Question 7 - Preliminary Task

Question 6 - Technology

Question 5 - Attracting your audience

Question 4 - Audience

Question 3 - Institutions

Question 2 - Social Group

Question One - Real Media Products

Feed the Fish Self Evaluation

After working on The Feed the fish preliminary sequence there were many improvement that we became aware of that we would need to think more carefully when it came to our actual coursework.

There were good points:

• All of our cuts were smooth
• The close up shot on the chair worked really well
• The high and low angels we used to create status looked good
• The ending was as humorous as we intended

There were criticisms:                  

• The zoom in the hallway didn't work 
• The dialogue used needed to be longer
• We could have experimented with shots more

Overall we did really well with our preliminary sequence, we did well with the continuity making sure that the shots went together smoothly and didn't overlap or not match. We did have a problem with the filming as it got quite dark quite quickly it made some shots darker or less visible than others, it also meant that some shots had to be binned due to that. If we had more time we would have gone back and re filmed to improve continuity. 

When we were filming inside this didn't present any issue we managed to get quite a few good shots and though that for the dialogue the angles used would help portray status. We did also try to do a tilt to show that the thinking about the fish put the character off balance but that didn't work as well as we would have liked it to. The shots we did use were very basic and we didn't really use a variety whilst filming and this is something we will try to improve upon in the actual coursework as the shots didn't really help convey the urgency of the situation.

The main issue we encountered was the dialogue being to brief, this wouldn't have been an issue but unfortunately somewhere along the line we lost a piece of footage and therefore that limited how long we could make the dialogue. I think otherwise we would have used to dialogue to create more of an effect. Other than this most of out editing was very smooth and all of the cuts lead on to each other quite well. We tried to do a range of different cuts but I would like to use more experimental editing like inter-cutting during the actual coursework.

The shot that worked best was the close up we did of the chair as it showed we were thinking about more technical aspects of our editing and how it could help the end product look more effective. The close up also showed how well we used continuity in this sequence.

Harry Potter Evaluation

What style or feel of music did you use for the credit sequence and why?

Watching the opening sequence without sound, it is shown as a very dark and dramatic introduction to the film. Therefore the style we decided to use for our opening credits was a sort of dark foreboding almost horror like. The music needed to match the feeling we were trying to create so the music we used was very tense and mysterious to make the audience question the later happenings within the film. 

How effective do you think your sequence is for the credit sequence and titles only? 

Rating: 7/8

We spent a lot of time working on the opening as we felt that a bad opening would make the rest of the sequence look dysfunctional. I believe the choices we made on style and music were best for the way the film opens to create a dramatic feel to it. Although I feel there could have been more work on placing the sound together so it sounded continuous and  less jumpy. 

What style or feel of music did you use for the playground sequence?

We did not fully complete the playground sequence but for the part that we did complete we tried to create a very naturalistic scene with diegetic sounds that an audience could relate too. In the actual playground scene, we had only one sound effect of screaming/excited children to emphasis the innocence of the setting. We were going to continue with dialogue from the characters and we discussed the possible use of silence to make an eerie feel to the deserted playground later on.  

How effective do you think your sequence is for the playground sequence only?

Rating: 4

The playground sequence initially caused a lot of problems with our choice of sound, we wanted to create an eerie setting with the sound of chains and chiming metal but couldn't find something that was serious enough to create the desired effect. When it came to placing the correct sounds with the images the background noise of children was needed to convey setting but we could have done a lot more with the sequence. 

What style or feel of music did you use for the sequence when the Dementors appeared and why? How do you convey the feel the music and feel changed? To what extent do you feel you managed to convey the change in mood? 

Unfortunately we didn't managed to put any sound in the Dementor sequence as we focused to much on the opening sequence, but I believe if we had reached that point we would have used the same style we had through out to continue the foreshadownment that we were trying to convey to this climax. I think we would have used a typical fast paced piece of music to show the change in mood and also to help emphasis the action. 

How pleased are you with the final sequence overall?

Overall, I am pleased with the part of the sequence that we did complete as I feel that helped to create the correct tension and mood that we were aiming for when we began the project. The extract was a difficult extract as the mood changes a lot and very quickly throughout if we were to complete I think we needed to decide where we were taking the sequence and what we wanted it to make the audience feel. I do feel our time keeping wasn't the best it could have been because we spent too long on certain parts of the extract therefore leaving us with an incomplete extract. But considering it was the first time we had used that specific piece of software I think we made a good start and would be able to move fast in future to complete a task. 

How effective do you think your soundtrack is for the whole sequence?

Rating: 6

I think the sounds we did use were correct to the feeling we were trying to create, it made a a good start to the sequence. The soundtrack was also suitable to the change in mood and atmosphere when it was appropriate. The sound was correct for all the onscreen visuals although with some times it wasn't the best choice for the mood. The sequence was okay but as a whole was incomplete and a little bit disoriented.