Based on my first draft...

The preliminary task was a big learning curve for me in terms of how to successfully edit and film something. From really simple things like changing from shot to shot (e.g. if there's a character walking through a door, and they are being filmed walking through from both the back and the front, they shouldn't stop walking straight after opening the door, as when you try to edit both the clips together it's obvious they paused), to continuity - if they have their hair one way in one shot, it should be that way throughout unless they change it in the shot itself. I also learnt a lot about recording dialogue and sound. Since the preliminary was done before actually doing any research into sound and dialogue, I hadn't realised the problems I would face with the quality. I also didn't know anything about recording ambient sound, and so it sounded a bit jumpy in the end. Camera angles were the final thing I developed my knowledge on in my coursework - we stuck with quite basic angles and shot types, and so overall it isn't very interesting. In my actual coursework I have several ideas on how to change angles from quite ordinary to a lot more intriguing. Finally, during our preliminary, we only did each shot once (when it went right). This turned out to be a quite bad idea, as there were often subtle mistakes that are hard to see on a camera screen, that we noticed during editing, but by then it was too late to go back and film again. Therefore, when making my coursework I am definitely going to do each shot at least twice, so I have plenty to choose from during editing.

Overall, the preliminary taught me a lot about the whole filmmaking process. Since it was my first time ever filming, I didn't really know what I was doing, but after doing that task I had a better understanding on how much effort actually goes into making a piece of film, even if it is only two minutes of it.