QUESTION 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel like you have learnt in the progression from it

to the full product?

RESEARCH

The final product was more successful than the preliminary task due to audience research; a survey was created at the end of our research to find out what our audience found successful in an opening sequence so that we could fulfil their needs and wants. Before creating the preliminary task, no audience research was conducted which meant the targeted audience didn’t like what was created because it didn’t conform to their expectations (Pye). We also understood the importance of research as it allowed us to identify the conventions within the horror genre, meaning we could use them within our opening sequence so that it looked more like an official opening sequence. One location that we discovered was a common convention in horrors was the woods; hence why we used the woods. Whereas for our preliminary task we did not research conventions beforehand so the outcome was confusing to the audience as there was nothing that was recognisable conventions in it. Another benefit to completing research was to find out the purpose of an opening sequence so that we could fulfil what needs to be done.

PLANNING

Having planned our final production allowed us for a smoother creation of the product and a much better and more successful opening sequence. One of the main benefits to planning was when it was time to film in our chosen locations; during our preliminary task we did not plan the times or locations we were going to film in, we just used what was available at that time which had a negative impact on our preliminary task production. As we learnt from this, our filming process was a lot quicker for our final production as we had a time slot at a certain location booked for our use only, this also meant that we could plan around the lighting conditions; we knew the time of day so were able to adjust what we film to suit the lighting and we could also research beforehand to check the weather to make sure we wouldn’t waste any time by turning up and it started to rain when we weren’t prepared for it.

FILMING

For the final opening sequence in AS, I used a digital camera so that the production was better quality than our preliminary task as we filmed it on a mobile phone The main issue with using the mobile phone in our preliminary task was the mix of landscape and portrait shots which meant the final product wasn't smooth as the shots didn't match up and looked very amateur. During the filming of our opening sequence, our shots were of high quality, good lighting and were smooth due to the use of a tripod as we couldn't use one with the mobile phone. The overall look of our opening sequence was very professional due to the quality of it. The upload of our footage was also a lot easier compared to the mobile phone as it was saved onto a portable SD card that could be easily inserted into my laptop ready for editing. Where as the mobile phone footage took a lot of hassle to upload, there were two ways to upload; having to email myself each clip then downloading it or through a USB cable and having to transfer the clips from the phone to the laptop which was very time consuming. The digital camera had much better focus in our close up shots which enabled the audience to see the emotion of the characters and allowed us to be more adventurous with our shots which made the final production more successful.

EDITING

When I first used Premier Pro, I was editing my preliminary task. As I had very little skill with the software, my production was very basic. I just had straight cuts that didn't allow the narrative to flow nicely. As my skills developed I was able to fade clips into one another, so the final production had a better flow which means the narrative could be understood more. In my AS production I had developed my skills more, especially how to use and change the sound; I changed the sound levels to connotate danger. For example during the chase scene I used fast paced and loud music to allow the audience to understand the tension within the opening sequence. During the calm scenes the music reflected that as it was slow and quiet. The sound used within my opening sequence reinforced the verisimilitude for the audience as the sound enabled me to follow horror sound conventions which meant that my opening sequence could be viewed as a horror as the audience would recognize the conventions within. I used the cutting tool within my opening sequence to crop my clips so that I was able to use the best bit, I was also able to cut out mistakes. The cutting tool also allowed the sequence to flow better as I was able to easily cut anything away that affected the flow. Finally the cutting tool allowed me to create pace within my opening sequence; the shorter and more clips there were, the faster the pace was. My AS production was a lot more developed within in the skills as I had more knowledge of the software. When editing my preliminary task I was unaware of that I could change the contrast of the clips so the lighting wasn't very good. My preliminary task also lacked atmosphere and realism due to my lack of knowledge and skill within using and changing the sound. Overall, my preliminary task was not as effective as my final opening sequence production.

FEEDBACK

Collecting audience feedback from our opening sequence allowed us to continuously fulfil our target audience’s likes and dislikes within opening sequences. Our preliminary task was conducted without the thought of our target audience which was reflected through the unsuccessfulness of the product, whereas the final production was based around our target audience and their feedback. The more and more we worked on our production, the more feedback we gained to make sure we were fulfilling their needs to create a successful production. One of the main points was they wanted characters they could relate to which is why the opening sequence feature teenagers dressed in ‘cool’ clothing which made the characters more interesting for our audience.