Part 8- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that our preliminary was great and the whole idea we had for our opening title sequence was so effective, but for some reason when it came to the time of filming those ideas did not really come to life and it was not as good as what we imagined it to be. believe that my research into the codes and conventions of Romantic Comedies was effective as I looked into the type of colours used; the typical camera shots used and so on. I also quite liked looking into the opening tiles sequences of Rom-Coms such as: ‘A Cinderella Story’ and ‘Hitch’ because it showed me how much information the viewer can receive just from looking at the opening sequence; the codes and conventions from the Rom-Coms we looked into also helped us regarding the plot of our film and as to what include in our film, for instance the typography and colours. I have also learnt how to analyse opening title sequences and I realised how little details in the sequence can explain to the viewer a huge amount regarding the film. I have also improved on my filming techniques as I was not really capable of filming things on a camera before this task. Another successful aspect of my task was that we used Final Cut Pro to edit our opening title sequence, gaining knowledge on how to use this software was a great advantage because it made our title sequence look more effective and advanced, rather than using other types of software like IMovie. Though I found using this software challenging at times because it is quite complex but it still gave our title sequence more of an edge. However, I do consider that our story initially may have not been designed or understood well as we had to recreate them twice, which was time-consuming. Therefore, I do not really feel that our group planned the opening title sequence well because the first two times we shot the sequence the filming was too basic. So, due to this we had to re-do our storyboard twice. Secondly, we had to film the main part of our sequence three times before it was actually effective and this was due to a number of factors. Firstly, the lighting was a major issue regarding our title sequence as it negatively affected the atmosphere of our sequence and we were unable to see the pictures of the characters well. We also did not consider the mise-en-scene the first time we shot the sequence. Also, we did not include a range of camera shots and angles which made our title sequence look very elementary and not very efficient. In addition to this, the acting in our title sequence was not really carried out to the best ability and due to this we had to re-film because if the acting is not really good it is unlikely that it will interest people into watching the film. Furthermore, the music featured in our sequence was a major issue, we wanted a band to record The Jets ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ but they were not responding well to our requests, but towards the end of the project we had to settle for one of their songs and it fitted our opening title sequence well. Another major issue concerning our title sequence was the actors as we had to keep changing them each time we filmed, because they were not available. So, all these things were very time-consuming and it meant that we had to work under a very strict deadline. Nevertheless, we still managed to complete our final editing in less than one week and the footage looks much better, as we have included a range of shots such as: point of view and the acting as far better which contributed to us having a successful opening title sequence.