Preliminary Task Evaluation

Personally, I felt that by doing the preliminary task, I learnt many things in which we did successfully as well as things that we need to improve on for when we do our actual thriller opening.


Elements in our preliminary that went well:

• In order to experiment with the matched cut, we decided to do two in quick succession of one another. As shown by the video above, we also included a low angle shot on while the antagonist is walking through the first door to give the impression that he has more power within the scene at this point. This helped us to realise how to perform a matched cut as well as how it can be effective while filming. 
• When we filmed the antagonist walking through the aisle of chairs walking towards the victim, it built up the suspense within the scene as it, firstly, did not show the antagonists face therefore creating a mysterious persona and, secondly, showed the weapon by his side.
• As the antagonist approaches the stairs, the shot from under the stairs allowed us to film him from the waist down and emphasises the antagonists footsteps which continued to build the suspense. 
• The over the shoulder shot used while the characters were exchanging dialogue, the lighting was used for effect as when filming the victim it was hard lighting therefore enabling the victims emotions to be seen which, overall, made the audience feel sympathy. Then while the camera focused on the antagonist, the dim lighting made it difficult to see his face as well as his emotions therefore continuing to portray the ambiguity surrounding him. 

Elements in our preliminary which can be improved: 

• We noticed once our clip was on YouTube that the editing could have been smother as demonstrated when the antagonist goes to open the door, there is too longer pause showing his hand on the door. This decreased the fluency of the video. Therefore when we film our real opening, we will make sure to edit the shots more precisely allowing a more fluent opening. 
• When performing the pan shot to follow the antagonist when he first enters the hall, the camera was angled nor positioned so that the antagonist was not in the middle of the shot therefore making the focus on him seem insufficient. Next time, we will make sure the dolly/ tripod in which the camera is placed on is able to swivel quick enough so the whoever is being filmed is always in the middle of the shot, depending on if that is the intention.  
• We did not take Mise En Scene into consideration while filming as we did not have significant amount of time to plan it. But by not using Mise En Scene effectively we realised how it could be very useful when creating a believable thriller opening. Therefore when we come to film our real opening, we will allocate specific amounts of time to focus on getting the Mise En Scene right and using it effectively.  

Overall after filming the preliminary task we now know which elements we need to improve on, whether that be keeping the camera steady or more effective editing. It has also giving us an insight into how difficult it will be to film a thriller opening as well as the time needed to be able to put it together.