Q7

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

Team Work

Due to the fact that our final thriller opening was a far greater task to carry out than our preliminary task, as a group we had to make a large effort to communicate well with each other at all times, to ensure that we were staying on task. During the research stages, we all had a responsibility for carrying out case studies on films of the thriller genre to add to our knowledge of the conventions and to inspire ideas. Keeping up-to-date with this work was an important aspect in making a contribution as part of the group, and was a higher expectation than that required of us in the preliminary task, and as a result, I feel that I have learnt a great deal in the importance of taking responsibilities as part of a team by carrying out research which could lead to inspiration for our own media product. As well as this, I believe that I have developed the ability to collaborate as part of a group by taking responsibilities for planning our thriller opening. Due to the fact that our thriller opening task was larger than our preliminary task, the workload was greatly increased, and this meant that making a contribution in regard to the planning of our production was vital, in order to keep the project on track. As the planning involved during the production of our preliminary task was minimal, our group members worked individually on this process, however, due to the fact that there were more aspects to the planning stages for our thriller opening task, it was necessary for us to each take responsibilities for different aspects, in order for the production to be a success, and so believe that since the preliminary task, I have learnt about the necessity to work closely as a team, during the process of constructing a media product.

Polishing camera skills

Since the preliminary task, I believe that my ability to use a number of different camera shots and angles has improved greatly. Due to the fact that our preliminary task featured only a short scenario in which somebody enters a room, has a short conversation and leaves the room again, means that I did not spend a great amount of time focussing on the aesthetics of the film, and therefore my preliminary task group did not spend great time planning our shots, and as well as this, the short time constraints meant that we did not spend long shooting. As well as this, the fact that I was the main actor in our preliminary task meant that I had little practise in using the camera, and so my camera skills following this task were still not good.

Following our thriller opening task, however, I can now say that my camera skills have improved somewhat. Due to the larger amount of time that we spent shooting, we had longer to focus on the aesthetics of our production, meaning that I believe my ability to identify various camera angles and to shoot footage has increased massively. For example, at the beginning of our thriller opening, I suggested that when identifying the character Sam, we should use a variety of close up shots and low angle shots in order to present him as a vulnerable person. It was also suggested that we should incorporate a close up shot of his foot as a reference to a similar shot in the film ‘Jackie Brown’ when the character of Melanie is introduced, presenting her as worthless and insignificant, an attitude we wanted to apply to Sam. This in depth identification of the wide variety of shots available to us when portraying certain characters is something which I feel I was unable to apply to our preliminary task, and is a skill that I have developed during the course of the process, and is evidence of my progression over the course of the year in regard to improving camera skills.

Using generic conventions

My ability to identify the generic conventions of the thriller genre has increased hugely since completing the preliminary task. As a result of the additional research into the genre that we have engaged in, I can now confidently make intertextual references between similar texts and I was able to apply such conventions to our thriller opening ‘Homeless’, something I feel I would have been unable to engage in during the preliminary task. During the planning stages of our thriller opening, when suggesting locations for example, I was able to identify the generic conventions of such a location for use in a thriller opening, alongside intertextual references with ‘Essex Boy’s’ as a text which used a similar location; a claustrophobic tunnel. This highlights the progression that I have made in regard to using generic conventions; I did not go into such a level of depth when planning aspects of my preliminary task.

Cliff-hanger

Since completing the preliminary task, I have discovered the importance of incorporating a cliff-hanger into a thriller production. When filming our preliminary task it was not so necessary to have such a scene, due to the requirements of the task, being a basic exchange between two characters. However, our thriller opening task has required us to have such a scene, due to the fact it is a major generic convention of a thriller opening sequence to have a cliff-hanger. As a result, I have been made to think carefully about the technical aspects to achieving a thrilling cliff hanger such as having a variety of camera shots and incorporating a suitable soundtrack to set the tone, something which I did not think about during the preliminary task.

For example, our choice of soundtrack ‘Red Letter’ suits this well, being a piece of music that creates a tense mood, the same thing that our cliff-hanger aims to do. Since the preliminary task, I have discovered the importance of researching a soundtrack to suit the production. For our preliminary task, we did not include a soundtrack due to the time constraints which we faced, and the little knowledge we had of how to go about finding a suitable piece of music. This time however, our time allowance gave us the opportunity to conduct some research into possible soundtracks to accompany the action. Upon reflection, our thriller opening, which has a soundtrack, has a far greater impact than our preliminary task, which does not, due to the fact that it greatly emphasises the mood, increasing tension and suspense, thus making it a far more successful thriller production. On the whole, since the preliminary task, I believe that I have learnt the importance of not only a cliff-hanger within a thriller opening, but also the conventions used in creating this, such as the importance of researching a soundtrack.

Importance of research

Since the preliminary task, I have found that conducting research around the genre of film that you are producing is essential in ensuring that you are meeting the requirements of the media product. During the preliminary task, our group did not engage in much independent research in regard to the themes being covered or the nature of the film in general, mainly because our plotline was very basic and did not touch on major issues, like our thriller opening does. Since completing the thriller opening task however, I have learnt of the importance in conducting research. As our thriller opening ‘Homeless’ is based on real life topical issues, such as homelessness, which prior to producing we did not have much knowledge of, it was essential to investigate the issues surrounding this subject in order to portray them accurately. As our preliminary task centred around an argument, which we all were able to recreate without too much research, we did not have the opportunity to engage in any independent investigation, and so I can say that I have since, discovered the importance of research in making the full product. Furthermore, it was essential to conduct research into similar texts within the thriller genre, in order to identify some of the generic conventions, which without, would not allow our production to be a success. Before the preliminary task, my knowledge of the thriller genre was very basic, and so we were only able to incorporate generic aspects of the genre, such as tracking shots, to this project, however during the production of the thriller opening, I could apply a wide variety of generic conventions such as chiaroscuro lighting to the production, showing how research has developed my understanding of the genre, a fine example of my progression since the preliminary task.

Evaluating and tutor feedback

The evaluation of my preliminary task was not in depth and tutor feedback was minimal due to the time constraints that I faced, however since the production of this I believe I have discovered the importance of both of these in regard to the success of the final product. When creating the thriller opening, we received lots of feedback from both peers and tutors during numerous stages of production. This feedback proved key to the success of our production, particularly due to the complexity of this task in comparison to the preliminary task. For example, before we made the decision that Sam was to be attacked, we initially wanted a third unnamed character to be attacked. Following feedback however, this idea proved unpopular with our audience and so we were led to reconsider and eventually change altogether. If we did not have this feedback, like we didn’t during the preliminary task, we would never have changed our idea and as a consequence suffered later on, as we would not be successfully targeting our audience. However, as this was picked up early, we were able to rectify the problem, teaching me the importance of receiving feedback during the process in order to ensure the success of the production. Furthermore, looking back at the preliminary task I have found the importance of self-evaluating my own production, in order to be able to reflect on the outcome of the project. As my evaluation for my preliminary task was not in depth and only covered the basic details of the production, such as what I had learnt about the editing software, I feel I was unable to fully reflect on the success of the production. Since this however, I have discovered the importance in evaluating many aspects of the production in depth, such as audience demographics and institutions which may distribute my media product, which means as a result I have a thorough idea on how successful or unsuccessful the production has been, and I am able to take this into account for future reference. Looking back, I believe that my ability to self assess and evaluate has developed greatly.