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?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I believe the purpose of creating it was to gather a better understanding of how to use the different equipment and how they function. It would also give me a better feeling working with equipment such as tripods as I haven't worked with tripods before. This was important as it gave me the opportunity to experiment with different camera techniques and angles so that after I could review it, I could see what camera angles and techniques were the most effective and would be ideal to include within my own sequence. Furthermore, it would also develop my editing skills further using Final Cut Pro X as I merged different clips together using transitions and filters. After creating the preliminary task I would then have the ability to identify my strengths and weaknesses. Due to the fact that this was my first time working with video cameras, tripods and Final Cut Pro X, it was vital that I identified my strengths and weakness so that I can work on and improve my weaker areas so that when it came to filming the final production I wouldn't struggle in these areas and wouldn't waste time.

From this preliminary task, I have learned a range of different camera angles and techniques such as the high/low angles, panning, zooming in/out and also mid shot. Also, after reviewing this different camera angels and techniques I learned about the effectiveness with the different angles and techniques. For example, I learned that using high angles made the characters look more weak and vulnerable which was ideal to use within my own final production as I could give the audience a different perspective. Furthermore, I also learned that it is vital to review your work in great detail as you may find mistakes in which could of been oblivious when filming. For example, when I was filming, it didn't come to my attention that the space that I was filming in would be impacting the audience as it makes the scene and production looks less professional and more amateur which means that the sequence won't be as effective on the audience resulting it to be less successful. In addition, I learned about different editing techniques using the software of Final Cut Pro X. From this, I learned about different editing techniques and filters that can cause a change in atmosphere and help the audience to become more engaged and build relationships. For example, I learned that involving a slow editing technique results in more suspense and tension being built up and helps to engage and impact the audience more and is more effective. Also, I learned about the different filters could impact the audience more by making the sequence more effective. For example, using a slightly blurred filter helps to make the frame look a point of view perspective therefore helping the audience to become more engaged.

From my preliminary task, there are various skills that I learned that helped me with my thriller film. Firstly, my knowledge that I gained about the use of various camera angles and techniques were very helpful towards my thriller film. This was because I wanted to include a variation in order to keep the audience engaged throughout, so using skills such as the zooming in helped my within my final thriller filler as it made the sequence more effective and impacted the audience more. Due to the fact that I had practice with this technique within my preliminary meant that I could deliver a better result within my final production meaning skills such as the zooming in and out were more smooth so impacts the audience more. Another skill that helped me within my final thriller film was the use of the tripod. I have not used the tripod before my preliminary task so it was important that I learned and developed new skills. Due to me being able to practice a range of shots with the tripod this meant that more time could be saved and also I could deliver a smoother result instead of a unstable one which was seen in the preliminary task. Furthermore, editing skills that I learned within the preliminary task such as speeds of editing, filters and transitions helped me within my final thriller film. Within the preliminary task, I had the ability to use the software Final Cut Pro X to experiment with a range of techniques and see what impact they each created. For example, my knowledge that I gained within the speeds of editing I learned that it would be convenient to include a fast editing with a chase scene as I learned in the preliminary task that the fast editing makes the sequence more exciting and keeps the audience eager to continue watching and also creates a high level of tension as the intensity level increases. From this practising it was very useful in my final production as I already knew what each technique created and what type of impact they each created so it saved me time instead of experimenting every single technique and wasting time whereas I could just get on with it.