7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Comparing my preliminary task to my final product, it is clear that I have learnt and improved in the progression from one to the other. One thing that I have learnt in the progression is about framing and keeping a steady shot. In my preliminary task, we didn't use a tripod so some of the shots were quite shaky and unsteady. This makes it look unprofessional and quite rushed. For the filming of my final product, I used a tripod to keep my camera steady. This way, the shots looked much more professional and steady. Another advantage of using a tripod was that the shots were correctly framed where as in my preliminary task some shots were out of frame because of the unsteady filming. Using a tripod meant that we could get shots at a perfectly straight angle such as the long shot of Emily running and the dinner scene.

The preliminary task helped me learn about the different types of shots I could use and helped me to practice them as well and techniques like match on action shots and shot reverse shot. By practising them early on, this meant that when it came to filming my final product, I was confident that I could correctly frame and use a variety of shots as this is in my assessment objectives. I think that all or most of the shots used in my final product are correctly/well framed and used together it makes my final product more interesting that just using one or two types of shots.

I also feel that my editing skill has improved during the progression from preliminary task to final product. In my preliminary task, cuts were very simple and not as precise and maybe as thought out as in my final product. I certainly didn't use any of the other tools or more creative things such as filters or crops. My preliminary task was very basic in terms of editing, however we did add in an overlay which is where Becky and I started to experiment and discover what we could actually do using 'Final Cut Express'.

Finally, I think that I have shown progress by looking out for small details such as lighting, for example. In my preliminary task, there is a shot of Gemma where there is light behind her, causing her to appear very dark. In my final product, I made sure to be very careful to pay attention to small things like these as I think that they can ruin a film even if only slightly. I made sure that there was enough light in each shot of my final product to give the desired effect and made sure small things such as props were in place how I wanted each shot to look.

Overall, I think that there is a clear progression and improvement that can be seen when looking at my Preliminary task and my final product. I am very happy with the progress I have made and all the things that I have learnt throughout this project such as shots, framing and all the editing techniques on Final Cut Express.