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

Here is a copy of our preliminary task:

The two screen-shots above show the opening of both the preliminary task (top) and the opening sequence (bottom). As you can see in the preliminary image, not only was the camera shaky whilst filmed in that position but there was no opening effect to build up the short storyline. On the other hand in the opening of the opening sequence, we were able to experiments with different types of font and effects (shadow, colour)

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From the screen-shot of the preliminary image (top) we have used no blurring or black and white footage to reveal that it is displaying something of the past, whereas in the opening sequence (bottom) even though it may not be clearly portrayed in the image itself, by watching the video it is clearly identifiable what clips are representing the past, through the use of blurring effects.

The screen-shot of the preliminary (top) shows the 180 degree rule, which my group and I liked as we believed it showed a clear picture of what was going on and it drew in the audience further because it made the audience seem involved in the film. Based on these preferences, we decided we should use the 180 degree rule in our opening sequence to make the opening more interesting for the audience. We also chose to do this because we felt that the 'interview process' was able to clearly show emotions and feelings that the characters (Natalia, Josh and Ben) were going through.

Our preliminary task was very basic in terms of effects, transitions and camera angles compared to our opening sequence. Looking back at the preliminary I have been been able to point out obvious error/mistakes including camera shake for more than one scene, ineffective transitions and music through out and lastly, too much screening time on particular shot such as me and Ben at the park. Contrasting the preliminary task with the opening sequence, I believe we have not only corrected these mistake but we have also created more uniqueness. Here are some screen-shots of edits which have improved the opening sequence:

Other effects we have used in our opening sequence that were not used so efficiently in the preliminary include sound, camera angles and editing - In the preliminary, the sound was constant and repetitive throughout, whereas in the opening sequence we were able to use IMovie to adjust the volume of music for various scenes. This made the overall opening more realistic and similar compared to other films. During the filming of the opening sequence, a lot of time was used re-filming scenes to capture the view from different angles so that we could later use the most effective ones. Editing was used more effectively in our opening sequence in terms of a range of further effects, several shorter clips and other added textual information.