Unit 6 Evaluation

What have you been asked to do?

For unit six we'd been asked to create a

production that would be sent off to
Raindance Film Festival. Each student could
choose from three separate mediums to
base their project around. These included; a
music video, a documentary, a stop motion
animation, or a short film, and all of these
had to be made individually- with the
exception of onset crew helping with filming
of starring in the production itself. I chose to
make a short film because this is the
medium I'm most interested in pursuing further in my education. The short film could last up to 40
minutes before being considered a full feature length film, however I knew that I wouldn't run into
this problem because I only had three weeks to make this. Something that I wanted to do was
produce a piece that would be considered dramatic, so I looked into the genre of Horror.

How has writing the brief helped you to finalise your idea?

Before this though, all students needed to write their own brief instead of the normal assigned
document, which laid out the specifications of would our final products could and couldn't contain.
Initially, I struggled to write my own brief as I wasn’t certain what the narrative should be based
around. This was due to my goal of making it look as cinematic as possible, I was so focused on what
kind of shots that I knew should be included that I neglected to actually think about the underlining
narrative. My first draft idea was called “Eye Catcher” which looked at the journey two friends make
to take photographs in the countryside. Through this Idea, I thought that I had a reason to make the
cinematography the main focal point rather than write pages of dialogue which ultimately would
just be the typical small talk friends exchange to one another. By analysing the brief and writing up
my own, I gained an understanding of what kind of production I been asked to make.

How has analysing videos helped you to understand the genre better?

To gain further understanding into the Horror genre, but specifically short Horror films, I analysed
two small productions that represent fear in different ways. The first was called “2 AM, The Smiling
Man”, an adaptation of an online horror story collection called Creepy Pastas. In the short film, a
man taking a night walk runs into a mysterious figure. This person appears to be dancing in the
street whilst
looking at the
sky, he then
begins to stalk
the man as he
makes his way
around the city. I
think this
conforms to the
classic horror
flick of the
antagonist lurking around the main character throughout the entire film before springing into action
in a jump scare in the finale sequence. The second film titled “A Letter to Fear”, deals with this
emotion in a very different way to the previous film. Director Mo David stars as the nameless main
character, who’s writing a letter to his own fear, the films presents David reading his letter whilst
showing him prepare for a road trip. He gives the emotion a physical embodiment by cutting out
cardboard lettering that follows him along his journey. Although the film doesn’t build tension for
the viewer like “2 AM”, it still deals with the same subject matter therefore I believe they were two
ideal sources to help improve my understanding of the genre. Since “2 AM” sticks to the traditional
conventions of the horror industry, I looked this film for inspiration to build an unhinged
environment for my character. For example, the use of low lighting wasn’t initially intended, in fact
I’d hoped for a clear sunny day when production began. However on the day of filming it was
overcast which made everything appear quite bleak- this turned out to be in favour for the overall
look of the film. This was because all I needed to do in post was some simple colour correction to
darken the image, increase the contrast and make a colder hue.

What are you using in your production from this analysis?

I found that in “2 AM” there

isn’t much dialogue, the
audience understands that the
smiling man is the antagonist
and is putting the main
character in danger without
actually saying too much. I
thought this was an interesting
technique, as it’s a visual
medium why not convey the
story through the imagery,
which is what I attempted to do
in my production. However I realised I was unsuccessful in this because if I had removed the dubbed
dialogue all the film would be is a man waking up in an unknown location and walking home. What I
learned from “A Letter to Fear” was that you could set up shots and star in them at the same time.
For his short film, the director had shot everything by himself, so he made use of particular objects
and spaces to place his camera so that he didn’t need someone behind the camera. I found this
inspiring as I initially was going to have two cameras operating at once but me as the only camera
man. However when it camera to actually shooting I only had one camera so this wasn’t a problem,
but if I’m honest I think I should have had two just so that I could have two angles to work with in
post. The pre-production taught me that I have to consider how the weather can affect my shooting
location, this was because I spent my first day of filming traveling to the woods where I’d hope to
shoot the production.

What did you learn from your planning this week?

However I went during February, a winter month, and was greeted with a damp withered forests
that didn’t really look that appealing for a film set. Although I felt I couldn’t turn a place like this into
something that would be considered cinematic, I knew that I could still attempt to film there.
Unfortunately, this was before it started to heavily rain so I decided that the woods weren’t suitable
for my film- reinforced by the fact that there was absolutely no shelter from the elements. Which
meant I could run the risk of damaging my equipment. To rectify this problem I change my set
location to a somewhere that was still in the countryside and had relevance to the story, but also
gave me and the other members of the crew shelter if the weather took a turn for the worst.

How did you ensure that your storyboards were to a high enough standard?

Because I’m a keen

drawer/illustrator, as well as
taking art for GCSE, I knew that I
could create an accurate
representation of what I wanted
the film to look like. Even if the
final product didn’t reflect my
planning, I aimed to visualise my
idea on paper so at least when
my peers review my work, they
can comprehend what my
intensions were. But along with a
descent visual representation, any detailed storyboard needs the relevant information for the actors
and the cameraman. So for every shot I’d write down what type it was, as well as movement the
character makes and how the camera acts around this movement. Whenever I have an idea for a
scene, unless I draw it I will almost definitely forget how I want it to look. Therefore I felt that I
needed to make the storyboard as accurate as possible not only so the crew know what type of
shots to use but also so that I can get a rough idea of how hopefully the final draft will look like.
However, I changed the location and narrative of my film this meant that I had to re draw my
storyboard. But this didn’t pose as major problem because I know the area well so visualising the
sequence wasn’t hard at all.

How much work did you complete outside of the lessons?

When it came to the pre-production panning, around half was completed outside of lessons for
various reasons. The location recces for example, had to be changed which so I needed to go to
these location first to make sure they were appropriate. Although this delayed production lightly it
didn’t change much as I was already falling behind my production schedule. Documents such as the
script, crew list and the production schedule were all finished in college as I didn’t require any extra
outside attention. Both versions of my storyboard were finalised at home because I find that I can
draw better in a more comfortable environment. I did this despite knowing that the quality of the
illustrations isn’t being graded and would have no impact on my final mark.

What issues did you have what planning your production? How did you overcome them?

Unfortunately there were several issues that compromised my short film, but I would have to say
that the biggest of them all was my scheduling. Before production began, I knew that out of the
three weeks given to students, I only had two them for practical work. This was because on the
second week I’d be traveling to Edinburgh on a Photography trip that lasted from Monday to
Saturday. This however, was also at the same time as half term which would have been the perfect
opportunity for me to shoot my film. So unlike my peers, I only had the first week and the last week
to try and create something gradable. Initially I thought that I could pull it off, despite the limiting
window of time, so on the first week I travelled to the set location to shoot some establishing shoots
/ B-roll footage.
This is where problems started to occur, as I realised that a winter British forest, where all the
greenery has withered, didn’t really look appealing. The fact that it rain hard every day I had
scheduled to film on the first week. This made me reconsider my production, perhaps I was being
too naïve, therefore I decided t change my entire script to something that I thought would be much
more simple. It would be called
“Where’s Freddy?” and I came up
with the idea last year during a
film studies homework task. The
idea shows a boy called Freddy
wake up in an abandoned shelter
alone. He been waking up in the
same derelict place for two weeks
but doesn’t know why. The film
presents him walking home as he
discusses this to his therapist.

What issues did you encounter and how did you overcome them?

Because I was away for a whole

week, I knew that I wouldn’t have
much time to shoot “Where’s
Freddy?”, but because my actor
goes to a different college to me
his timetable doesn’t synch up
with mine. Therefore he wasn’t
available to shoot until the third
day before the deadline. What I
attempted to convey within not
even a day of shooting, was a boy
who felt confused and vulnerable.
But I completely failed in this as
both characters only say a few
lines so there’s not much for the audience to infer off of. As well as my “cinematography” which
could have saved the production but because I only did a few takes of every shot, and didn’t take the
time to review them, the camera work is poor. I tried to adjust this later in post with effects such as
warp stabiliser, but this only made the footage look even more bizarre. I think resulted in an
unsuccessful film that I’m not even sure if I want to consider it as my first independent production.

How helpful did you find the verbal feedback?

Normally, I’d find verbal feedback to be very useful because my peers tend to be honest but not in a
way that’s disheartening so I was looking forward to hearing what they had to say initially. But as I
came closer to “finalising” my production, I realised that not even constructive criticism could help
me make this film into something that I’d consider a success. I did show the film to a few other
students and like me they were quick to point out the flaws in my work. Saying to me that I “should
have used a tripod for that shot”, or “without the little dialogue that’s present, there is no
narrative”- to which all fully agree with them and in later productions I’ll make it my goal to rectify
these mistakes.
How did you find the filming and editing process, and how do you feel your product compares to
existing professional products?

Because my storyboard only consisted of 20 so shots the editing process wasn’t hard at all. This was
due to me purposely stickling to the basics of editing to save time, as well as the fact that I shot my
footage chronologically, so it was almost a drag and drop type of process on Premiere Pro. When I
first started this unit I had high hopes that maybe my first film might be deemed a good film by my
peers and others on YouTube. But it is clear to me that my final piece doesn’t reflect that intent and
when it comes to the Raindance film festival, I don’t even want to send mine off for submission
because it has too many major flaws. I think that the only positive thing I’ve gained form attempting
to make “Eye Catchers” and making “Where’s Freddy?” is that as long as I don’t go about the same
process when making my next production, that alone will guarantee a form a success in my eyes.

What area are you looking to improve on in your next production?

I think that this unit has been my most unsuccessful on to date, what I had intended to make was
vastly different to the final outcome. The two biggest factors that compromised my short film were
my lack of planning (the non-existent script) and my decision to change the entire narrative a week
before the deadline. Seeing as my next unit will be my final major project, it needs to be the best
work I’ve made for this year in theory so I can pass through to the second year. Therefore I will make
sure that I address the key problems with “Where’s Freddy?”, which includes having a suitable
location to film at that won’t be abandoned due to bad weather. Because I’ve decide to make a
music video instead of another short film, the only script I need to worry about is the shooting script.
I’m doing this because I’ve realised that my capability to write is inept at the moment, and is
something I should work on outside of college. So a music video can still allow me to create
something that’s cinematic, but discards any dialogue which allows me to focus purely on the
visuals. By making a music video next, I can work on my cinematography skills which will be
beneficial in the future. So for other projects I can put the writing at a higher priority, knowing the
filming side won’t be damaged due to my newly gained experience.