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

Prelim Task
Looking Back on our preliminary task I feel we have learnt a lot during the progression to our final product. The preliminary task was ultimately the first time we had experienced using filming equipment such as the handheld camera and tracks e.t.c. In our preliminary task we were limited to a simple "shot reverse shot" (conversation shot). Even though it was restricting in some ways it was easy to replicate due to it being constantly used in soaps: Eastenders unusual converstion shot

Nevertheless, like in our preliminary task, we used a conversation shot in our final product in order to make our audience feel at ease with the characters, as they are immediately "let into" characters' personal  conversions. As our audience would already be familiar with shots of this kind, we decided it would help to create a sense of reality as the audience we be comfortable with the shots on screen as they have seen them before, in programmes that "mimic everyday life".

To make the build up to our conversation more interesting we decided to include an over the shoulder tracking shot to almost build suspense as I approached the room. This was successful as Zainab filmed it over my shoulder from inside the lift, capturing me just as the lift doors opened, creating a sense of place for the audience.

When creating our thriller opening we considered having a tracking shot of one of the girls slowly walking into school, coupled with tense non-diagetic sound to create a tense atmosphere as the audience don't know what's about to happen. However, due to lack of "extras" and an appropriate location, this was not successful. Therefore, in comparison to our preliminary task, we decided the symbolic route would be easier to film, and build tension as the audience would have to interpret for themselves the emotion behind their features. Close ups allowed us to confront the audience with raw emotion straight away, rather than prolonging their introduction to characters through over the shoulder shots used in our preliminary task.

When creating our final product I feel we had much more freedom to "play" with different shots. We created storyboard featuring several different shots as well as the typical shots that featured in our preliminary task, such as shooting the bullies from a low angle to make them appear powerful as it seems as if they are “towering over the audience”.

However when we actually began to shoot our opening our chosen shot sequence was not successful due to it being too literal and revolving around the actors and there dialogue.

Therefore, we decided to take a more symbolic route.  As you can see from the first part of our storyboard, a serious of extreme close up of the girls' individual features lead to flashbacks of the girls' bullying memories. I feel was extremely successful as it they also acted as a way for the audience to establish the characters as they were followed by close up of the girl's faces. This presented a direct contrast to our shots in our preliminary task, as they were basic and did not provide room for interpretation as they were so literal. For example we shot those engaging in the conversation using mid-shots, that did not reveal anything about their characters visually. Our final product included a panning shot of all the girls standing at an equal height against as wall. Despite them being of a equal position within the frame, their tormented facial expression hinted at "underlying truths" in what was once an equal group of friends.

I feel we have made progress from our preliminary task as we have learnt through trial and error that the symbolic route is a better approach as it helps to indicate details in the narrative more subtlety. It also builds suspense through interpenetration of the shots as the audience have to connect with the emotion on screen. 

I feel that we were unsuccessful in our planning as we did not spread out our filming prep time well enough, meaning our filming time was rushed and some of our editing time was limited. This was the major cause for us adapting our storyboard a few weeks before the deadline in order to make filming easier and faster using simple, shorter symbolic shots. As well as this I feel we did not come up with an original narrative, as I found overtime the fact it was based on Columbine became restricting as we had to make sure we communicated the idea of a shooting in the 3 minutes.