AS Thriller Evaluation - Question 7

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

The purpose of the preliminary task was to show my understanding of cinematography that I have learnt and to be able to get used to using the camera and tripod, which we will be using when I started filming our thriller opening sequence.    After filming the shots, we had filmed I had to edit them, taking out unnecessary parts which were not needed, therefore showing a clip which flows through easily. There was background noise within my preliminary task, we improved this going to a quieter setting and turning the volume down during the editing process, so that any unwanted noise in the opening sequence would be able to be heard. 

From the preliminary task I learned how to use the camera which we will be using during the process of creating of our thriller opening sequence.  This gave me knowledge of how to use the camera, rather than getting to the filming stage and not knowing how to use and operate it.  This included learning to how to turn it on and how to zoom in.

I also learned how to use the tripod.  I had to do certain things for the tripod to get taller, how to screw the camera on and making sure the stage is level, so that the picture in the viewfinder of the camera is level.  This helped, as I would know what to do with the tripod when it got to the filming stage.  Without the use of the tripod, the sequence may look very amateur as it would look unsteady if it was handheld.  Meanwhile, using the tripod would make the thriller film look more professional.

I got an idea of how to use the editing software ‘Final Cut Pro X’.  The opportunity to use the editing software provided us with more knowledge and experience of how to use the filming software including cutting and combining the clips together in order for them to flow easily.  Being able to use this in the preliminary task meant, that when we have filmed the actual shots for our sequence and want to combine them and edit them, it will not take as long to edit, as we already would have known how to use it because of previous experience.

I learned how to edit by using final cut pro X; this skill helped when going towards the end stage of making our thriller film.  Another skill, I learned was how to use the camera as we all took turns on using the camera, so that everyone knew what they to do, when handling the camera to the best of my ability.  Another skill, I learned was how to use the tripod as this avoided any shaky shot which weren't meant to be unsteady.