Friday 29 March 2013

Final Production - The Syndrome Opening Sequence

                                            Created within the group of Amelia Eguchi-Wale, Amber Wilson and Shannon Bulmer

Evaluation - (7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Through completing our production of an opening sequence with credits, I feel that I have learnt a lot since making our preliminary task.
 The main areas I feel I have improved in since making 'The Syndrome's opening credits are camera skills, continuity editing and improved knowledge of mise en scene and the impact of soundtrack.
Camera
 In our preliminary task we only had access to a basic tripod and Panasonic camcorder. This provided us with basic tools to film our footage. The camera work within the preliminary task is fairly smooth however the colour within the shots should have been altered and since creating this clip, I have learnt more in relation to utilizing the tripod as best as possible. When creating our opening credits, we had a tripod with a Manfrotto fluid head attachment. This meant I learnt how to smoothly pan and tilt whilst recording. Also, having access to a DSLR camera when filming meant that I learnt how to control white balance and exposure within a scene, ensuring we had the best visuals available to us. Also, you can see the change in quality from the preliminary task to our final opening credits. This is because we had access to lenses which provided us with a professional touch when filming our final production, in comparison to just using the hand held camcorder in our preliminary project.
Continuity Editing
 As you can see in our preliminary task, we changed site three times. This means the whole clip lacks fluidity and just looks poorly edited together. Because we changed locations thrice, the lighting varies throughout the footage. This gives an amateur appearance. Since finishing the preliminary task and creating our final project I have learnt that with planning, you can ensure you will gain a continuous style throughout; by creating a call sheet we ensured that our actors and crew would be on site when needed and through hours that provided us with the same amount of available light. We also organised ourselves so that we were sure we to be able to gain access to the site, unlike when filming our preliminary task as we were removed from two locations. Having minimal knowledge of our editing program Final Cut Pro when compiling our footage of the preliminary task together, the standard of editing is poor. You can see this as we have not cut some clips short enough and some cuts are untidy. Since doing this, I have learnt how to successfully edit on Final Cut Pro and ensure the finished cut has as much as professional look as is possible. I also have learnt how to show a relation between two characters through placing cuts together. This was especially important within our chase scene as we needed to show to the viewer that the antagonist is chasing the protagonist. We omitted use of transitions and used quick cuts between the clips as we felt this increased pace. With transitions, the speed of the chase was lessened.
Mise en scene
 In our preliminary task it is clear that we have not considered everything within the scene. The location does not suit the situation and the costumes change due to lack of good continuity editing. Since creating the preliminary task, my knowledge of how to create a successful mise en scene has grown. Within 'The Syndrome' opening sequence, you can see we have clearly thought about the location, the costumes, the shot types, the lighting and appearance of the characters. This was not portrayed within our preliminary project. In our final project we ensured that the costumes worn by our two characters represented their roles; the victim dressed in red to signify her as a fated protagonist in danger and the antagonist dressed in dull colours to emphasize his stealth persona. The location increases the idea of 'no escape' within the chase scene and the shot types heighten pace and allow the viewer to identify with different characters. Comparing the preliminary task with our final opening credits, it is easy to see the impact of which mise en scene can have on a clip.
Soundtrack
 Producing our preliminary task was the first time we had used Soundtrack Pro. Being beginners we included a lot of gaudy sound effects that added comedy to the video. Despite this being suited to what we intended, it only added to the amateur feel of the production. The sound quality of the dialect is also poor. I know now that if I am to record dialect I should use a recording attachment to the camera, or record it separately to the footage. When creating our final opening sequence, we decided that to gain the utmost sound quality available for our ambient noises, we should record these separately to the footage. We did so using a microphone and a recording software. We also researched into soundtracks to ensure ours suited the genre of our film opening well and then created this, ensuring it fitted timings well and enhanced a feel of tension.

Overall it is clear to see how far I have improved since making the preliminary task.
Final opening credits:
                            Preliminary task:

Evaluation - (6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation - (5) How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation - (4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation - (3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation - (2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?