Holding a shot steady, where appropriate - Basic ability. I have not actually used the camera in this project, therefore I do not see any way in which I could have improved with this. However, I do know that on IMovie, if a shot is slightly shaky, it is possible to stabilise the shot during editing. I feel this would be especially useful if you did not have a chance to re-shoot the offending piece of footage, particularly if it was crucial to meaning. Obviously, what I mentioned before still stands; use a tripod or some type of camera yielding equipment which, amongst other things, allows you to keep a shot steady. Additionally, to improve, you must practice and map out the shots before actually pressing record.
Framing a shot appropriately - Proficient ability. Again, I have not used the camera during this project, but I have learnt how a badly framed shot can ruin many things, for example, continuity. Whereas a well framed shot can (amongst other things) in fact improve meaning, for example, a shot of a woman from her shoulders up, )i-e, not showing her clothing) and being able to see her expensive jewellery, whilst a discussion about careers and university is taking place, could set up an impression that the woman is being objectified and possibly set up into a marriage or partnership. Again, It is fairly simple to step backwards a few steps or zoom out slightly to fit everything needed into the shot, or vice versa. Additionally, I take a photography class, this also helps.
Variety of shot distances - Excellent ability. I have learnt more shot types and camera angles and additionally that many pieces don't just need the necessary shots to show meaning but also some additional shots to make the piece flow better, look more interesting and artistic and change the audiences expectations and emotions. I feel that our piece has a good variety of shots.
Appropriate material for task - Proficient ability. I understand that sometimes, if you are too ambitious, you cannot get everything you want with limited recourses, however I feel that we have managed to create something which is very close to what we intended the film to be like. Perhaps, if I did this project again, I would try something which is still good quality, but slightly easier to set up, for example, something set in this era. As mentioned in the previous skill audit, you need to keep to the conventions of your chosen genre.
Selecting mise-en-scene - Proficient ability. We have worked very hard to try and get an authentic feel for our opening's genre/era. I feel we were very successful in doing so. Again, if resources were not so limited, it would be easier and we would have more range/possibilities to to what we wanted.
Editing for meaning to viewer - Proficient ability. I have learnt how to edit appropriately through editing myself and watching others edit. Sometimes you may need additional shots to make the sequence more coherent. It is important to have a pilot showing of your film to gain audience feedback on how to improve it and ensure that it all makes sense. We did the same thing with out rough draft and it paid off.
Varied shot transitions, captions and other effects - Proficient ability. When making our film, we learnt very quickly about transitions, effects and titles, especially as we have a dream sequence. This meant that we could not vary transitions or effects quite as much as we wanted to. However, we did try to vary transitions outside of the dream sequence, although this is difficult to do, as most of our opening consists of that sequence. Our titles do vary - we have a font for production and title, and a font for credits. Of course in an opening you need to keep some kind of unity when using text otherwise it could get quite messy to look at, for example, having a different font for each word.
Use of sound with images/editing - Proficient ability. The soundbible website provided several effects or clips which we could download and put into IMovie. Additionally, we used two different tracks, one that ran almost to the end of the opening and another to add impact to the death of male character 2. All of the clips combined well and worked with the images on the screen due to the music genre we selected (classical). The voice over was fairly sucessful after we edited it in garageband. We learnt a lot during this project.
Using titles appropriately - Proficient ability. We kept a unity for different sections of text, for instance one font for the film title and production, another for credits, et cetera. Also, we feel the fonts fit in well with our genre. The positioning of the titles was also appropriate - main titles in the centre, actors in the corner. We particularly thought that the title for the film was positioned well - in the centre of the screen partway through the zoom past Snow White and male character This provided a blank background to create more of a focus. It was difficult to get the same shade of colours for each title due to being unable to save the colour we had initially chosen. This would be a disadvantage to the macs, especially as Pcs actually allow you to do this. I suppose to improve further you would need an opportunity to create a complex opening sequence, like Coraline or something with wordart and animation.
Contribution - Basic ability/ Proficient. I feel I contributed quite a lot to the plot and the creation of the storyboard and characters. Additionally, I would help with editing or finding tracks. Unfortunatley I was not there on our first shoot due to some unexpected complications, however I was present for our re-shooting of the scenes subsequent to the footage from the ruin location. This made me feel slightly detached from the rest of the group as I wansn't able to contribute then, i.e - Holding the camera and staging a few shots. I was able, however to hold people's coats, glasses et cetera, however, I do not feel that this particularly added to my skills :P I have gained some confidence in voicing my opinions and ideas. Additionally, we seemed to delegate tasks that needed to be completed, for example, research on Danny Elfman. Occasionally one of us would take up a task that we thought needed doing in our spare time without notifying others.
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