Preliminary task evaluation

To prepare our group for the making of our film opening, we were set a preliminary task. The group consisted of Chloe Gleig, Sid Newman, Lakeisha Sasore and myself.

We had to follow certain guidelines to make sure that when we came to film making, we would have a greater understanding of different shots, editing techniques and sound etc.

The guidelines were;

1. a character opening a door
2. a character crossing a room
3. a character sitting down in a chair opposite another character

Running concurrently to this were;
- dialogue
- match on action shot
- shot reverse shot
- follow the 180 degree rule


The first thing we did as a group was watch some previous AS Preliminary tasks. We did this for inspiration and to give us a rough idea of what we needed to do.

The theme/genre of the preliminary task was open and as a group we decided to go with the Thriller theme. We decided this because we had had a discussion about what genre we wanted our film opening to be and we concluded with a thriller themed opening. It was logical to do a thriller preliminary task as we would have needed to create the right mood and atmosphere along with a setting to prepare us for the real task.
We then decided on a scenario. We chose to do an interview scene, with Lakeisha being the interviewee and myself being the person interviewing her.

Lakeisha has seen a job advertised and has been invited for an interview. Sid and Chloe did most of the filming while Lakeisha and I acted in the task. We agreed that a school classroom would be suitable enough to look like a job interview room, and it would make filming easier as we would not have to go to difficult and specific locations.

To help us navigate our preliminary task, we made a storyboard of all the different shots and camera angles we would be using for the duration of filmmaking. This would act as a guide to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.

When we first started filming, it was a little difficult as none of our group had used cameras or tripods before. We began by getting to grips with the technical side of filming. We did this by playing around with the different things you could do with the cameras. When we felt comfortable using them, we began filming for our preliminary task.

We used our media classroom to film our job interview. The first shot is filmed from outside the corridor. This became difficult because other students were continually walking to other classrooms etc. We didn’t want to have a silent preliminary task so we had to find the time to film when nobody was around.

We used lots of camera shots and angles relevant to our genre. For example when Lakeisha is approaching the office door, we used a long shot to make the walk appear daunting and ominous. The fact that nobody else was around also added to the thriller element as it created a theme of loneliness.
We then did a close up of Lakeisha opening the door. This was a match on action shot and was successful.

When Lakeisha entered, she crossed the room and sat down in front of Cleo (me). I then asked Lakeisha probing questions in a hostile and strange manner. During the interview, we followed the 180 degree rule. To make it clear that Lakeisha felt uncomfortable, we used medium shots which cut to her lower body constantly fidgeting.
The interview was very short and at the end, I told Lakeisha she had been unsuccessful and I make sure my facial expression is of sheer disdain.

Overall, our preliminary task was successful because we followed and used all of the requirements necessary. The fact that we worked cooperatively as a team helped a lot too because it meant that we could be 100% focused on filming rather than anything else. We felt it was important not to stray away from the criteria as this may have caused complications and confusion, and creativity could be reserved for the film opening.

I thought that for a first attempt, we did very well and we learnt a lot from the experience. It also made me feel confident about the real task because I had more of an idea about what to expect and what it would entail. As we all worked very well together, we decided that we would work together for the Film Opening Task.