaneously but in different locations, to show the two characters having a phone conversation.

As well as this, we experimented with shot reverse shot to show the two characters having a conversation face to face. An over the shoulder shot was used in this instance. This was successful in view of the fact we didn’t break the 180 rule. 

Another form of continuity editing we used was match on action, which allowed us to give the impression of continuous time. This was executed well but I think the cuts on the match on actions should have been faster. 

We also attempted a dolly shot in my preliminary task to show the antagonist walking away. However, this didn't turn out as well as we would have liked due to the fact the when wheeling the dolly, which we had made using an office chair, my camera wasn't stationary therefore the shot was shaky which wasn't my intention.

In my main task my group, who consisted of Daniel, Nile and I did several things differently. For example, the location was both an exterior and interior (various locations) whereas in my preliminary task my entire movie was shot inside (one location). Therefore we encountered different problems for example; in my preliminary task the sound quality was good however in my main task the wind made my sound quality poor. 

setting of main task

setting of preliminary

Consequently, we had to add in several post-synchronised sound such as door slams, heart beating, breathing etc. As well as this, the sound also differed in view of the fact while, the entire sound of my preliminary was diegetic sound in the form of dialogue, in my main task we had a non diegetic soundtrack that was incorporated into my film to add suspense. Another way filming of my main task differed from the preliminary task was that my main task had an establishing shot that set the scene of the park.

The movies also differed because in my preliminary task we used a tripod for all the filming but in my main task in order to create a sense of realism we used handheld camera to create shaky cam. Shaky cam was also used to reflect the emotions that the protagonist was experiencing.

In contrast to my preliminary task, which had two characters, my main task only had one character was given prevalence to emphasise his importance. This allowed the audience to immediately acknowledge who the protagonist was so they could build a relationship with him from the beginning. Another camera technique employed in my main task was a tracking shot showing the protagonists feet as he ran. Another difference was in the main task a 360 shot was used to reflect the fact he was searching for a way out. Finally, the lighting of the final product of my two tasks differed. In my preliminary task all the light in the shot was from a natural source or inside lighting. However, in my main task, due to the fact we shot at various locations at different times of the day we deliberately used artificial lighting. As well as this artificial lighting was used to create low key lighting to build suspense.

However, the final product of the two tasks did share similarities. For example, I was able to apply the match on action technique I learnt during the construction of my preliminary task, in the construction of my main task.

The subtitles that the knowledge we learnt how to make during our preliminary task influenced  our decision to use subtitles as a reference to time in our main task.

What have I learnt?

Overall, the difference between the final product of my Main Task and Preliminary Task was evident for several reasons. Firstly, we only had a limited amount of time to film our Preliminary Task which meant that the filming and planning process of production was rushed. On the other hand, when filming our Main Task we had a longer time period to film. As well as this, unlike our preliminary task we collectively took into account the Mise En Scene of our film for example the location was carefully planned and the costume of our main character was also planned. This differed from our Preliminary Task where we could only film in school which meant our characters had to be in uniform which made our film less realistic. Furthermore, the final product of our main task was better because due to the longer time period to edit and film we were able to research sound, camera work and editing and opening titles. As a group, we learnt that in order to have an effective final product there must be consideration of Camera Work, Editing, Mise en Scene and Sound.