7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The progression from the Preliminary Task to our Final Product was huge.

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree

We were given just one hour to plan for the prelim task, so it just involved a script, a storyboard and a shot schedule. Our final sequence planning on the other hand, was incredibly detailed, we had daily meetings discussing each objective and planning item. We had just two weeks to create an idea, a storyboard, a shot list, a script, do a walkthrough etc… I, for example had to also post letters to my neighbours informing them of the fact that we were shooting over a few weekends and using imitation guns.

letter[1]

The process of running the shoot in the prelim task was fairly simple, we shot indoors which was easy and we had a very simple idea, involving just three actors. The final film sequence however involves six actors, including three main actors which had to be planned appropriately. We also had to arrange actors which ended up being almost my whole family. We also had a time constraint because there are much more shots in ‘Cataclysm’ compared to the prelim task and this proved difficult. Applying blood on the dead bodies was difficult, but we had prepared beforehand.

Working around people outdoors was also a problem, as people would often intrude on our shoots (as it is a public space) and cars would often drive past the shots, and there were even horses at one point.

The editing process was also vigorous, but much easier than the process of running the shoot. The prelim task involved very simple cutting in the editing process, with just a basic title at the start. The final product however involves lots of special effects and involves a soundtrack which we needed to cut and paste to follow the action (pathetic fallacy). We were very organized with our capturing and we used separate folders for each shoot so that we could easily choose the right shots, and the best shots were also in a separate folder.

We worked as a team very efficiently with almost zero arguments. We organized particular jobs for each person and we ended up needing two out of three group members to act as arranging actors is a very tedious process. We met on a daily basis to discuss what needed to be done and we always supported each other and chose appropriate/enjoyable roles for each other. For example, I chose the soundtrack as I enjoy music and selecting suitable music, while James Reader did a lot of paperwork as he is particularly good at English and he's a methodical character.