Preliminary Task
Introduction:
We were given the task to produce a short extract for a film from the thriller genre. We were told that the production must follow the guidelines of a character walking into a room and exchanging some dialogue with a character who is sitting down in the room. The production had to include a shot/reverse shot, the 180 degree rule and match on action. Using these requirements we were given 2 weeks to produce our work.
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What went well?
A number of things within our production went well, for example the non-diegetic soundtrack used in our piece was highly appropriate and worked well with the sequence. This is extremely important because it aided in our creation of suspense within the piece which is vital for a film from the thriller genre. Good suspense was also created when we were building up one of the cameras without showing his face and then eventually revealing it. The piece also included good mise-en-scéne for the majority of it which helped the audience really get into the story and focus on what was happening.
Another thing that was successful is that we fulfilled the brief we were given by including a shot/reverse shot, the 180 degree rule and match on action, as well as following the given story line. This is extremely important because it made our production a success.
What could be improved?
Based off of our own knowledge and feedback we got from the class we learnt that some of the audio levels weren’t perfect and needed to be either higher or lower due to other audio that was overpowering it. This could be easily changed by changing the audio volume on certain parts of the production. Also the note at the end of the production that said “come to my office now!!” should be changed because the message doesn’t create the effect we wanted. So the note should be changed to say something more suspenseful or interesting.
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Lessons learnt:
I have learnt that it is extremely important to stick to the expected due date because if you fall behind then it is hard to catch back up and keep on track. But if you keep to the time limit given then you can easily produce a good piece of work as long as you put in maximum effort. I also learnt that is quite difficult to effectively create suspense and engage the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats.
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Our production was called "The Agent" and was about a school headmaster who is also an undercover agent and must complete his task.
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It started off with the messenger who is a student at the school walking up the stairs and through the corridors on his way to the headmaster's office. During the student's journey to the headmasters office there are multiple cuts to the headmaster getting out a tape recorder and listening to it. We then hear the tape recorder which indicates to the audience that he isn't just a school headmaster. Then the student knocks on the door of the office and the headmaster quickly hides the tape recorder and sorts out his tie and jacket. The two characters exchange a couple lines of dialogue and then we see a close up of a note given to the headmaster which reds "come to my office now!!"
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During the extract a variety of shots are used such as close up shots, medium shots, over the shoulder shots and hand held shots. A non diegetic soundtrack is used throughout the piece in order to create suspense and keep the audience engaged.
This is an induction exercise which requires you to demonstrate an understanding of the following film making concepts: match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. The task should follow a character as he/she walks through a door, crosses a room and sits down in a chair opposite another character. The two characters will then exchange a few lines of dialogue. The sequence should fit the thriller genre. Failure to complete this exercise will result in an instant 15 mark reduction from the construction mark.
Group members:
Jack Willmott - strong ideas and good cinematography, Joe Hall - confident with editing, Ben Vaughan - hard working and confident.