Prelim - Peer Evaluation

The feedback that we were given has been concluded into a few small points about Pivotal for each title. All of the feedback has been useful as i can use it to strengthen my performance for the next task to make sure it is at a high standard.

Was the genre evident? How, what conventions did they use?

Genre was Thriller which was quite clear as it was quite dark scenery and was tense at times

Sometimes the genre looked like a horror as it seemed a little bit scary

Did they include all shots including dialogue, match on action and tracking? Which shot did you like best?

Most of the shot were used but not all of them. There should have been a few more close ups and the high shot didn't really look high enough. The best shot was the match on action as she opened the door and walked into the room as it was clear that it was a match on action and it was also well filmed. The close up of the 'meeting in progress' sign was clever too.

How did Camera, Editing, Sound, and Mise En Scene work together?

The editing was very good and very clever as there was a few effects on the clips. The strobe lighting at the end created a good effect. Some music could have been added and there was quite a lot of background noise which could have been edited out. Most of the camera shots were good but some were at an angle or not still which could have been done better.

Script and Story?

The story was confusing as it was not clear who the people were and what they were doing. It could have been clearer. The script was good but there could have been a little more dialogue as there was not a lot but the dialogue they had was good and well planned out.

The average score ranged from 30-40 out of an overall 50 which i was pleased with.

Prelim - self evaluation

Self-evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Nathan Lorenzo and Jack Beeson. Jack filmed all the clips and Nathan was the main character and I was a secondary actor. We were assigned a genre and ours was thriller, which we were all happy with but we knew it would be a challenge to film and make sure it is not conveyed as a horror. We discussed the basic outline of our story and made sure we kept with our theme the whole way through, they key was not to be too over the top and create a tense atmosphere so we could make it clear to the audience that our theme was thriller.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

To plan the sequence, we made a storyboard in which we made different scenes and discussed where we would put the shots that were given to us to make the scene more effective, we also made a script to make sure we all knew what we had to say and at what time. We had to think about what we would do throughout the prelim task to make sure that our thriller did not become a horror as we were told that it was hard to convert into a horror from a thriller. We thought about the lighting and the location of where we would be filming as it had to be relating to our genre all the way through. We also used a Prezi presentation to document the filming and the storyline to show how we had planned and used our time.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

We used the school video cameras and tripods to film and complete the task. We used a phone to create the flashing effect in the last scene as we thought it looked very effective and then we used the computers and premier to finalise and perfect the task. We added sound effects and video effects to our videos, which enhanced the original footage and made it seem more like a thriller.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We needed to make a tense and dramatic atmosphere which was very hard to do during the day as it was very light in most places that we went and we wanted it to be dark. We had to find the perfect places to film too as we had to be in the right setting to convey our genre. When we were shooting, we had to find the best lighting and whereabouts it was and where would be best to film, we had to shoot may scenes more than once for multiple reasons like, something in the shot was missing or we couldn’t stop laughing. But once we took the roles seriously we got it done much quicker and it was much easier to film. When editing, I found it a little hard as when I had previously used premier I did not use some of the effects I used this time round so I found it a little more complex to work with but once I had added effects I was much more comfortable with using the software.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?

Overall I think the sequence worked well. I was happy with the end result and most of the feedback received was positive. If we had more time I would have liked to film in a different location and a different time as we wanted it to be dark but most of the time it was very light in our scenes. Also I would have made the dialogue much better as I found we needed more to explain what was going on in the scene as we were the ones that thought of the story and understood it, we assumed everyone else would, but it was actually quite confusing as we were told in our feedback so I would have added more dialogue to help people understand the scenes more. I think our group worked well together and we could easily select roles in the task. I was very happy with the shots we go but although we did not capture all of the shots required I was very happy with the ones we did film.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I learnt a lot from doing this task as it really showed me how difficult it is to film the perfect shot and how many details and aspects need to be thought about and included. It has definitely helped me feel more confortable with using the premier software which will be very useful. It also made me realise that I need to use my time more wisely when filming and editing. Instead of messing around and not keeping up with everything, I need to be on top of everything and make sure I take all of it more seriously. And instead of putting off the planning of it all, I should have done that first and made sure that everything was figured out and where and when we would be filming. But overall I really enjoyed making the video and was happy with the outcome.

Pivotal - prelim task

Narrative

Today we were learning about narrative and some of medias most influenced and key historic people. These people include Vladimir Propp, Roland Barthes, Tzvetan Todorov, and Levi Strauss.



Vladimir Propp had the idea that there were 7 main characters in any type of media/film.
These 7 were:
1. The villain
2. The dispatcher
3. The helper
4. The princess
5. The donor
6. The hero
7. The false hero

Roland Barthes taught us the idea of semiotics, for example the colour red being associated with anger, danger, love, heat.
He also taught us about enigma, this is when the media manipulates the mind and then leaves the audience asking questions.

Tzvetan Torodov taught us that stories always start at equilibrium. And in order to return to equilibrium the character.s must overcome a series of obstacles.

Levi Strauss taught us about 'binary oposition' this is the study of oppositions within a movie (e.g. good vs evil)

Creating a Logo

Today we were assigned the task to create our own logos. When doing this at first i was thinking of all the other different logos and film production companies there are. However when it came to creating my own logo none of them inspired me. I wanted mine to be different to all the others so i did not want to use any of the ideas that had already been taken. There is no movement or animation or sound as i thought it was effective enough to be how i made it. I knew i wanted a strong name that would stand out and be remembered so i decided to go for 'Stryker'. Using this i made the decision to have a lighting bolt coming from the bottom of the cloud or a lighting 'strike' to link in with the name. I felt that my logo was very successful and although it is not an amazing animation i still think it is effective and the name is short and so people will remember it easily.