Evaluation: Part 8; Preliminary Task

Looking back at our preliminary task, it's hard to believe that it was done so long ago.




This is my evaluation of the preliminary task

Open publication - Free publishing

The preliminary task was invaluable. We learnt a lot of rules that we applied in our final production.

The 180 degree rule: We needed this in our first scene between Jamie and the teacher. At one point we had shot some footage over the shoulder, we then went to film the two shot but crossed the 180 degree line, we noticed this after reviewing the footage on the camcorder on set. We then re-filmed with the 180 degree rule in mind. This is something we also did in our preliminary task for a two shot, where we had to completely rearrange the set in order to observe the 180 degree rule and maintain continuity and therefore verisimilitude.

The rule of thirds: We observed the rule of thirds mainly in the scene between Jamie and his teacher, though it was observed throughout the opening sequence as you can see in the two screenshots below. This basic composition rule helped our overall finish, giving it professional qualities.

Screenshot from our evaluation

It was good to use the HD camcorder in a test run before the real production, as this was our time for finding out how to get around the device and test how well it captured different lighting and sound. I think our task was successful creative wise, it had a strong simple theme of humour and general high jinx. Post production was a big part of the task too, it's amazing how different the first draft is to the final.




Looking at the differences between the initial draft and final the main improved is the audio. From seeing this I made sure that special attention was paid to the audio in our BSR production. The song used underneath the voiceover is a track a friend of mine, Reece Alexander, produced, he goes by the name of "ReeceA". When we wrote out our treatment I instantly thought of this track as it fits the pace and feel of the themes and the voiceover fits well over it. With the massive bonus that I have full permission to use it as he's completely independent.




The weak point of our preliminary task was the missing footage, which we replaced with this clip:

This ruined the continuity of our task. We remembered this mishap when we were recording our BSR production and was sure to not only film each shot at least three times but to check the footage on set and tick off each shot on the list.





We kept the same flare and creativity that we put in to our preliminary task, maintaining the pace and excitement. I believe that as much as the pieces are completely different they do reflect similar styles and moods.