Q7/ Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the finished product?

Film Progression

Looking back at my preliminary task, I noticed many errors and used them to learn and adapt for my final thriller piece.



Cinematography

In my preliminary, I noticed that there was little variation in camera shots, angles and movements. Though at the time I was trying to create a sense of control and rigidity - since the scene was based in a police station - this effect obviously didn't created the desired mood. Using this, I managed to create a range of different shots and camera movements to create a mood to the thriller.

Audio

Compared to the rest of the preliminary, the quality of the sound was fairly okay, however, what the problem was was the script and performance of my actors. Since they actually had no acting experience, the dialog was unprofessional and amateurish, creating another poor attribute to the film. That is why, for my final thriller, I limited the dialogue drastically and relied purely on natural body language to convey the atmosphere of the film.

Lighting

The lighting within the preliminary intro had no affect for the thriller atmosphere I was trying to achieve. Since the setting was in a classroom - instead of an interrogation room - it lacked the harsh, spotlight ambience where light was directed onto the person being interrogated. Using this knowledge, I improved my final thriller and incorporated other lighting techniques used in various thriller films. The lighting in Casino Royal's 'bathroom scene' was bright, and indicated - in 'Pay Me in Blood' - the brutality of the murder and the murderer. This also contributed to casting darker shadows around the settings - symbolising the dark, almost covert nature of the killer, and also representing the mystery of what happened and why (what was on the USB? why was the girl left alive? who was the hitman's hirer? ect...)

Mise-en-Scene

I have improved the mise-en-scene in my final thriller by going back and analysing what I did wrong with my preliminary. With the preliminary thriller, there is no indication of who the characters are; they are both in plain clothing despite the characters being a criminal and a police officer.



Now, I have taken this into account and created a meaning with the characters to actually portray who they are.

The setting was also a poor choice and gave no indication of what was happening in the intro. Taking this into account, I have situated my setting in a public bathroom, where the audience can recognise that the crime scene was situated somewhere isolated and yet easily reachable - amping up the fear factor. This 'fear factor' was then increased as the setting changed to the outside of the bathroom, into a dimly lit corridor. This setting creates a sense of unease to the audience, playing on a common fear - the darkness - and the fact that a killer is lurking around with one of the main characters in close proximity, leaving the audience in anticipation as to what happens next.

Editing

- Speed

With the preliminary, the editing was fairly slow for a thriller, so it lacks the exciting pace one usually sets. Although the pace was still slowly paced for my final thriller, the pace matched the scenario for my intro, unlike my preliminary where its seemed 'jumpy' in some places.

- Style


Again, with the preliminary, there wasn't much variation with the editing speed - only simple straight cuts. Therefore with my final thriller, i added a fade out at the end to emphasise the cliffhanger at the end.