As a Team or Individually?

From looking at the advantages and disadvantages of working in a group and individually, I have come to the conclusion that I will work in a team with Wilhelmina and Indya. For me I feel this is the best decision as I will be more motivated to do work to a high standard as other people are relying on me and not just myself. As well as this we have ideas that complement each other for the opening of a movie and I am sure we will work great as a team.

Let the research begin!

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Working Individually

I have also decided to think about the advantages and disadvantages of working individually as that is also an option for me.

Advantages:

-You can do things at your own pace in the order you choose to.
-There is no conflict between ideas as you get to decide what you want to do.
-You don't have to rely on other people to get things done in time.
-There are fewer distractions meaning more work will get done.

Disadvantages:

-Larger individual work load.
-Possibly less ideas as haven't got people to brainstorm with.
-You can't rely on anyone's support in your team as you are alone.
-It could be easier to put yourself off doing work as there is no one there to encourage you.

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Working in a Group

For my main production task I have the choice of working individually or in a group. This is a big decision and to help me decide I am going to think of advantages and disadvantages of working in a group.

Advantages:

-You can bounce ideas off each other for the main production video.
-You can rely on others for support and encouragement to do media work.
-The work load is shared as a group of people are making 1 opening to a movie.
-People can contribute more to things they are best at ensuring the final product is of the highest standard.
-You can share your experience of producing a movie opening with others.

Disadvantages:

-People may fall behind meaning you cannot go further until they've caught up.
-People may rely too heavily on others in the group and not feel the need to get work done if others are doing it.
-Roles may be spread unfairly leaving someone out, someone taking over the whole group or in general people not contributing fairly and evenly.
-It may be harder to prove you've done enough work and show the journey in making the video if other people are contributing to it.
-You may disagree on things creating a bad work environment.

The Do's and Don'ts of the Main Production Task

Here is a list of the do's and don'ts I will follow during my main production task.

Do's:
-Work with people who I will get on with.
-Do lots of research into other thriller openings.
-Come up with plently of creative ideas.
-Plan ahead actors, script, setting etc. (mise en scene) before filming.
-Be a perfectionist (to a certain extent), do things to the best of my ability.
-Do all planning needed (e.g storyboard) so filming is smooth and we know what kind of shots (e.g MCU) we want.
-Record all my progress and post regularly on my blog.
-Frame all shots properly (think about the rule of thirds).
-Follow and use the 180 degree rule, match on action and other good filming/editing techniques.
-Be aware of lighting and how it changes the effect of a scene.
-Use a tripod and a high quality camera when filming (unless we decide to have a
shakey shot or poor quality at points for effect).

Don'ts:
-Leave things to the last minute.
-Cast bad or time wasting actors/actresses.
-Rush into production without enough planning.
-Rely on others in the group to get things done.
-Film in an area where you do not have permission.
-Film people/objects who are not meant to be in the shot (e.g don't film yourself filming through something reflective unless it is intentional).
-Don't shoot more than is needed as it then becomes more time consuming when editing.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

Here is my evaluation of the 'Introducing Jimmy' preliminary task I completed, enjoy and why not watch in HD!

p.s I say logic pro quite a few times instead of final cut express sorry I got confused and said the wrong software!

Digging Deeper Day - Continuity Task (Introducing Jimmy) - With Music & Titles/Credits // Preliminary Task Complete

To improve our video even more we decided to add titles and credits to it. We chose to do both as we believe both are as important as each other. To do this we opened LiveType and created the suitable text through that, saved it and then imported it into Final Cut Express and put it on our video.
For the colour of the text we chose white as it is a simple colour that does not clash with anything in the shot and for the title we chose quite a quirky font as the character Jimmy is meant to be quite silly. We decided to scroll the credits as it is quicker than showing each name separately and we believe it suited our video more.
This is the final, completed version of our preliminary task and I believe it has really helped us work as a team to produce a short clip and follow basic rules (match-on action, etc.).

Digging Deeper Day - Continuity Task (Introducing Jimmy) - With Music // Preliminary Task

As the first draft of our preliminary video was quite bare we decided it was right to include things put in the post production stage of the film process. To start with we added music.  We began by going on YouTube and finding music that we thought fitted the video. We put the music at the start of the clip to set a mood and create an atmosphere, it then faded out, dialogue was exchanged and the music fades back in as Jimmy is about to reveal his name. I think having music improves our movie as it fills the time where there is no sound and as I said before it creates tension and a good atmosphere.