Evaluation Question 7

From our preliminary exercise, we have learnt much more about the different codes and conventions, and much more on different camera angles and techniques to use and have incorporated them into our film.

We have gotten better at using different camera angles to represent how something will happen, due to the lack of dialogue in our opening. Despite the lack of dialogue, we feel that it is still incredibly simple for the audience to understand what’s going on. We have also used more close ups and match on action shots to portray what is actually happening. A good decision we made was to cross-cut the two scenes onto each other, to signify to the audience that the murder takes place as they enter the woods, and it is merely bad timing. We also disclose the identity of the murderer, except the fact he is part of some kind of cult. To do this, we chose to have the tattoo of the cult symbol on his neck, and had a close up of it along with the murderer’s face at the end of the opening scene.

During shots with action, such as when the 7^th Keeper is hit around the head with the wrench, we had the editing rather fast-paced, which contrasts from the rest of the clip. We feel that this shows the audience better what is happening. A point of view shot is also used, as the keeper is hit. The blur and fading to black represents his death. The rest of the film appears to be very slow moving and calm, until they meet the murderer. During the scene with the murderer, we didn’t put any titles over it because we wanted the audience to focus on what was happening, due to it being an important part of the film.

The sound editing is significantly better in the final opening than in the preliminary exercise, despite how windy it was on the day we filmed. We were able to blend in the sounds together and fade them over one another to make it seem more realistic. We have also worked hard on keeping the continuity correct. The editing in the preliminary exercise was a bit too jumpy. Also, the camera pans and tilts were too jumpy. We have learnt from this and the pans, tilts and zooms appear to be incredibly smooth compared to our preliminary exercise. This includes the section when we use the 180 degree rule.

\Overall, it was hard work to film and edit our film, with constant changes in filming times, actors and storylines. But I think that we managed to complete it to a good standard.