Pete Fraser

Pete Fraser Talk

During our Pete Fraser talk we looked at how to make a successful film opening. He gave us top tips on what works well and what doesn't work so well. We got showed some examples and talked through the levels of which they would achieve. We were introduced to the use of ‘Foley’, which is the recreation of sound and how it is used in films. The tips he gave us included, how to plan, brainstorm ideas, editing and how to shoot.
Pete spoke to us about top tops for film openings and how we can achieve good grades within our own film openings. He went through a power point including things such as what a good film opening includes and how to plan a good film opening. He also told us ways of making sure our film opening does not look like a trailer or short film.
Pete then showed us a few examples of students film openings and we rated them from level 1-4 based on the camerawork, editing and sound. He told us how the film openings which achieved level 1 or 2 could have improved their film openings and how we could use those possible improvements in our film openings. Pete taught us that it is very important to consider every possible factor when making a film opening.

The final part of the talk from Pete Fraser was him giving us 'Top Tips' on what to do and what to avoid when creating our final film opening piece. Whilst he was telling us that the small things add up to get you better marks he went through these nine steps for success:

1-Take Stock-So we need to think about what the task set is and how it will be assessed, what equipment we will need and what our time frame is.

2-Blog-We should continue to blog and keep evidence of everything we do, even if it is just explaining what you did that day in class.

3-Work on Skills-So that when we get to our final piece we are prepared, beforehand you should practice working with the camera, editing software and creating the sound through foley.

4-Investigate-We should look at film openings from the genre that we have decided upon for research and look at successful student examples to get an idea of what quality ours should be. Also we should be aware of the titles and think about how our film can be original.

5-Brainstorm-To get all our ideas together in a group we should brainstorm and present short pitches, react to feedback given to you and remember to be realistic in your expectation.

6-Planning-Plan what props, costumes ect. that you might need and think about what risks might be involved in your filming. Also experiment with your shots and lighting so you can get the best one and we need to think about logistics.

7-The Shoot-Make sure to have everyone and everything in the right place at the right time, rehearsed and prepared to be directed by others and keep a record of the filming while you go.

8-Editing-Continue to take screen grabs for evidence on the computer of your editing, listen to feedback from others and make sure you clean up the sound, lighting and use more than just a song in the background.

9-Evaluation-Follow guiding questions and look in depth at your final piece.