Main Task Plan

To think of the idea of our film we used a mindmap to plan every aspect of the film, we looked at possible locations, characters, props etc.

The storyline we came up with:

Two teenagers are searching for a Phantom in an abandoned school, little do they know, the Phantom is watching them from a building near-by. As the teenagers progress through the schoolyard the Phantom sneaks closer and closer to them until he finally strikes.

Main Task Brief

For our Main Task we are required to produce an opening to a thriller, we have sat down and discussed many ideas in order to produce a well structured piece which would cover the brief. The brief outlines we have to produce an opening to a thriller with titles, to last a maximum of two minutes. During the whole creation we have to demonstrate the use of the following technical skills:

- Holding a shot steady
- Framing a shot
- Using a variety of shot distances
- Shooting material apporopiate
- Selecting mise-en-scene
- Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
- Using a variety of appropriate shot transitions
- Using a sound with images and editing appropriately
- Using titles appropriately

Preliminary Task Reflection

I feel the preliminary task was pretty successful in terms of following the brief. The film included a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, I believe this aspect of the film went well, we used the 3 camera shots needed in the brief: match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. I feel that we used the camera shots effectively to create tension which fitted perfectly with the theme of the film, thriller.

Instead of using a standard match on shot we decided to do it as a split screen rather than one video after another. We achieved this by placing two videos into the same frame and cropping them down to size. We did this because it made the film flow better, without this technique we would of had to repeat the motion of walking through the door.

Another camera shot we had to use was the 180 degree rule, this involved the camera being placed over a character's shoulder whilst filming another character oppsite them whom then produces a bit of dialogue, the roles are then reversed with the other character exchanging dialogue.

Although there were many factors of the film i was happy with, there were certain aspects which could of been improved, for example we could of improved in our camera angles in certain scenes. Also, one of our problems we faced was, as Henderson entered the building hr removd his coat in a quick movement which did not reflect the tense mood of the film, to help solve this problem we used slow-motion editing to slow the movement.

Seeing as this was our first taste of a media production i felt we did a very good job, we used a range of camera angles which showed our skills with the camera and our editing was at a high standard which highlighted our understanding of film editing. I believe this preliminary task was a good foundation for the rest of the course, i feel we will move onto our next production with a wider range of knowledge and skills leading to another well structured production.

Preliminary Task

This task involves filming a short introduction to a thriller, it must include a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. The characters must then exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. The task must demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule