Question 7

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

There is a huge difference between my preliminary task and final piece. This is mainly due to my progression and understanding of media. The preliminary task was done in a group of four and then I preceded to make a short interview scene, displaying my basic knowledge of reverse shots and angles.

During the period leading up to christmas I planned scrupulously, researching into sound and other aspects of creating a shot list, story board and organising dates to film and hiring equipment. During this time I thought a lot about how the film would look and constantly tried to rationalise what I saw as a vision of the film and what the reality of it would be like. There is always a very big difference to the film you invision in your mind and the film you eventually product and this is something I was told regularly and tried to apply to every aspect of my production.
I believe it's very important in the construction process to keep all of your footage available and always film extra fillers that you mightn't of originally thought of, my final film was very heavily made up of shots that I decided to film on the night because obviously you can never know exactly what the location will look like with all the actors there and the lights properly set up.
Shots such as one of the ambulance, in slowmotion, were only captured as a side-product on the night. Several of the cutaways in the first ballet scene were also filmed sporadically outside the dance studio, so in hindsight I think you should allow your shooting schedule time to fit in an extra hour or so of free filming so that you can record any ideas that come to you from the location and moment.

When planning, I researched stereotypes of teenagers, the kind of alcohol they drink, what they wear and where they hang out. I found all of this through various websites and observations, I went to places like Brixton and Peckham (areas that have higher youth crime rates) to observe common places of interest for teenagers. All the characters needed carefully planned make up and costume to aid the scenario and create the right semiotics. Compared to my preliminary task which was filmed in the day at school, there was a lot more planning gone into the final piece. 

The two films required entirely different amounts of planning and preparation not only because of the stage in my course at which they were made but also their complexity. The prelim had a very basic storyline and only one location, the final piece however had mutiple story-lines and locations. From this, I've learnt that the camerawork and editing can make almost any storyline look good, from a simple conversation to a ballet sequence. 
I've also learnt that when working with amateur actors or even friends you have to keep focus on the camerawork and editing over the acting talent in order to gain the desired effect of a trained actor. By doing this you can make almost anyone seem like a good actor simply by the way the camera portrays them. 

One of the most important things I've learned is that there is a strong reflection between the planning and organisation of your film to the quality of the final product. I learnt this through my piers projects aswell as my own.
Finally, I learnt to be prepared for anything, especially on set. For example, when we were filming the weather conditions were adverse and this meant we had a far more limited time to film in. 

In contrast with our preliminary task, the final task was far more time consuming but resultantly more rewarding and better looking. I have learned a great deal about camerawork, editing and software over the course and have developed my own style of editing which is hopefully reflected in my film.