Evaluation - Question 7

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

Cammie - Red

Emily - Blue

A conclusion of how you have progressed in skills/understanding of filmmaking?

We believe that we have greatly progressed in our with our skills and understanding of how to make films. These skills have been developed throughout our media course, whether it be our preliminary task or our the making of our Thriller we learnt a lot about; shot reverse shot, match on action, remembering the 180 degree rule, composition, power, prominence, the importance of props, closeups, locations, sound editing, music and planning.

Here are 9 frames with annotations on them of how our original preliminary has helped us with editing that we had to do in our final movie as it helped us learn from mistakes or see what was a good filming technique to use.

To get this how we wanted it however was not an easy task. There was alot of editing involved that got us our final product. Cammie, done the continuity editing, Emily done the sound editing and found the sound track. Then we both did the titles together. Here are screenshots of us doing our work.

Continuity Editing

We had to do continuity editing throughout the title sequence so that it all flowed perfectly. To do this we often had to use match on action shots and place all the shots together so that the storyline flowed. We had to learn how to cut the clip at the right time so that the cut between two clips does not jump. We learnt to do this using the slice tool in final cut pro. In the preliminary task we had to do this when showing match on action and cuts between shots. In our edit of 'Double Agent' we also did this with match on action shots and cuts. However with 'Double Agent' we also learned how to transition shots so that walking shots were shorter and took up less time. The comparison between the two is that in the preliminary task you can see the jump between one shot where we have tried to cut down the running scene but did not know how to transition and in 'Double Agent' you can the cross fade in some of the walking shots. To put together and finalise the continuity editing it took around 3 to 5 days as we had to find all the suitable and best clips for the title sequence, cut them down and add transitions to  some of the shots.

Sound Editing

When creating the sounds for the preliminary task we used the sounds that were recorded with the clip. Although this meant that sounds were in perfect time, the sounds are unclear and there are also unnecessary sounds included such as the wind, which has a huge impact on all of the shots. When editing the sound on 'Double Agent' we used prerecorded sounds to add to the title sequence. We had to put the sounds in with perfect timing so it appeared as though they were coming from the clip. This meant we had to learn how cut the sounds to the right length and put them with the right shot at the right time. We had to use precision and patience to be able to do this. To complete this editing task took 2 to 3 days. This was because we had to have perfect timing with when the sound was to go onto the sequence and how long the sound will last. We also added a soundtrack to the clip. When adding the soundtrack we had to make sure it was the right genre of music and perfect for the clip so that it fits in with what is happening. We had to make sure the tension was building towards the fight scene and the most tense part of the music was during the fight scene. We also had to make sure the sound for the foley and soundtrack were the right speed and volume. This meant we had to learn how to adjust the speed and volume of the sound in final cut pro. This was a new skill to us as we did not do this for the preliminary task as we just used the sound with the clip.

Titles editing

In the preliminary task we did not add titles as it was a practice of learning how to film and edit continuity editing. This meant that learning how to add titles was new to us and therefore more of a challenge. To learn how to do this we had to learn how to add text to a specific shot and how to edit the text on final cut pro. We also had to learn how to position the text in the shot so that it stood out and was visible. To add and edit all of the text it took us 4 to 5 days. This was because we were new to adding and editing text to the title sequence 

What have you learned about filmmaking/progressed your skills from Preliminary to Final Film?

We first had to develop our skills in filming and what angles to use depending on prominence and lighting. We developed our skills from the preliminary task as we learnt which angles would be best for the situation and we also positioned the camera so that the lighting did not ruin the shot. 
We have learnt about how to edit shots to make the whole clip flow fluently with sounds and titles. By doing our preliminary task we learnt the basics of putting different shots together and how to create a clip. We also could see that using sounds just from the clips was not good enough and did not sound good so to make it sound better would we have to use prerecorded sounds and place them onto our sequence so that they are in time and sound a better quality than sounds already on the clip. We also learned from our final task how to edit shots together perfectly and how to add cross dissolves to make transitions smooth and quick. 
We also learnt how to add sounds and how to edit them to fit in with the sequence. As we did not learn how to add and edit sounds when creating the preliminary task we fully developed new skills in introducing sounds to our sequence. This is the same for adding titles to shots. 

KEY 
Cammie - Red
Emily - Blue