Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?


For my preliminary task, myself and my partner were asked to film a conversation which had to include various camera techniques such as over the shoulder, mid shot, point of view etc. This was asked of us so that my partner and I were able to learn what we found easy about doing this and what we thought was hard about it so that we would know what we would struggle with. This would then help us in the future as we would be able to combat our weaknesses so that we were the best that we can be.

I think that over the shoulder was difficult to film as it required more two people and it was only myself and my partner. So, it took us a long time to try and do it right as we found it hard to do it ourselves with no one to help us. It was difficult because we weren't able to maneuver the tripod correctly as we had to keep moving the tripod ourselves. This in turn, made it harder for us to get the task done in time as we had to waste time trying to place the tripod in the correct place in order to get a professional looking 'over the shoulder' shot. In the end, this problem was overcome because we were able to figure out it would be easier to film over the shoulder when someone is standing, this makes it easier so that the other person can film whilst they do so. So, I found that it was much easier than filming the preliminary task when both of us were sitting down as one person was able to work on the look of the film whilst the other one acted, and vice versa.

When filming this, i have learnt many skills such as how to use a tripod correctly, for example, I learnt that I must always hold the tripod as well as the camera and secure it in its place so that the camera doesn't fall off if any sharp or quick movements are made. I also learnt how to use the camera. For example, I learnt what the small buttons on the side of the small screen mean which meant that when it was time to film the thriller opening sequence, i would be able to film correctly using the right buttons which would in turn save us a lot of time. Then, this time would be spent elsewhere, such as in the editing stage, making the thriller sequence as good as it can be. I have also learnt how to do the majority of the key camera angles and shots through this task. For example, I learnt how to do the mid shot, the over the shoulder shot, even if it was difficult at the beginning. I also know how to correctly film a POV angle. This in turn helped with my thriller opening sequence because I was then able to film accurately without focusing on how to use it properly because i knew what to do from this task, so I saved a lot of time from learning what to do in this preliminary task.

In conclusion, I have learnt that i must always use the tripod, no matter what is being filmed. This allows a professional look to be created, so it didn't look amateur in the end. When filming the first time, I hadn't used a tripod as I wasn't aware that I had to use it at all times. When I had finished filming, I watched back the sequence that I had filmed and noticed that the quality was very shaky and unprofessional looking so I decided to refilmed it to get very good feedback at the end.