From his preliminary task to his final product, the author learned several skills in filmmaking. His preliminary task had issues like poor camera quality, ineffective editing, and weak acting. However, it helped him understand techniques like match on action shots, shot reverse shots, and tracking shots. For his final product, he improved by planning more, using closer shots, better lighting with natural light, and learning skills in editing like desaturation and merging clips. He was also able to use his own DSLR camera and apply what he learned to create a better final product.

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

2. Looking back…
 From looking back at my preliminary task to what I have created now I
can see how feel I have developed my learning through using different
techniques, technologies, ideas and websites to create something much
better.
 The problems with my preliminary task include; bad quality of camera,
editing techniques don’t work as well as they should, and the acting within
the video wasn’t at the best standard. My group didn’t work well together
as a team because we didn’t know each other well.

3. Editing & Sound
 Most shots worked but my editing techniques didn’t effectively create a
match on action shot of the lead role opening and closing a gate. I
wanted to create an intense moment building up to a very awkward
meeting. I think I successfully did this by adding overly-dramatized music
leading up to the meeting and then making it awkwardly silent as the two
actors met. I also incorporated an awkward conversation during the end
but I didn’t use a sound recorder.

4. Lighting
 During the preliminary task we used natural lighting for the outside scenes
but when it came to the inside scenes, my group and myself didn’t really
know how to make the lighting brighter in a room that was fairly dark. For
my final video I only used natural light and by using the natural light I
made my final video look more realistic.

5. Shots used
 The choice of shots used for my preliminary task were varied but we didn’t
include close up shots or extreme close ups which could have added to
the awkward effect. In my final product, I have used a close up shot of the
female role and of the male role to show facial expressions in a better
form. However, we did use a tracking shot, shot reverse shot and a match
on action shot which helped me to understand how to incorporate these
shots into my own video. We also used the 180 degree rule when filming
the awkward conversation.

6. Camera work
 I didn’t get to practise filming with the camera and using the focus on the
lens as we used a digital camera but when it came to my final product I
managed to use my own DSLR camera and successfully used it to film
shots of the dog and the male role. I used a long shot to establish the mise-
en-scene and location for my preliminary task and my final product.

7. Skills I have learnt
 The planning for my preliminary task wasn’t thought about properly,
whereas in my final product, we planned the ideas/storyboards etc.
before filming. My editing skills have definitely improved throughout this
process as I have managed to learn different skills through the editing
system. Some specific skills I learnt were; desaturation through using a
‘colour corrector’, how to create titles over the top of individual clips and
how to merge them from one screen to the next, how to embed codes,
sound recorders and what codes to use kaltura code etc.