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 realise that I have improved a lot but still kept some of same ideas that I originally had.

I now see that I have a better idea about the codes and conventions needed to make a good opening sequence for a coming of age film. I have tried to do this by appealing to our target audience in a variety of different ways, hoping that they will find different elements of my opening sequence interesting. It was really important that I researched about what the target audience liked so that the correct codes and conventions were used. I feel that the use of romance was particularly important as it is commonly found in many coming of age films and plays a huge role in many teens’ lives. This makes it reliable to them so it means that they may be more interested in the film.

By watching coming of age films it allowed me to see what was popular and what was not, which allowed me to improve my own opening sequence by only using good editing and filming techniques. This included lots of match on action and a shot reverse shot. I may have used them in my preliminary task but in my final piece I believe that I made better use of match on action and was able to incorporate some shot reverse shots even though I didn’t have much dialogue to create convocation. I also tried to use a range to camera angles and made sure that they weren’t all filmed from the same angle. This happened both in my preliminary task and my final piece, showing that I have consistently used effective codes and convention, but in a more efficient way.

In my preliminary task I used my iPhone to film it. This was a very high quality for a phone but did limit me in some aspects. This is because it meant that I risked it shaking as I couldn’t use a tripod to balance it, meaning that some of my shots were not as clear or stable as they were in my final piece. This is because I had a better understanding of the equipment and how to use if in an efficient way, producing a high quality result. Moreover the DSLR camera meant that I could focus better on what was going on, meaning that it could create a wide range of shots. It was also a HD meaning it was in the highest quality it could be.

I also understand how different camera angles can make a scene more interesting. I have tried to incorporate more of these into my final piece so that the audience doesn’t get bored of what is going on. However I didn’t want to overwhelm the audience, so I have tried to find a happy medium when storyboarding my opening sequence.

Another reason I limited myself in my preliminary task is because I also edited the clip on my phone. This meant that I couldn’t access as many of the features, which were available on the computer. This includes the wide range of fonts available to use from dafont. It also made more difficult as I couldn’t be very specific with timing, die to the fact that it was hard to edit on such a small screen. I have also learnt about what certain types of typography can represent and convey to an audience. I feel that there had been a major improvement with this in my final piece.

In my final piece I understand how a setting affects the mood and atmosphere of a scene. This is why I chose to film at night, meaning it would contrast with the light of the house. I made sure that the setting inside contrasts from the outside. I wanted the inside to be bright and colourful so that it reflected the innocent, good and childlike side to Luna, whereas the outside would show the darker more rebellious side to her. I feel that this was a much better setting that the one I used in my preliminary as I attempted to create a dark and tense atmosphere, but there was too much light to make this happen. I also chose setting that link to the characters social status making it more realistic.

I also had to think more about consistency, as in my preliminary there were some lighting and mise-en-scene differences. I feel that this was much better in my final piece as we had rehearsed more and the actors had a better understanding about what was going on. Moreover I understand the importance of mise-en-scene so have pick better props and locations for my final piece. The actors also look more realistic their characters and their costumes are also relevant to their personality and what the audience will think of them.

I also realise how important sound is and what difference a soundtrack can make. It can completely change the mood and atmosphere of a scene, meaning the audiences emotions may be confused or changed by it. Another part of sound that is important is ambient sound. This is because can add realism to a scene and immerse the audience in what is going on.

Overall I have improved in all areas of filming, even if it is only very small. I have enjoyed the whole process of creating an opening sequence, especially the film and editing aspect of it. This is because I enjoy the creative elements of this task meaning that I am able to experiment with different techniques to improve my piece in general.