MOVING IMAGE PROJECT

MODULE EVALUATION PROFORMA

YOUR EVALUATION MUST BE 1000 WORDS IN LENGTH THE POINTS
BELOW ARE THERE TO HELP GUIDE YOU - PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN
INDIVIDUAL PIECE OF WORK.
1. CRITICALLY REFLECT ON YOUR FINISHED FILM AND IT'S STRENGTHS
AND WEAKNESSES FOCUS ON ANALYSING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
WHAT YOU INTENDED TO DO AND WHAT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY
ACHIEVED. (APPROX 200 WORDS)
For our five-minute drama we decided to do a serious and emotionally moving
film. We moved away from the dark comedy we had originally started with in our
two-minute short film. The film needed to include emotional insecurity, the main
theme of our short film which needed to be present in the longer project. I
think our long drama project was very successful and was very close to what we
originally set out to achieve. In initial discussions of ideas and possible stories,
we found it difficult to think of a non-clichd narrative around insecurity.
Working together as a group we developed the idea of two central characters
and two separate time periods. One-time period set at their first date and the
other set in the future, when the two characters relationship falls apart. We
wanted to create a serious drama about companionship and relationship
insecurities. Jump cutting between these two time periods created
juxtaposition between the two times. Inspiration came from other film sources
like Blue Valentine and 21 Grams because they use similar time jumping
techniques as a narrative tool. The film had many strengths, including how well it
conveyed different emotional situations through the acting, editing and
combinations of sound design and music. These elements came together to
create a story that felt tragic and melancholic. Another strength was the shot
compositions and lighting. For example, for the scenes in the apartments where
the breakup took place I was able to use the lighting equipment to full
effectiveness. These scenes were carefully planned out and lit accordingly to
enhance this important turning point. Unfortunately, we were unable to use all
the lights in the caf scenes because of tight space and lack of plug sockets.
Nevertheless, the lighting in the caf was sufficient and created a really nice
mood for the scene.

Given extra time there are a number of things that could have been improved.
Firstly, more time would have been spent on editing, especially sound editing.
The group was editing down to the last minute and therefore the final cut was a
bit rushed. There are some shots where the ADR (Audio Dialogue Replacement)
did not match the lip sync perfectly. However, this was a small mishap in an
otherwise really strong effort by everyone involved. With respect to the film
itself, if we had more time we might have created more scenes with the two
lead characters and establish the theme of insecurity further in the
relationship. This could have been achieved if we had organised and scheduled
the film more efficiently.
I was cinematographer for the film and overall I am very happy with the final
outcome of the shots and the lighting in the scenes. But if I could do it again I
would have booked out a camera stabiliser for the outdoor scenes as they where
too shaky in my opinion his is the only thing I would improve regarding my roll as
cinematographer. Overall, I am extremely happy with the final film and think it
is one of our best pieces of work yet.

2. REVIEW THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE WORK AND WHAT YOU HAVE
LEARNT FROM IT. (APPROX 200 WORDS)
As cinematographer it was my job to frame the scenes to realize the directors
vision. I was also responsible for lighting and booking all the camera equipment.
Tom Bates (director) knew exactly what he wanted the film to look like and how
he wanted it to be shot. We used a Cannon 70D SLR camera. This was the
directors decision because it gave us access to a number of different lenses
and meant we could achieve the shots we wanted to. The only problem it created
was having to carry all the equipment everywhere became difficult. But
everyone in the group helped out.
Pre-production and planning was the area that we found most challenging and
stressful, but I think that I learnt a great deal from the experience. The idea
and script for our drama was quickly and efficiently completed, however, when it

came to scheduling and looking for an actor, actress and locations we had to
overcome a few challenging problems. One actress had to pull out, anothers
schedule didnt work with our own and a caf that we had booked to do filming in
suddenly pulled out at the very last moment.
Overall, this project has been a learning curve in all aspects of film making. On
the pre production side I learnt that scheduling and planning are vital to a films
success. It is critically important to have location and actor agreements signed.
This would have prevented some of the problems we encountered. In terms of
production, I learnt that it is important to take every piece of equipment you
might need. Even if you dont use it, it is useful to have just as a precaution.
3. DISCUSS YOUR INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION TO MAKING THE WORK,
YOUR APPROACH TO GROUP WORK AND ANY PROBLEMS OR CHALLENGES
YOU ENCOUNTERED WORKING AS PART OF A TEAM. USE IMAGES,
ANNOTATED SCREENGRABS ETC TO ILLUSTRATE IF APPROPRIATE.
(APPROX 200 WORDS)
As previously stated I was the cinematographer for this project. Therefore, I
focused on the lighting and composition of each shot. However, team work was
excellent and we all helped each other out. For example, our sound
recorder/editor Alex Saunders played a small but significant character in the
caf scene. Therefore, I took responsibility of the sync sound recording for
those particular shots and dialog.
Most of the time every group member was present for group meetings and
discussions. If they were not present it was for a good reason. We all
contributed as much as possible in the pre-production period. I helped our
producer, Bre Edwards, with locations by visiting various cafs and bars. In the
end she managed to arrange a 3-hour time slot to shoot our caf scene in the
Golden Harvest caf in the centre of Sheffield. Alex Saunders also helped by
finding the flat locations through some contacts she had.
Because of the shortage of time we planed and scheduled the entire shoot to be
on one whole day across three different locations. This was a challenge, but we
organised everything, created equipment and shot lists and had everyone in the
group present and helping out.

4. WITH REFERENCE TO TWO TEXTS GIVEN IN SESSIONS OR ON THE

READING LIST AND ONE SHORT DRAMA; REVIEW YOUR APPROACH TO
MAKING THE WORK AND EXPLORE HOW THESE HAVE INFORMED YOUR
CREATIVE APPROACH (APPROX 400 WORDS)

When approaching this task, we knew that we would be creating a non linear
structure in the edit. Time jumps backwards and forwards throughout the film.
We were inspired by a number of short films and feature films when
brainstorming our ideas. A number of our group, including me, were taking
another module called Narrative and Time. In this module we watched a number
of films that heavily inspired me and my group. This included 21 Grams, and
The Shining, another film which we didnt watch in the module but which was
very influential in our initial conception of the drama was Blue Valentine.
The fist two films use editing techniques to confuse the audience and alter
their perspective on time. This was an important feature in our film, but we
were not making a thriller or a horror movie. We were making a romantic drama.
Therefore Blue Valentine gave us greater inspiration and insight. It is a film
about a contemporary relationship spanning across several years by cross
cutting between time periods. Time and the experience of it are inseparable
from emotion (Paul Cobley, 2001). This quote from Cobley was very important in
understanding this film and the themes we wanted to achieve in our own
production. Each scene needed to be emotionally structured, keeping the
audience interested, while building up to a poignant conclusion.

Bibliography and filmography:

Cobley, Paul (2001) Narrative 2nd edition. Routledge.

21 Grams (2003) Alejandro Gonzalez Iarritu
The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick
Blue Valentine (2010) Derek Cianfrance