Preliminary Analysis

Schrecklich
What was successful?
I feel that our preliminary task went very well. I feel that me, Sam and Cameron worked well as a team and so this helped us to create a good preliminary task. I feel that we used a good range of camera shots and our editing was strong too. At the start of our video we used a CCTV look edit on our shot. It fit well with the first bit of our video because we wanted it to look as if the woman was being watched, and I think this did give this affect. However, I think for that shot, the framing could have been a bit better. The next shot then shows my feet walking, this was supposed to create suspense and I think it could have worked better if the framing was better because my feet are not fully in the frame and so it doesn't look as good as it could. The next shot is me walking up to a door and it is filmed from within the room, through the door window. I think this idea was good and effective because it almost looks like a point of view shot and like someone is awaiting my arrival. To make this shot better, the lighting could have been changed to avoid the reflection on the window and to make it look more professional.

The next shot is a close-up of my hand opening the door handle and a sound effect is used as the door opens, it then crosscuts to an extreme close up of my and this shows me smiling. The smile is sinister and so it makes the character look evil and builds up tension because the audience doesn't know what to expect. The sound effect of the door creaking also adds tension because it sounds creepy. It  then shows me walking into the room from a high angled shot and this adds more tension. I think that the fact that there are many shots before I actually walk into the room adds tension because there's a big build up and the audience want to know what my arrival awaits

There is then a low angled shot of Cameron as he spins around on his chair in slow motion. This low angled shot was used to make the character look important and as though he is of high authority. I think this shot worked well and it does give the affect that we were trying to achieve. There is then two extreme close ups of both mine and Cameron's eyes and this shows the tension between the two characters, I think it works well in making the audience wonder what all the tension is about, but again the framing could have been more neat and better. By this I mean that with my face is not equal on both sides in the shot and so it could be framed and positioned better. There is then an over-the-shoulder shot of me looking at Cameron and this was used to show my point-of-view and Cameron's reactions and I think it did this well. 

There is then a long shot of me pulling out a gun and pointing it at Cameron, it then crosscuts to Cameron to show is reaction to whats happened and although this could have been done more affectively I think it works well and still looks good. There is then the sound of a gun shot as it switches to the shot of Cameron's character's cat and it flashes white as the cat gets shot. I think this works well because we were limited on effects so obviously we couldn't edit in blood or any gun wounds so the white flash works effectively to do this. There's then another close up of my face smiling sinisterly again and this makes my character seem evil. There's then a slow motion shot of me walking out the door interrupted by the credits which lengthens out the shot. I thin this works well to carry on the tension and show the credits.

It's also in slow motion. I also think the music that we used throughout was good and effective because it begins to crescendo throughout. 

What skills/knowledge have i acquired?

I think that from doing this task I have a acquired a few skills. I think that it's helped me, Cameron and Sam have become better as a group because we have had to share ideas and work together to make this preliminary task work. We will then be able to apply this when making our thriller opening so it can be the best it can be. I have learnt how to edit effectively and make the shots fit together so that the continuity is proficient. I have also learnt how the different shots work well to create different effects. I have learnt how to create an atmosphere and how to make the editing look effective so that it entices the audience and make them want to continue watching.

What could be improved?
I think that things such as the framing and composition could be improved so that it is neater and looks more proficient. Sometimes parts of faces were cut out and this makes things look less effective and so this would need to be addressed next time to make sure that everything fits and looks professional. I also think that shot reverse shot could have been used better and more often so that the general story is more clear and the audience do not get confused. Overall, when doing our opening thriller I think we will take more care when filming things and make sure that everything fits in the frame and that every shot is proficient and works well. This will make our opening look good and professional and will make our target audience want to watch the film. I feel that our preliminary task went very well aside from this.