Evaluation 7-Looking back on your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what

do you fell you have learnt in the progression from it to your full product?

Editing...Since filming my preliminary task to filming my film opening I have learnt several skills to help with editing. One main key technique I have learnt is ‘continuity editing’. This is very important to master as it makes the film flow and helps hold onto the audiences attention, as I discussed in my post about match on action. This is also sometimes referred to as ‘Seamless’ or ‘Invisible’ editing due to the fact that the audience don’t notice the individual cuts because it is very smooth. Another technique I learned was a ‘jump cut’ this is where the characters change against a constant background. It comes across as an interruption of a single shot because it occurs during scenes not between them. We used this technique when introducing characters into our film opening because we thought it would help the audience understand that they were the same person but at different stages in their lives. Where as if we had introduced them in separate settings, they could appear as two different characters, not one. I also learned a technique called ‘split edit’ which is the media term for an overlap. In a split edit the audio and video don’t start at the same time, one or the other is slightly delayed. We used this right at the start of our film opening, when we edited the video to come in just before the audio. We chose to do this because we wanted the audience to focus straight away on the setting and not be distracted by the audio.

Camerawork… Just like the editing techniques I also learned various camera techniques, again like editing, the camera work is very important. The same shot could look very different from the angle or the proximity used. We decided to include ‘tilt shots’ because we believed we could execute it well and it would help increase the importance of the central protagonist in our opening. The tilt shot starts by showing the architecture on the ceiling of the church and tilts down to a mid shot of the pews, where Christa is sat looking forward in the second row. This exaggerates her importance as the only character in the opening, but it also makes her rather small compared to the church as therefore the power of God. I also learned about a shot called a ‘panning shot’ as soon as I learnt this shot I knew we could use it to show the importance of the religious imagerywe use in our opening. One main panning shot we use is of a stained glass window with a crucifix and lit candles, either side of the crucifix, we also slowed this shot down to increase the viewing time and hold the attention of the audience. Both these shots, if well executed and unnoticeable, should help draw the audience into the film opening.

In Conclusion…I believe I have learnt numerous skills to do with editing and filming since filming my preliminary task. These techniques have helped me make my film opening look professional and smooth, which consequently helps keeps the audience’s attention, which as I’ve learnt is very important to do. I have also learned about promoting and distributing films, which is also key to having a successful production. Target audiences, type of advertising, amount of advertising etc. are all factors a distribution company would have to focus on in order to promote their film well and effectively.