Prelim Evaluation

This is our short continuity sequence, 'Faceless' - a mystery/thriller

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

• I worked with Sharlene and Raagavi for our preliminary task, and I think we worked well as a group because during the brainstorming process, we listened to each of our individual ideas, then managed to come up with our final idea through discussing the positives and negatives of the ideas. 
• Another part of our planning was doing the shot list and storyboard; we discussed the different shots we wanted for the shot list and I wrote them down, and we each depicted around 4 shots during the storyboarding process as time was limited, and this seemed more efficient. 
• When on shoot, we all took turns filming (even though I featured in most of the sequence, my group allowed me to be behind the camera for all of the shots that I wasn't in). As Raagavi did not play a character in our sequence, however, she did most of the filming. 
• During the editing process, we all took turns on the mouse; although we discussed all of our decisions, we thought it best for each of us to actually have a go at the dragging, dropping, cutting, etc. 

Writing down our initial ideas

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

• The first stage in our planning process was brainstorming; initially we shared our individual ideas, then after discussing whether they were feasible and logical or not, we ended up combining them to form our final idea. 
• We then went on to constructing the shot list, which we translated onto the storyboard. We also had to compile our shoot schedule (which involved having to decide how many set-ups we would need, what the set-ups were, and what order we'd do them in). 
• Once we finished all of our planning paperwork, we decided to actually go on location and walk through our sequence, ensuring that it would be logical and that everything would work. This made us realise that we had to change some things, for example shot types, to make the sequence flow more. When we were on the shoot, we had all of our planning paperwork in our group folder, which was easily accessible.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

• We used a Canon DV30 camera with a tripod for all of our filming. 
• The tripod allowed us to experiment with different angles (as the legs of the tripod can be shortened/lengthened), but also helped to keep the camera stable and the shots symmetrical. 
• For a couple of shots, we used the camera without the tripod for tracking; this was in order to create a rushed effect, as the genre for our sequence is thriller/mystery. 
• To edit our sequence, we used Adobe Premier Pro, which we were familiar with as we used it to edit our GCSE children's TV trailers. Although the footage was already captured for us, we cut the shots to create continuity (for example, match-on-action) and used some techniques to heighten the genre of the sequence. 

I was the main character in our sequence - this shot is just before

I realise I am being followed

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

• The main factor we had to take into account for all 3 of these processes was time. We had a double lesson (a little less than 80 minutes) to plan our idea, a double to shoot, and around 3 lessons to edit it. The fact that we had a time limit influenced the way we worked in our group; for example, we split up some of the jobs in the planning process so that we wouldn't waste much time. 
• Location was another important factor; as we were shooting in school time, the only place where we could shoot without interruption was the media department. This meant that all 4 groups needed the media department to shoot at the same time - luckily, we all chose different rooms to shoot the main part of our sequence, and we just had to discuss who would use the lobby when with the other groups. 

This was one of the shots that I filmed (the final shot of the sequence)

5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and in hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

• I think our sequence was very successful because we included all of the necessary continuity principles, whilst also conveying our genre (mystery/thriller). 
• The shot lengths and cutting allowed us to create the appropriate pace for this genre, and heightened the panicky mood. 
• In hindsight, I think we would cut down the running sequence in order to quicken the pace even more. Also, we wanted to add a tense backing track, but didn't have the time.

6. What have you learnt from completing the task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework? 

• From completing this task, I have learnt how to edit a continuity sequence. The continuity principles we learnt and put into practice will help us in the future when we have to edit our own title sequence.
• As I have never worked with the people in my group before this task, I learnt more about them and their skills, which will help later on when we have to work in groups for projects and divide the work between us according to who is better at what.