Evaluation - Progression

Evaluation - Progression

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

During the time between the preliminary task and our main task, I have learnt a lot of things that were extremely helpful in creating our final product. Our preliminary task was useful because it taught us the basics of filming; the main task, however, has expanded my knowledge more of the process of creating a product.

The main thing that the main task has taught me that the preliminary task didn't was the importance of research. Our preliminary task was very simple - there was no real story behind it, it was simply two people having a conversation. However, for our main task we needed to include a lot more; our piece had to fit with a certain genre, have a certain atmosphere, and make sense as part of a larger story (even if that larger story is not shown). As a group, we had to research into genre conventions of action/thriller movies to ensure that our film made sense and would be recognisable within that genre. Research also inspired us somewhat with our final piece, for example with the long shot which was inspired by the slow openings seen in movies such as Casino Royale and Sherlock Holmes. Research was also useful in providing inspiration for our symbol, which was really helpful not only in giving us ideas for it but also in granting it a greater meaning.

Another thing I learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the main one was the importance of working with the right people. In our preliminary task, me and Samuel worked with a person who didn't show up to shoot, and Crystal worked with people that she didn't really know and wasn't comfortable around. We therefore made sure that we were working together for the main task as we get along quite well and know that we are all focused and hard-working.

We also learnt was the benefit of bringing in outside actors. In our preliminary task, none of us had brought in anyone to act in our films as there had not been the need. However, in our main task we brought in an actor, Oliver, to be in our opening alongside Crystal. This was useful as it freed two of us to work behind scenes, plus having someone who knew how to act was useful as it made our film much more believable. Oliver was also really helpful in giving us feedback on how it looked and ideas of how we could stage it.

All in all, we learnt quite a lot in the creation of our film. Our preliminary task was helpful in teaching us the basics of filming, but making our main task taught us so much more in terms of all the work that goes in to making a film.