Film Opening Evaluation 5 - Skills Development

Film Opening Evaluation 5 -

Skills Development

Task: Create TWO Top Trumps, each rating your production skills at:
1. Start of the project (October 2015)
2. End of the project (Feb 2016)

Just a note :)

Before I talk about the scores I've given myself, I just wanted to  make a quick note.

The thing is, I don't think these ratings are very accurate. The reason for this, is because I believe in the saying "the more you know, the less you know". The more you learn about something, the more you realise theres so much more to learn, and that you only know such a small fraction of what there is to learn. So, these ratings are going to be based on what I feel is sufficient for doing well in the course, not what there is to learn from the field as a whole :)

Codes and Conventions (4 -> 6):

Before I started the course, I only had a general idea of what codes and conventions were; I had a rough idea of codes and conventions from watching movies in my free time, as well as my love for film making. From the course, I learnt the conventions of many genres of films (mostly thrillers), and used them to help create my film opening. An example of this is the element of slowly building up tension; we opened the film with a boy and a girl having a brief exchange and continuing on. Details/the background of the girl is slowly revealed throughout the opening.

Planning and Organisation (4 -> 6):

Although Ten and Pooh did most of the organising, they briefed me on the process, as well as let me observe them working. I was also involved with the selection of the location and bits of the directing. A few of the ideas (such as the credit sequence) were also mine. Therefore I learnt and developed many new skills regarding planning and organisation (mainly the process). An example of this is the location organisation; we needed permission from each location's owner/carer. Pooh did the HydePark stuff and Ten dealt with the other location (in which we did not use). They both explained what they did during team meetings as well as showed me images and what they found.

Camera Work (6.5 -> 8.5):

I'm someone who does a lot of filming and photographing, and research on the field in my free time. Therefore, I already had an idea of what I had to do in order to produce a good film opening, hence the reason I rated myself a 6.5 in the beginning. What I learnt most from the course would be camera angles, specifically thriller camera angles (e.g. how to make something appear big, or mysterious). An example of this is the shot with the guy lying down on the girl's lap; we are unable to see his face until later on in the opening, revealing that he is dead. Again, with regards to the high rating, I'm rating myself in terms of what I need to know for the course, not camerawork as a whole.

Visual FX (4 -> 7):

Initially, I had little to no idea what visual effects were. However, throughout the course I learnt that visual effects ("effects created beyond the live action shot") were a lot simpler than I imagined. An example of this is the brightness of some shots, such as the credits scene. The drinking scene was a little towards over exposed, therefore I lowered the brightness using visual effects.

Editing (6 -> 8.5):

Likewise with camerawork, I do a lot of editing and research on the topic in my free time (such as watching some of YouTuber Casey Neistat's work). However, I used a different editing software to what was taught during the course; we learnt how to use Premier by Adobe during the course, as well as After Effects. The reason I rated myself a 6 to begin with was because I had an idea of when/what transitions to use, when to cut, and techniques in which give a better viewing experience. What I learnt most throughout the course was how to use the skills with the appropriate genre; thrillers. An example of this is the transition from the ordinary house to the messed up and ruined house; the white noise (birds and stuff) faded quickly, and the shot was adjusted so that the characters were roughly in the same position. Other examples include the use of small touches, such as audio gain and warp stabiliser, and unlinking the clip and the video, enabling me to replace the original audio with other audio files.

Creative confidence (4 -> 7):

Throughout the course, my creative confidence increased significantly. I think I was able to apply my knowledge, as well as what I learnt in class to create a decent opening. Our plot was interesting, the camera work was beautiful, and the editing was simple and clean. Overall, I think we did fairly well in creating a film opening as A-Level students.