Research and Planning: Preliminary Task Evaluation

I am happy with how the editing of the beginning of Preliminary task  turned out. The scene begins with a non-diegetic soundtrack, which gives the scene an ominous feel and foreshadows what is going to happen next. 

The cuts of Roselyn (The violent teacher) are continuous and flow well within the sequence this shows our use of match on action. However, we can see a backpack and cardboard box which is detrimental to the mise-en-scene as it distracts from the actors faces so we do not pay as much attention on the emotions on their faces. The audience hears the diegetic dialogue between Kira and Roselyn as Roselyn is fired, whilst this conversation is going on shot/reverse shots are used, this builds tension and an atmosphere of fear and anticipation.

To improve on my preliminary task, I would spend more time on casting to ensure I had the right person playing each role. Also from this I have learned that I need to be aware of the setting of my film and change the mise-en-scene accordingly. It has helped me understand the logistics of making a film and I now understand the different effects that different camera angles and shots have. 

If I don't have the best actors in my opening sequence, I now know that dialogue should be kept to a minimum. From this experience I have learned that the editing of a film can completely change it, for example changing the sequence of events could make the story totally different.

My opening sequence followed Todorov's theory of equilibrium as we see Roselyn walking down the hall as all appears to be normal, we then reach the disequilibrium when she gets fired and the camera fades to black before we reach the resolution. This made me realise, for my opening sequence, how little time I have to tell the story. 

From directing and producing my own preliminary I have learned a lot and I will apply this knowledge when it comes to making my opening sequence. I know the importance of mise-en-scene as it can clearly tell you the genre of a film and also it can be cleverly used to give away or hint at plot lines.