For our preliminary task we had to create a storyboard. In our group this was my job as other members had done other things like shot lists and I had to do the storyboard. As we had to change some things after we thought of our storyline I had to create two storyboards this took a really long time and I wish I did it a different way. When we started our opening sequence we drew a rough storyboard but our storyline soon changed. This is when we decided to create a storyboard with post it notes instead. This way we could change bits around and move them over if we needed to. I found this extremely helpful as you didn’t have to draw everything out over and over. Saying this, we did create two storyboards as we needed a final one just to make sure we could follow this exactly. Having it a lot bigger and on post it notes made it extremely easier to follow when filming, we were able to photocopy it and carry around one when filming and also when editing.
Obviously our opening sequence took a lot more time than our preliminary task, but I found there were plenty more things that had to be completed before filming, like collecting consent forms, planning out times to film and finding times that we could film all the actors etc. We also had to plan when we would film due to different locations used. Whereas in preliminary we filmed afterschool until 5 one evening and the actors were just friends that lived close. I found that although preliminary was quicker and should have felt more relaxed as it wasn’t as detail, I found our actual opening sequence was more relaxed due to who we had chosen and where we were filming. I also felt more responsible as it was our final piece and everything we had planned and researched was to be shown through our final opening. This made me feel a lot more focused as preliminary was hard and thought out but didn’t feel as important to me. We spent so much time researching, collecting props and planning costumes. Finding locations and timing everything right that I felt it was actually a real film and was our film.
In our preliminary task we specifically used their different types of shots to keep the piece continuous. We used 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot. This was really interesting to learn and helped us a lot in filming the preliminary. To help us we should have used all of these in our opening sequence but instead we only used 180 degree rule, this isn’t bad as this is the most important one as it helps not to confuse the audience. I think from following the strict rules in preliminary the 180degree rule came natural to all of the people in our group. From this I think we were all a lot more confidant with using the cameras and editing equipment. I found that filming was very similar, if not more interesting as we had to film a lot more shots and from different angles. This made me feel more comfortable with using the equipment and I am now more confidants. After filming our preliminary we had to use an editing programme called iMovie, this was very easy to use and as we were a close group we were all able to put our thoughts in and create something quite quickly and to a good standard. However when we started editing our opening sequences we were given the choice to edit with final cut express or iMovie. As our film contained spilt screens we had to use final cut express. I was happy with this as we were able to learn something new and I’m a lot more confidant with final cut express than I am with iMovie.
I feel that our final opening is a million times better than our preliminary even though I was extremely proud of the preliminary when we first made it. I’ve realised that filming takes a really long time as it is not just the filming but the planning and research behind it. I also like the fact our final product includes different things like split screens, titles and in most comparison the institution logos. Creating these was really hard and very time consuming but I think they make the opening just that extra step better.
