Nicola Garrett: Evaluation

1) Our production piece is a psychological thriller. As a thriller we rely more on the suggestion of danger rather than it's execution, and as a psychological thriller the audience is in the position to ask for the reasons behind the narrative. This hybrid was challenged by the group as we delivered the added twist of a female protagonist to repel the common stereotype in thrillers' of the male gender being the killer. Faye Ripley is the main character, and is a temporary life-guard with a lust to kill, hence the title 'Life-Saver' being both ironic and literal. In terms of conformity to the genre, we have given reasons for her actions in her dark familial - a convention found in most thrillers. Faye has had a difficult past with her Mother, and therefore embraces water, it's forces and effects with vengeance, as this was a prominent feature of her past. Below is a clip that shows the general sterotype of a male protagonist and a variety of victims:



2) Faye Ripley is a young girl who has started to react to her troubled past. We used the ironic title and certain props to suggest an essence of innocence:



Battling with the traditional stereotypes of the incapability of women and weakness, we made Faye the lead and the killer. It is usually a male lead that is reacting to a difficult past. Faye is intergrated into an identifiable social group, the sort who fit in nowhere else because of their queer personality aspects. This relatable approach also helps with audience appeal. Her actions, speech and props all suggest this. A typical killer is normally male with neurotic tendencies, such as The Joker in Batman, whilst typical victims are female and helpless, usually very normal, such as the female victims in the Scream collection (I tried to embed images but the rights are reserved and contain copyright control =[)

3) Our production values and non-cinematic approach give a feel of a British independent movie. As a group, we researched into independent institutions such as Entertainment Film Distributors. Founded in 1978, it is Britain's leading independent media retailer, and have created films such as The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. They have found success in the recent Run Fat Boy Run and ST.Trinians and are expectant to pump money back into the British film industry with Ink Heart. They operate in both the UK AND Rep. Ireland, distributing theatrically, cinematically, in media forms such as DVD's and have an impressive catalouge of viewing options in terms of terrestrial, analogue and digital television. As a personal favorite trilogy, they have distributed Final Destination and other thrillers' such as Pathology, and their high distribution values also suggests they will be suitable.





4)The narrative, genre and filing style would appeal to a younger audience; my guess is the 15-25 age range, as UK census statistics prove that this age group are most likely to watch a thriller. We decided on the attractive qualities as a result of our questionnaires. The characterization is also highly identifiable, and with this being the age group of self-realization, a young audience would enjoy identifying with the characters. Our viewing certificate would be UK 15 if it was passed by the BBFC:



5) We attracted our audience with hearsay to begin with. Once word got round about the narrative, we handed out questionnaires that hinted at its content and what our audience thought, with the knowledge that this will improve the product. We then began open casting to involve the audience even further, and advertised fully. After this strenuous process and after filming we believe we had made something that the audience wanted and that we could be proud of. After showing a few viewings, they agreed - and if this was a real distributed movie then our tense market research would of paid off. Intrinsically, we looked at particular shots and tempos in shots to ensure we kept the audience engaged enough to carry on watching, and - as any other creator would want - carry on always wanting more. This is the key to a thriller; engaging the audience with mysteries but rarely providing an answer - something we found very difficult to do, as I know I would be annoyed if my questions were never answered!

6) Technology was a huge part of the production from the preliminary practice to the end product; before this assignment, I didn't even know how to use a video camera efficiently, let alone to broadcast quality. I learned about the different components of cameras, what they do and the importance of quality colour capture. The group used the tracks and tripods for cleaner, sharper shots, but there were also broadcast microphones available and various types of cameras. We had a few lessons on the technicalities of Media, and it proved a great help. I also learned how to use a Mac and transfer data for editing and stitching from the camera - I found Apple Macs irritating to use, as I have been taught the Windows operating syestem from an early age, but this was a learning curve that I eventually got through with pride. I also learned the importance of manual filming - in this day and gae it's very rare that anyone does anything with technological aid, and so meeting that supposition halfway with the camera was a good but strangely challenging experience.



7) In the beginning, our preliminary was misunderstood, crude and ignorant of difficulties. After a bit of practice, the group began to realize that it was not as easy as it looked. From the start we have worked hard to develop our shot skills, use of technology and narrative approaches. In the planning and story-board stages, we struggled to make the shots fit into our time allowance, but we soon calculated it all. We had to research into lengths of shot to appeal to the audience without boring them, whilst still delivering the intended effect of the shot. In the entire process, we learned how to use the various technologies efficiently, and got better with experience. We also learned the importance of casting and the restrictions in production values. Everything we failed at developed into something better. The only thing I can say we still struggle to learn is exactly how they do this in the reality of film - we struggled with two minutes, so the real producers, directors and actors deserve every ounce of respect when filming many hours on a tight budget, and I, personally, sorely underestimated the difficulty in this task. Gaining influence from these experts, we learned more about identity and defamiliarization in thrillers and their effect on the viewer and its commitment to the conventions.

Jasmine: Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In my opinion, our media product was able to use, develop and challenge the conventions of real media products in the psychological thriller genre in the sense that, like in some films such as ‘Memento,’ we used a non linear structure, starting from the end of our character’s life and then (after our main character shoots herself) returning to the beginning. I believe this was effective in the way that it creates a more mysterious and confusing atmosphere - rather than starting from the beginning and working your way through the character’s story in a way which is seen as a traditional narrative structure, I believe we were able to befuddle the audience which helps add to the psychological thriller genre. We also used the theme of water, which is used in the film ‘Cape Fear,’ where, like our opening sequence, the first two minutes are continual water shots.



The use of different camera shots throughout our film lived up to the conventions of the usual psychological thriller, in that it used a variety of different shots, including a long shot, close up and extreme close up. This helps dehumanise the killer (which is what we were trying to do when we used an extreme close up on our actress’ face), which drops hints to the audience on the true identity of the murderer. Although we have used tradition forms of the psychological thriller genre, we have also subverted it in the sense that we used a voice over on our product, yet none of the films reviewed in class or by ourselves have included one, thus we challenged the customary form of the thriller.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The actress we used is 17 playing a 25 year old. The fact that she is killing other people shows younger adults in a bad light. However, because she was abused by her mother as a child, she is seen as a representative of this social group. The taboo subject which is child abuse is presented in a bad light, in that our main character, Faye, later has psychological issues, which is solely due to her relationship with her mother as a child.
The age of the victim of ‘Lifesaver’ (around 11 or 12) is accentuated through the motif of the teddy bear, which is stereotypical to the norm of that particular social group. However, we have subverted the customary techniques of thrillers in that the victim is much younger than the killer and mainstream psychological thrillers usually base their story around a couple’s inhibitions and anger between and towards each other.
Our media product also subverts the stereotype of lifeguards, in that they are supposed to save people‘s lives, rather than take them. This creates an ironic tone throughout our final product, which is new for normal psychological thrillers.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I feel that the media institution which would distribute our media product would be an independent one, such as Newmarket films, who have made a variety of different genre films, including the psychological thrillers ‘Donnie Darko,’ ‘Memento’ and ‘The Nines.’ Because these films are well known independent thrillers, our target audience are more likely to hear about ‘Lifesaver,’ as well as access it. Because of the financial values our media product has, I believe our main project would be independent - the film cost next to nothing for us because we did not have to buy any of the usual technology and the actresses used were pleased to do it for free.






4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
I felt that the audience best suited for our product would comprise of people aged 16 to around 30. I believe that we were able to target this audience through our opening sequence, in that our main actress is 17


and the lifeguard job is generally associated with adults aged 18 to 30. In my opinion, our media product falls into the independent category, rather than mainstream, because it shows both independent commercial value and independent aspects of the film. The independent commercial value is presented through the budget we had for the film - all in all, our group spent next to nothing because the cameras were already bought and owned by the school. Moreover, because ‘Lifesaver’ will not be shown in cinemas, we will not make any money, thus fulfilling the commercial aspects of the independent group. Another reason why I think that our opening sequence shows some conventions of the independent style is that the audience who will actually see our product will be extremely small in comparison to any mainstream film. However, it could be argued that because our film is targeting quite a large audience (16-30), the audience who would actually watch it if it was completely made could be large in comparison to some extremely niche independent films, thus our product uses both independent and mainstream factors.


5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We used slow non-diegetic music at the beginning of our opening sequence in order to draw the audience in and reflect the dramatic aspect of the psychological thriller. In order to compel the audience, we cut between the scenes so that there would not be any blank spaces in our production, thus compacting the audience’s reaction and the opening sequence would flow better. However, we also used slow motion to use the stereotypical techniques of a thriller so that the audience would know what kind of film ‘Lifesaver’ was from the very beginning. Like various other thrillers such as ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘American Psycho,’ we address the audience by using a voice over.

'American Psycho' opening sequence

However, in order to create the suspense which is the norm in psychological thrillers (to attract the audience), we thought that we would make the voice over so that it would not give much of the plot away. This links in with our audience research - 60% of our participants felt that they enjoyed an ambiguous storyline more than an explicit one. I feel that although we have used a lot of techniques which are associated with the psychological thriller, we have also subverted it, in the sense that we have a female killer and protagonist instead of a male lead role murderer.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the proccess of constructing the product?
This was the first time I had used both the school cameras and imovie hd, so at first, I felt that the task was extremely difficult. However, as time progressed, I began to get used to the cameras and the editing. However, one problem that I encountered was when we were shooting the first scene of the final opening sequence - because the tripod we were using could not go as low as we wanted it to go on the tracks, I decided to try shooting the dolly shots regardless, and, although the camera was hard to control, after a few tries, I managed to keep it steady and felt pleased with the result. When I first started editing, I thought it was difficult, in that there were so many options which could be chosen from - all which I was not familiar with at the time. However, after spending a few hours by myself using imovie hd, I found that I was progressing - both physically and psychologically - through the editing of our project. One difficulty that Jibola and I continued to face was getting the gunshot and voice over at exactly the right time on the timeline, however, we realised that it would just keep moving every time we edited or deleted part of the opening sequence, so decided to wait until the end before we sorted it out, therefore solving that problem. Overall, I believe that I have progressed and developed my technological skills throughout this project in a way which not have been possible in any other situation.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project?
It is difficult to compare it with the full project, however, the progression we have made is evident in the techniques, teamwork and editing we have used. For example, looking back on the preliminary task, the camera shots we used were definitely not as diverse as ‘Lifesaver’ - whereas in the full project we used a complete range of shots, in the preliminary task, we hardly used any - only long shots and medium shots. Moreover, in the preliminary task, the camera movement was extremely shaky in comparison to the full project, because we used one of the small cameras in the subsidiary task, yet in the main task, we always used the larger cameras so that we could use the tripods to get a clearer picture. The editing of the main task was definitely more thorough and, because we’d practiced editing, was much easier to manoeuvre around imovie hd. The teamwork greatly improved and I believe that we got more organised as we progressed through the course. Although, like every team, we were up against a few obstacles, we managed to work through them and, I believe, worked to the best of our abilities.

Jibola Obalowo: Evaluation

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?




The genre of our media production piece is psychological thriller, which means it’s a sub genre. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. For Faye Ripley this is the constant battle with troubled past. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions. I feel that due to the genre of the film we were able to create dynamic plot and to think critically as to why she became a killer. For example psychological thrillers often have complex storyline especially with independent productions. Memento is a good example, it use non-linear if you compare it another genre such as romantic the plot is usually boy meets girl and they fall in love. The tile of the film is Lifesaver, which is a contrast to her real feelings and actions. Although she is might to be someone that protects the public but instead she uses her power to what she wants and what she feels is right. We tried to challenge to perception of women it thrillers by having not only a female lead but also a female killer. The clip below show women portrayal on horror/thriller movies. We conform to a convention of thriller by giving our killer psychological problems which are she kills people who remind her of her mother. She had a really bad childhood and the only place she felt safe was near the water. she feels she has to eliminate anyone who she feels is a threat and could to take away her safe place.




2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?


The victim in the opening of the thriller is a girl who is about 12 years old. We tried to emphasize her innocence through the use of the props we give her. For example the teddy bear shape float.

In thriller movies, women are often represented as vulnerable and incapable of looking after themselves when put in dangerous situations. The killer is usually male and because it’s a psychological thriller, they usually have a troubled past. We did not want to conform to the stereotype so we decided to cast a female as the killer life guide. The pictures below show typical likely victims in thrillers.

The Prestige (2006)

Double Indemnity (1944)


3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Due to the production values, the opening feels like an independent film. So it makes sense to find an independent film distributor. Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. I did some research and found Entertainment Film Distributors. They are the UK’s leading independent distributor. The company was founded in 1978. They found success with British films such as Run Fat Boy Run and St Trinian’s and are continuing to invest in the British film industry with the launch of the anticipated film Inkheart.

They operates both in the UK and Republic of Ireland and they distributes in theatrical, DVD rental and retail fields as well as licensing a substantial catalogue in both Pay-TV and Free-TV sectors. They have distributed films such as Finial Destination 1-3 and Pathology which is why I feel the movie would fit what they do. They would be able to reach a large audience.

4) Who would be the audience of your media product?

As a result of our questionnaire we decided that our target audience would be 15-30 year old. they would also be in the independent category. This is largely due to the production values and the plot. The film would be a certificate 15.

Our Progress

In order to use the underwater cameras, Jibola and I went on Monday to try to film with the help of the scuba diving team in school. However, we were unable to use them in the end due to not telling them far enough in advance what we wanted to do. We have therefore taken the shots without using the underwater cameras, and, although we would have liked the effect of using the cameras underwater, we are pleased with the shots we have taken. I am now editing the shots we have.

Fridays' filming

We started filming Friday lunchtime. Jasmine and I managed to get some of the shots we wanted to use in the opening. We had a tripod problem which meant most of our shots were shaky so we need to retake them. Today we plan on taking our underwater shots with the scuba divers using their underwater camera after school.

Production progress

I spoke to one of the scuba instructors and he said they have underwater cameras and that we can use them. We are going to need the help of one of the divers in order to film underwater so we are going to ask Ella. We also have all the sound effects needed for the opening for example the gunshot. All the sounds we are using are from freesound.org therefore they are copyright free.

Progress Report

After hiring our main actress, setting filming dates and reserving cameras we felt we were making progress. Some of our scenes involved children in the swimming pool in school, and so we therefore had to gain their permission and the permission of the parents to gain any footage. After much deliberation and careful planning, I eventually got round to typing letters of permission. Although we are allowed to shoot the footage without permission, we are not allowed to release, view, analyse or distribute it without. We are curently waiting on the return of the reply slips so we know where we stand, but we have decided that the majority verdict will win, and if the majority decline our request then we have to reinvent the scenes. If the minority - however - tell us no, then we must find a way to eliminate them from the scenes. To add more to our opening, we also gave the students a chance to appear in a scene where they will be indentifiable.

How we are getting on with our production

We have organised meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 24th, 12:30) at lunch time in order to try to film the majority of our production. However, because some of our opening sequence is set at night time, we have also had to book the cameras for after school on the same day. If we do not finish filming after Tuesday, we will also film on both Wednesday and Friday lunch time.
Because we want to use children in a few of our shots, we will have to distribute letters to their parents, so are therefore trying to sort that out.
We have completed all of the things on the To Do list which we created on Friday 13th's lesson, as well as our storyboard, which means that all we have left to do is scan our storyboard onto the computer, film and edit our production.

To add to the To Do List from Friday

We also need to find a lifeguard outfit, and have managed to get further in some arrangements with regard to this, because we are looking to borrow one from Nicola's friend.

Monday's activities

I started working on the music today. I found some music clips on www.freeplaymusic.com and tried to blend them together using windows movie maker. I then wanted to finish making the soundtrack on one of the Mac computers but it wouldnt open, so I migth have to use Final cut to make the soundtrack. I also wanted to ask Ms Potter about under-water media because I think using some under-water shot would be very effective but I couldnt find her.

Friday's lesson

In Friday’s lesson we finished our storyboard and created a To-do list.

1) We need to ask Ms Potter permission to use the pool
2) Ask a class permission to take some shots of them swimming
3) Make arrangements with our lead actress on suitable filming schedule.

Film's Treatment

Faye Ripley has been a temporary lifeguard for a year. Ever since she was young, she strived to be close to water. Her homelife consists of living with an abusive mother and her childhood is a history of neglect. The lake is a sanctuary for Faye and a chance for her to escape the problems of home. When her mother realises the importance of the lake to Faye, she heartlessly attempts to take it away and to deny Faye of her sanctuary. As Faye begins to realise that her mother is denying her a safe haven, she is unable to prevent herself from seeking vengeance...

Product research: No Country for Old Men

The film starts with a voice over of a sheriff telling us about his life and changes he has seen in the town. The first five seconds of the voice over the screen is completely black creating a sense of uncertainty because it is unusual to have a blank screen in a movie. The non-diegetic sound of the sheriff is then placed with a montage of abandoned places and landmarks of the desert. This gives the sheriff a powerful edge and a god complex. In montage we see earlier in the film are all wide shots with straight cuts. The montage also seems to be documenting the sun rise which could reflect the storyline such as; the story starts off in a bad place but ends with hope. You can also hear the faint sound of the wind which not only emphasis how deserted the desert is but also creates a sense of realisms.

Suspense is created by the use of different close ups used to introduce the main characters. In the case of Anton Chigurh we see close ups of the back of his head and his hands by doing this it makes it harder for the audience to guess what he is thinking or what he is going to do because we cant see his face.

The first time we see his face is when he is killing the cop in the station, by doing this the directors are tell us the kind of man he is. The next time we see is face (which you cant see in this extract) is when he is killing the driver he pulled over. They use a lot of close-ups and high shots to create an air of power around him.

After watching this movie we thought it will be a good idea is we incorporate a voice over at the beginning to give the audience a bit of background information.

Product Research - analyzing 'Pacific Heights'

I had the task of analyzing a psychological thriller and so I chose the first 1:53 seconds of Michael Keaton's 'Pacific Heights'. The auteur played the part of Carter Hayes. This 1990 mainstream movie is ironic in its title, as Hayes forces his way into the perfect home and destroys the perfect life; moving into a young couple's first home, he refuses to pay his way and makes their lives hell for trying to eradicate him.

At the start of my YouTube clip, the male lead Drake Goodman is lying on the sofa watching television, falling asleep in mid-shot. The diagetic sound of the T.V and the flashing images all relate to danger and help to build suspense. The slow intercutting of these shots also aids that. The relaxation sets the mood for disruption, with the sound, actions and imaging representing real-time and  'voyeur-like' audience engagement. The shots begin to correlate quicker, engaging the reader for the climax; Patty moves upstairs with the symbolism of danger as she carries a nail-gun, and the screeching of the cat distracts her, leaving the nail-gun in a lengthy mid-shot. The lack of diagetic sound here helps 'prepare' the viewer for the impact, allowing their attention to be concerntrated on nothing but what is actually happening. The house is filled with little natural light, and so the dark filming technique once again suggests danger. As Patty walks down into the cellar, the camera watches from in front in a long-shot, and only the sounds she is making can be heard. After hearing a loud noise resulting in this, both her and the audience are on the edge of their seats. The camera cuts to various shots of destroyed items to emphasis danger, before slowly turning 180 degrees to give a fuller view, engaging the consumer from Patty's perspective. The unsteady camera technique symbolises fear and panic when hearing noises, and Patty's piercing scream and fast inter cuts of the cat chasing the bird awaken the reader to upcoming danger. An unexpected clip of Goodman arises and is fast asleep with Hayes moving slowly behind him in mid-shot. This is the ultimate climax that keeps the viewers watching. There is then one shot of Hayes bringing down the weapon on Goodman in mid-shot before returning to the T.V (picturing a symbolic nuclear explosion), back to him for the second strike and then to the T.V again. The imaging and sound once again reminds and informs the audience of danger, and the drowning of Goodman's screams in the diagetic sound of the T.V emphasise Patty's oblivious approach and also censors the action for suggestion of Thriller (something Thrillers' rely on).

Product Research - Analysis of 'Taxi Driver'

We were told that we had to analyse an existing psychological thriller in detail. Here, I analysed the opening 5 minutes of 'Taxi Driver.' This thriller starts off with the credits which are written in red block capitals on a black background, which could represent the angry and passionate nature (in the sense that he is passionate in wanting to wipe the "scum" off the streets) of the main character. Furthermore, this writing fortifies the idea of 'Taxi Driver' using typical conceptions of its genre. This builds tension from the beginning of the film, thus setting a foreboding atmosphere for the audience. Morevover, the non diegetic music throughout these credits uses percussion instruments whilst the screen is black, and the volume reaches a crescendo when fog and Travis's yellow taxi appear on screen, which presents the idea that the apprehensive nature of the film is solely because of the main character and his problems.

There is then an extreme close up shot of the main character (focused on his eyes), which dehumanises him and hints to the audience that all is not well in his life. The non diegetic sound changes to Blues music (with a saxophone), which reflects his sad, alienated state of mind. When the main character is driving his taxi, the camera uses shots from his point of view, so that we can see what he can see, and possibly understand what he's feeling. This part of the opening uses pathetic fallacy (it is raining), which blurs Travis's - and the audience's - vision. This displays the idea that he sees the world in a different way to the "norm." In addition, the people passing Travis's taxi are all moving in slow motion, which also brings forth the idea that the main character sees everything in a different light. The atmosphere is dark and mysterious to emphasise the psychological thriller genre and to tap into the audience's primal fears.

(This post was created by Jasmine, for some reason my name isn't showing up at the bottom).

Audience Research - Questionnaire Analysis

When conducting our research, our goal was to find out what our target market - aged 15+ - take into consideration when choosing a film to watch. We asked over 20 people in order to shape our judgement as to what is necessary to make a popular film. Here are some of our results:




We asked the question, "Which of these would be most effective in making you want to watch a Thriller?" We decided to ask this question in order to see what we needed to focus on when creating our film's opening sequence. As you can see, the majority said "Narrative," which helped us realise that we needed to devote ourselves to making the storyline work well, rather than finding the right cast or anything else. Both individuals who answered "Other" said that the most effective way to make them watch a Thriller was the levels of scariness, in that the film had to produce high levels of trepidation.





We also asked the question, "Sometimes, viewers may begin to watch a movie but then stop. Which of the following make you want to continue watching a movie the most?" As you can see, more than half of the people asked said that they are most likely to continue watching because of its narrative, and the close second was the opening sequence. This, therefore means that we are more likely to get the widest possible audience by focusing on the opening sequence and the narrative.








One of our other questions was, "How are you most likely to hear about a movie" so that we could know where to advertise our film the majority of the time. As you can see, 75% of the individuals said that they are most likely to hear about a film via "TV", "Adverts on another movie", or the "Internet." We found that this was a beneficial question to ask, because it helps us pinpoint where we would profit the most when promoting our movie; where to promote the film so that our widest target audience can access and learn about it. For the percentage which answered "Other," 2 answered by saying, "posters on buses and bus stops" and the other answered by saying, "newspaper adverts," which further helped us understand where the majority of our target audience find out about films.



We also found out that most of the participants in this research enjoy the comedy and romantic genres more than thrillers, however, a large ground of these individuals enjoy thrillers as well, therefore this shows that we are targeting the correct audience. However, because we are trying to create a psychological thriller which has characteristics relating to this genre, it will be difficult to include aspects of these other genres, thus we are focusing on the thriller genre. Moreover, we also found out that there was a split in the answer to the question, "Do you like an ambiguous and implicit storyline, rather that an overt and explicit one?" where the results were nearly completely the same for both answers - 60% of people enjoy an ambiguous storyline, whereas 40% enjoy an explicit one, which diferentiates from what we previously thought was true; that a higher amount (if not all) of our target market would enjoy an implicit storyline.

Start of our production

In order to help with the preliminary task and the main task, we have been watching and analyzing a variety of different thrillers, including 'Memento,' 'Pacific Heights,' 'Vertigo,' 'Rope' and 'The Usual Suspects.' We watched these pictures to get an understanding of the conventions of the Thriller genre from different points in time from different producers' perspectives. The conventions soon became apparent, as did the personal styles of each producer and/or director. We were then given the task of shooting the preliminary task, which was: Someone opens the door, walks across a room, sits down in a chair opposite another character and exchanges two sentences of conversation. To begin, we created a storyboard comprising of three shots. The purpose of the storyboard was to give us a clear idea of what we need to do. We then started preparing to film, i.e. getting actresses and creating the setting, and were pleased when we got it done in two lessons. The first day of shooting, we had difficulties with our organisation, such as forgetting the battery, however, we managed to shoot enough scenes to make up half of our preliminary task, therefore learning from our mistakes. We eventually made the preliminary task and edited it accordingly. This wasn't easy, especially in a group of three people in terms of organisation. We didn't use a tripod because our selected camera didn't have one, so we had to test our skills manually. It proved challenging and the picture was shaky but after a lot of preparation we managed to stabilise the picture as much as possible. We also tested our manual skills when focusing the lense, but we still realised that the task would have been a lot easier with a better-equipped camera.