Preliminary Task- Miss Georgiou

Preliminary Task Evaluation

This is our preliminary task. To begin, a positive point of ours is the numerous amount of camera shots we have used to display the characters authority, for example we used some thriller conventions with the characters being an antagonist and protagonist. In addition to this we used high angle shots on the antagonist, although we did not need to base our preliminary task on the thriller genre we decided it will benefit us for when we have to create our group Thriller Opening.

Consequently to this, our Preliminary Task also has it's weaknesses. Firstly, throughout the whole piece we can hear background noise from people in the corridor which is not needed, therefore this has disrupted some sound in our piece throughout. Secondly,we never had a tripod so all of our shots are handheld therefore the picture isn't very good quality as there is movement throughout some shots.   Finally, we were restricted from using different lighting as we were placed in a naturalistic environment. We would have liked to use low-key lighting in parts of our piece as it would follow the conventions of films of the thriller genre.

We discussed as a group about each individual shot, especially how it would effect the audience before we went on to film it. 

This is a high-angle shot showing Daisy walking down the stairs to meet me. It presents Daisys lack of authority as a character in this narrative. It would have been more successful if we had use of a tripod and did not have to balance the camera as there is some movement.  




A high-angle shot is also used here to represent my status of the antagonist. We thought it would be effective if I looked up to the camera because it informs the audience that something bad is going to happen and may get the audience thinking what exactly could happen. 

Another shot we use is a low-angle shot which shows me following Daisy down the stairs in which she is unaware I am doing this. We thought it was effective to show me behind Daisy because it looks as if I am mysterious and I am thinking about my future actions.  

Our final shot is again a high-angle shot which shows the  after effect of my action. The previous shot to this (which is shown)  zooms slowly towards Daisys phone and ring as she lies on the floor vulnerable, which are both motifs of iconography throughout the piece. We were inspired by Hitchcock's use of a similar shot in Psycho where the girl is dead with her eyes open and the camera zooms slowly in.

The purpose of carrying out this task was to give us an experience of producing our own material and also to enhance our knowledge on the filming and editing process. 

After producing our preliminary task we have learnt a number of things in which we will improve and include when it comes to producing a trhiller film. One thing we have learnt from doing this task is that the use of a tripod in the filming stages are very important to increase the quality of our video so we get steady shots. We need to watch where we film it as the sound in the background is ot needed. We could also film each individual section numerous times so that we get the perfect shot. We are now more familiar with the editing software which will be an advantage when it comes to editing our thriller film. Finally, doing the Preminary Task we have a good idea about who should have what role in our Thriller Production, Emma was camera operator therefor we dcided she should take the role as camera operator in  the making of our Thriller, me and Daisy both came up with theidea of the locations and has positive ideas on how to film it and what to include throughout for example the angles and where the actors would be positioned, from this we decided I should be location manager and Daisy should be the director for when it comes to our Thriller so it will be a success.

In conclusion to this i think our Preliminary Task was a success as it was our first time doing anything practical like this as a group. We have learnt a lot from doing this as we now know to do and what not to do to create a successful opening to a Thriller.