Dos and Don'ts for a Successful Final Piece

Dos and Don'ts for a Successful Final Piece

I looked at some examples of final pieces from previous years in order to create a list of tips/rules for creating a good final piece. I looked at these 3 samples:

1. Level 4 piece
2. Level 4 piece
3. Level 2 piece

Here are the things I discovered.

     Do:

• Use suitable music that relates to the genre (e.g. tense, crawling music in example 1 to create suspense)
• Create suitable colour schemes, both in filming and editing (e.g. the dark tones and colours in both examples 1 and 2)
• Use a suitable and interesting variety of camera shots and angles (e.g. the depth of field shot with the vodka at 0:30 in example 2) to show off skills and create an enjoyable opening
• Use suitable fonts and colours for titles (both example 1 and 2 use simple clean, white fonts in accordance with their thriller-type genre openings)
• Obey all of the filming rules, such as 180 degree line and match on action, so that the viewer is totally immersed in the opening and is not jolted out

     Do not:

All of these points can be seen in example 3 at some point.

• Have moments of silence without there being a valid reason - for example, a short moment of silence could be used for suspense - but if there is no reason it should not be used
• Break the fourth wall at any time (e.g. 0:45)
• Use unsuitable titles with unsuitable animations (0:0 to 0:13), or ending it with rolling credits like the ending of a film - it's an opening, not a short film
• Have a confusing plot with bad continuity (e.g. the disappearing snow and muddling story line)
• Break the 180 degree rule (when the man is standing there and calling)