This is Question 7 of my media evaluation:

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the main task?

I think that I have definitely learnt how to use Premier Pro more efficiently.  During my preliminary task I worked with Charlotte again, and I did a lot of the editing and she did the sound.  However, I think from creating our thriller opening we have both learnt that our strong points are the other way around and during the post-production stage I contributed more to sound and Charlotte focused on the editing.  On Premier Pro I would say that I can now confidently use the cutting tool, razor tool and presets. I also explored titling and the different ways for a title to be introduced to the screen such as sliding on and other styles. 
During our Preliminary task we did not use Mixcraft at all, however it was a vital instrument in the making of our thriller opening. Although I had already had a lot of experience using Mixcraft during music lessons during my GCSE years I have never applied a piece of music to a video and therefore this process helped me to learn this new skill. 

In terms of the equipment, I didn't really use any that I hadn't already used. However, it was still quite challenging because during the preliminary task I was in a group of three, meaning that we had a camera person.  Whilst making our thriller opening someone from my group dropped out meaning that there was only Charlotte and I, subsequently we didn't have a camera person as both of us were in the video.  It was too late in the process to start looking for other people to star in our thriller for us so we decided we would have to film it and be in it at the same time. This meant that the types of shots we could include were restricted as we had to leave the camera on the tripod, press record and then get in place for each shot. It also meant that all of our shots were longer than necessary as we had to prepare before actually starting whatever action was in the shot. During the preliminary task continuity and match on action was an issue but it was one that we were able to overcome due to having a camera person as it meant that Charlotte and I could just stay frozen whilst our other team member moved the camera.  In our Thriller opener, on the other hand, it didn't work this way because we would have to stop in the middle of an action and move the camera and then try to replicate our position exactly.  

As stated before we did have some issues with teamwork until one of our members dropped out and we were able to reliably delegate jobs that needed doing.  From our Preliminary task we had already worked out our groups strong and weak points.  Therefore we decided that Charlotte would be best at the editing whilst my strongest point was working out camera shots (directing) and adding and creating music (due to my Mixcraft experience).  This meant that we saved a lot of time and it also sped up the editing process as we were able to work quickly and efficiently.