Question 7

When looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When planning my preliminary task our group made an effort to practise all of the shots described on the sheet which was given to us, once these were well practised we were able to focus on media terms such as ‘match on action’, ‘shot reverse shot’ and ‘the 180 degree rule’. Once I had learnt these terms and how to apply them during filming it was much easier to focus on the task in hand- filming a simple preliminary task. Filming and putting these techniques into action was harder than expected at first but by the time we had completed the shoot I was confident with all of the terms and techniques and felt I was ready to complete the task of planning and filming the opening to a thriller. Learning the techniques before filming the thriller was extremely helpful as it meant we did not have to do many practise shots before shooting the footage so the process was much shorter. It also meant we were able to envisage the different shots before we tried them out practically as we already knew what they looked like and the effect they had on the action.

The next task we had to complete was the planning, filming and editing of a two minute opening to a thriller film. The planning included extensive research into the thriller genre which I completed through many case studies of interesting thriller openings/scenes and detailed analysis of mise-en-scene and representation. This led to planning the plot of our thriller which was rather difficult as it meant not only agreeing with each other on the plot but agreeing on the character’s personalities, the costumes and the shot types. We finally decided upon using many close up’s and creating both of the characters as strong willed and confident, whether it is through the costume or through the violence. The location was very easy to choose as we agreed straight away- Kirsty’s garage. The location is bland and grey with a lifeless appearance, it is very isolated and looks sheltered from the public once inside. This was a good choice of location as it is a very realistic place for a captured/ abducted girl to be kept.

The non-linear narrative of our thriller opening has made it seem more in depth and interesting as there are black and white flashbacks which are placed in between shots of the disorientated girl, this creates the feeling of confusion and feels as if the audience have got an insight into the mind of the character. The non-linear narrative structure is generic of the thriller genre as Pulp fiction has a very complicated non-linear narrative which adds many layers to the plot. During my preliminary task my group decided to use a linear narrative as we were not yet familiar with other narrative structures.

The casting for our thriller was not difficult as Kirsty has friends with acting experience, at first two of Kirsty’s friends offered to act for the thriller but as filming got closer we realised that one of the actresses was not going to be available to film when we needed to so Kirsty took the role of Annie as she also has acting experience and was able to play the part well. During our preliminary task however, we decided that Kirsty and I were going to act which was not convincing as neither of us could play the part well but this helped us realise that when filming our thriller we must use people with acting experience.

Thinking of a title was one of the last things we did in the process of creating our thriller opening as we were not entirely sure what we wanted our title to mean, in the end we decided ‘Desolation’ was an effective title as it is short and snappy, memorable and means ‘isolation’ which is the theme of our thriller plot. The word ‘Desolation’ means “a. The state of being abandoned or forsaken; loneliness” (The free online dictionary)

When writing our titles we decided to keep the font neutral and simplistic as to ot take any attention away from the opening to the thriller, the research I completed on titles and openings to thriller films concluded that nothing extensive was needed as long as a neutral yet formal font was used.

We discovered the soundtrack when we had almost finished filming, when we played the soundtrack with the footage it seemed to fit exceedingly well and as we completed the edit we realised that the soundtrack fitted the edit perfectly. The soundtrack was on YouTube and the creator made it clear that if anyone was to use it, they must credit him on the video and send the finished product to him which is exactly what we have done.

Once I had found out how to use the effects, editing on premier elements was very easy to grasp. The program itself is very simplistic and does not make editing over complicated, adding the soundtrack to the footage was very easy, as was increasing the volume of the diagetic sound. Overall editing on premier elements was very easy to grasp and I am rather confident when using the program.

Our film ‘Desolation’ was shown to a group of year 12’s and a group of year 13’s, all of whom filled out an evaluative form explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the production, on average the production received a 6.5 out of 10 and to improve we must strengthen the cliff hanger. The reviewers enjoyed the suspense and the soundtrack.