LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

THE BRIEF OF BOTH TASKS

Both tasks had different briefs. The first one, known as the Preliminary Exercise was to film a 30 second film show the effective use of shot-reverse-shot, 180 degree line and also match on action and showed two people having a conversation. In contrast to this, the foundation portfolio brief was to create the first two minutes of a new film that would be researched into detail about the genre and style of the film. As a result of this, we felt it was important to use the skills we had learnt during the preliminary exercise and adapt them for multiple reasons.

HOW DID YOU USE THE SKILLS YOU ADAPTED FROM THE PRELIMINARY EXERCISE IN YOUR FILM?

When we first started the foundation portfolio we felt that as a group we needed to use the skills we learnt from the preliminary exercise and adapt them for our film to show effect as the preliminary exercise we did effectively showed the use of 180 degree line, match on action and also the use of shot-reverse-shot. This was important we learnt about the use of them as not only could we be able to know what they are but also to adapt them into our film and suggest to the audience why they were there.

For instance, we had the use of high angle and match on action on the drugs twice when our antagonist Martin Crow drops the drugs into the bag and also when our protagonist gets them out of the bag. This was important as whilst we wanted to show importance on the drugs we also wanted to show it as a sense of burden for Roxanne. This was adapted from the preliminary exercise as we showed importance on when Olivia entered the door to have a talk in the preliminary exercise.

The Foundation Portfolio The Preliminary Exercise

180 DEGREE LINE

In the film, we felt that we needed the use of 180 degree line within the film to show a sense of understanding about the place and as a result of this, without having this shot the audience wouldn’t be able to understand where they were.

We used this effectively in the foundation portfolio and in the preliminary exercise when we showed our indoor locations. This was important that we didn’t go over the 180 degree line otherwise if we went over it then the audience would end up seeing something different within the shot and therefore be confused.

The Foundation Portfolio The Preliminary Exercise

SHOT-REVERSE-SHOT

In the film we felt that we needed the use of shot - reverse –shot to have the flow of transitions within the film and therefore we could keep the story going by being able to see what the other person reactions to the conversation were.

We showed this effectively in the Foundation Portfolio and the preliminary exercise within the films as we felt that by adapting this from the preliminary exercise it could give some flow to the conversation as a result of this and therefore the audience could see what the other person could be thinking whilst the conversation was going on. This was important because without the shot then the audience wouldn’t know what would be going on and as a result of this we decided to use it from our preliminary exercise and adapt it for the film.

The Foundation Portfolio

The Preliminary Exercise

WHAT SKILLS HAVE YOU GOT BETTER AT?

Comparing from the preliminary exercise to the foundation portfolio I feel I have improved on the skills I have needed for this such as continuity editing, match-on-action and also the rule of the 180 degree line as before I started the preliminary exercise I didn’t know what they were and why they were important for films like The Usual Suspects and The Da Vinci Code but now having learnt them I feel I have improved on the skills as I have been able to work on more complex stuff within the portfolio than in the preliminary exercise. Such things include the use of the drugs being slipped into Roxanne’s handbag and also the use of the first ten seconds when we see out antagonist Martin Crow fall to the ground. As well as this, the use of 180 degree line has improved as I feel we were able to adapt our space to work on the film and therefore we knew what couldn’t be in the shot and what could also be in the shot as a result of this.

The Foundation Portfolio The Preliminary Exercise