Evaluating Children's Film

Learning from our previous project, means we will hopefully improve our thriller opening, as we will know what ideas to avoid and what worked well.
In our opening sequence our transitions worked really well in-keeping with the genre and making the editing more interesting. It created a contrast between continuity editing and montage editing, but also was significant in implicating that time had passed.
Also I think our montage sequence worked quite effectively in demonstrating the bullying the main character suffered. The speed of the shots was disorientating for the viewer, yet clear that the protagonist was in danger.
Thirdly our use of props to create our location on the green screen was clear and relevant to the bright and cheerful mise-en-scene. Lego also made the animation process quicker, as we did not have to spend time drawing our characters etc.
I think these 3 aspects, were amongst the strongest qualities of our children's opening sequence.

However for our thriller there are several things we would like to improve upon.
Firstly and probably most importantly, the use of sound. In our children's film, there was no dialogue but a constant non-diagetic soundtrack, which whilst appropriate did not give the audience enough of an idea as to the story line, leaving the narrative unclear. In our thriller, we aim to use an appropriate non-diagetic soundtrack to help create the right atmosphere, but also either record, or import from youtube a voiceover, to act as a news bulletin explaining about the missing person; therefore informing the audience of the narrative.
Also we would like to improve on the continuity/ smoothness of our filming.
With animation this was difficult only using stills, however for the thriller opening we hope to edit together a much smoother piece of film without juddering, especially as we will be digitally filming in HD.
Finally the titles within our children's sequence, whilst informative and again appropriate; they were not very professional in terms of terminology and how they came in. Hopefully the titles we use for the thriller will clearly show who has worked on the project and in what respect. Also when, where and how they come in would be planned more effectively, keeping up with the narrative.
Looking back at the children's opening sequence, it is already clear that we have learnt many more techniques since then, that will help to produce our thriller in a more effective way.