The First Reflective Main Exercise Blog Entry Thing!

From our briefing on the main exercise I knew that my team were very excited for the project because we had been thinking up intial ideas since we had finished our preliminary. When it came to research which I took a lead role in, I found that there were much more aspects to consider than in the preliminary exercise. I think this because we had such a stong specification to stick to in the preliminary and this one we have almost complete creative control, apart from filming an ‘opening sequence and not a trailer’. We knew straightaway that we wanted to do some kind of horror film as they're are many codes and conventions that can be displayed depending on which genre of horror chosen.

After our initial ideas blast and lots of research we decided to go for a zombie film and everyone in the team had there own aspects which we have agreed to include. As part of the planning and aswell as our research, a difference from our preliminary was thinking about our dates and times of production due to the number of actors we are wanting to include, as oppose to our preliminary where two were easy to involve. As it’s a much bigger production we have found that there is far more paperwork and overall work and effort needed so everything can turn out the way we want it to in the finished piece. However because we have stayed in the same group throughout and know each others strengths we can use them to create the right planning to aid us for production.

When thinking about our SWOT analysis, one of the first stumbling points that I first thought of was our chosen location. Me and Holli decided on Grove Field on Portland which could have been a potentially bad idea because our other team members Phil and Ash had never been there. However we overcame this by showing photographs and by working through the RECCE together so that they could see how it was a perfect location and very much in keeping with our zombie film setting. We have also looked into times when the field is in use as this could be a stumbling point if someone not part of the cast is in the frame, which would potentially destroy the mis-en-scene created. From thinking about the SWOT analysis we found that many of our stumbling points centre around our choice of location because of it being such a large and public place to use, however because of our research we are confident that these stumbling points will be avoided.

The first thing that I think would immediately improve my performance in the main exercise is being present at the production, as I was unable to attend the preliminary due to poor communication. Im really excited for our production date and being the location manager with Holli, means that we will be specifying the date, time and area for filming. This means I can take more of a hands on role and have independent and a team responsibility which I enjoy. I think that being responsible for more aspects of the task will also boost my performance as I like to have a role in the team which means I can finish work independantly aswell as group tasks. In the first lessons I have been taking a more focused role, in researching audiences, and the genre of film we are using.


Although we all have our own roles, I think that sharing other smaller roles will boost our whole performance as a team, because we can look at everything that needs to be done in detail and share our own opinions on how it can be approached. It also means that I can help with camerawork at the production which is something im keen to try seen as I didn’t get the oppurtunity in the preliminary task. In this main exercise I intend to share my opinions more and give more of my personal input into what happens in the planning, production and editing stages. I think this will improve my performance as Lee will see that we as a team can co-operate and work together to achieve a good result.

After all the pre-production paperwork such as ( Script, Recce, etc) had been completed, we emailed Lee to say when and what time we would be needing the camera and tripod for our filming. The paperwork took alot longer than expected because of needing to get the details perfect in case of accidents that could occur and so everything we do is well documented. Example of this is how the Recce took a few drafts before the final one was finished because we wanted to make sure that all the information needed was present.