Evaluation Question 7:

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression of it to the full product?

Looking back on the process to the final product that we have created. I feel as though I have learned a lot of technical skills but also I have gained new attributes. My role within the group was Mise-en-scene. Therefore, I had to organize the shoots beforehand in terms of props, costume, location and lighting. It was difficult to find a location in close range that everyone had access to, that also suited the genre and storyline that we were trying to get across. This resulted in certain scenes within the title sequence having to be re- shot multiple times in order to be successful with the location. Since I was in charge of Mise-en-Scene it was really important to me that the location that we used reflected the narrative of the film and was successful in creating the impression on the audience that we had desired. This is where I learned the importance of critical feedback because other people could provide a different perspective to view the sequence. Therefore, this was a good way to show whether or not they understood the Title sequence and the genre.

The costume and make up was well considered when making the sequence. Initially we had discussed having the main protagonist wear a dark purple dress because purple was a colour that we wanted to associate with her. However, I thought purple wouldn’t showcase the sophistication that we wanted the character to have. Therefore, we opted to have the character wearing a black dress instead. At this point we hadn’t decided on cast. However, we all knew that we wanted the character to have loose curls and wear dark red lipstick because the loose curls indicate that she takes care in her appearance, since curling hair is quite time consuming, and the red lipstick will connote her promiscuity and danger. The costume was regarded a lot more in our Title sequence then it was in the continuity sequence.  I hadn’t even considered how the characters should be dressed in the first sequence we shot. Therefore, I learned to be more conscientious with all the aspects of Mise-en-Scene. I realized how vital costume was a part of this and how costume can affect how an audience perceives a character.

In the continuity sequence, we didn’t have access to studio equipment such as lighting. Therefore, we used the torches on our phones to light the dark room, that we were filming in. This proved extremely un-successful because the shots came out very grainy and visually unpleasing. However, I learned from this and in all the shoots where artificial lighting was needed, the two light boxes were used either side of the camera to create even lighting. The first shoot that we did was using the white screen, we had light boxes along with a tri-pod and a steady cam. It was hard to manoeuvre the light box’s in the position that we needed. However, in the footage that we captured from that shot, the light was really flattering and highlighted the white background. This contrasted well against the black dress and black fishnets. The lighting. However, was difficult to control in settings where we couldn’t use the light box’s. This proved difficult to the point that we changed the location of one of the scenes three times to make sure that the lighting was perfected. This emphasises how much we had adapted since the Continuity sequence because we were all willing to be flexible with our ideas in order to improve the lighting within a shot.

Even though I had the role of Mise-en-Scene. During three of the shoots, the cinematographer within our group was un-able to be present. Therefore, I was tasked with working with the DSLR’s and modifying the exposure and lighting settings in order to provide a clean, crisp shot. The focus of the camera was an issue because it wouldn’t focus if it was too close to an object. Therefore, for certain shots where we had planned to do extreme close ups, we had to settle for medium shots. This was frustrating at points because it interfered with the way we wanted the title sequence structured. For example, we had desired an extreme close up on the scene where the drink is spiked. Despite this, we learned to adapt the shots in order to exclude the close ups. It did however mean that the positioning of the characters and the props became more significant to direct the audience gaze to the most significant section in the frame. Although, throughout our shoots positioning was something that was considerably successful. We were all aware that Typography would need to be edited in certain shots. Therefore, I made sure that when shooting that the positioning of items or myself (when I was playing the protagonist) would work alongside the text that would later be included.

To conclude throughout this task, I feel I have learned to become more efficient with my time and more flexible to come up with creative solutions of how solve an issue within production. The problems that we faced within the continuity sequence were easily learned from and resolved. The different elements of the Mise-en-scene were consistently considered when planning or completing a shoot, to the point that it became second nature. As well as this, I became more confident when using new equipment and taught myself how to adjust the 

settings on a DSLR.