Evaluation

On the 19th March 2019, I was given a brief to either make a music video, documentary, radio
drama or short film. I could either work by myself or with a pair and had to focus on all of
these skills: Producing/editing, Camera work, mise-en-scene. I finally chose to make a short
film after the original idea of making a music video, the reason why I chose to make a short
film over a music video is because I wanted more of a challenge and I thought that I could
portray my skills in a more of an original way without having the boundaries of lyrics and
limited time of a song to limit my presentation of techniques. I worked by myself so I could
make a film that was all of my ideas with my own originality since when I work with other
people we all have our creative differences with different ideas of how the storyline should
go, I think that working by myself was a good idea since I knew what I was doing in the whole
filming process. My roles were: Producer, Editor, Camera Operator, Props / Mise-en-scene /
Make Up and Audio producer (music / Foley Sounds).

Survey

What did you like about my production?

My production strengths
according to feedback
I’ve received from piers
is the editing and the
filming techniques. The
framing was good
according to some
people which shows
that I gave a lot of
attention and time to
perfecting that.
Someone included that
they liked the Foley sounds that I used, it gave off a more realistic and interesting effect
rather than the original sound or just silence with ambient sounds. The actors got some
recognition as well, this shows that their skill is pretty good and it could show that a lot of
time was put in in order to get the perfect shot. Someone included that the camera shots are
really effective and that the story was told really well even though there wasn’t much
dialogue. The best element in the production, in my opinion, was the editing and maybe the
filming since I put a lot of time and effort in both and the outcome was at a high quality.
What do you think could be improved?
I got told that there
should have been more
context behind the
characters. If I did put
more context behind
them it would have made
more of an emotional
attachment between
them and the audience
and it could have made the story make more sense. I also got told that the actors could have
tried less since the acting seemed to be quite ‘cringey’ next time I will ensure to make a
better decision on choosing better actors. Someone also added that a wider range of shots
could have been used to make my production more professional, researching and watching
films will help me on using the same filming techniques and angles for my next production.
Continuity was also a problem that I experienced and what others noticed since I filmed some
same scenes on different days because of the battery running out next time I make a
production I will purchase a spare camera battery to ensure that I am not interrupted by that
while filming.

What was the strongest part of my production?

Editing – 5/10, this shows that majority of people enjoyed my
editing over everything else, it also shows that editing may be
my strongest skill. This proves that the skills that I have
researched I have presented well in what I’ve learnt enough
for people to realise the skill I have developed. I agree with
this the most since I think it the strongest skill that I have and I
did put a lot of time into the editing process.
Filming – 4/10, a lot of people enjoyed my filming skills that I used in my production shown by
these results. This shows that my filming techniques are quite good and suitable for the style
of production I have made. I agree partly, I don’t think that my filming skills are as strong as
my editing skills since I didn’t put as much research into them.
Storyline – 1/10, only one person found that the story line was the most effective part of my
production. The fact that this was only one person that thinks this means that it probably
wasn’t the strongest part of my film but this won’t go without any recognition since the
narrative good enough for someone to choose that over the other results. I sort of agree with
this statement since I don’t think that thinking of storylines is my strength over my editing or
filming skills.
Did my production suit the genre?
The results to this shows that I have made a
‘perfect’ example of a Psychological Thriller due to
the results of 100% yes. I think that I have created a
production that is suitable for the genre since it
included most of the codes and conventions that
take place in a psychological thriller: dark lighting,
suspenseful music etc.

REST OF FEEDBACK ON LO4 (VIDEO)

What do you think about the content?
One of the results I got back from feedback on content was that I showed how someone
would go insane after killing another person very well, it was completed to high standard and
the overall film was very good. I think that this is the best piece of work that have done since
I put a lot of work into the filming and editing process and I also think that the content has
elements of its own originality.

Did you like the style of the film?

All feedback was positive for this question, I was told that the film matched the codes and
conventions of a psychological thriller very well. I think that the film definitely fitted in to the
chosen genre since it matched the different codes and conventions, things such as: dark
lighting, suspenseful music etc.

Was the narrative interesting and did you understand it?

The narrative was clear to all of the people in my survey, “It was interesting and easy to
understand.” I think the narrative would be quite clear to most people but I think that it could
have put more context behind characters so the overall narrative would have a bit more
depth and maybe strike a bit more interest upon the audience.

Where the characters believable?

The characters where very believable to all of my peers that I questioned. I think that they
were very believable and weren’t exaggerated at all, they were all shown to live normal 17
year old lives with just a bit of a twist at the end.
Did you notice any technical qualities that were lacking?
According to the people that I questioned; they couldn’t think of any technical qualities that
weren’t at a very high standard, I think that some parts of the film where there is dialogue
there was interruption from an overflying plane or other noise disturbances like traffic etc.

How were the aesthetic qualities?

The editing and filming were very good, colour correction was used very effectively and at
the right time. I think the aesthetics were the best element of the short film, I put a lot of
thought of where and when I should use the colour correction and what impact each tone it
would give. The filming was done quite well and I am pleased some of the final shots,
however, some shots were out of focus. The editing was in my opinion up to a high standard
but there were some shots where it glitches and replays 0.1 of a second.

Did you notice any creative qualities that were lacking?

No one that I questioned noticed any lacking creative qualities. All I can think of that may be
lacking creatively is the realism of the fake blood, I could have made it thicker and used more
of it to get a more gruesome effect.

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What went well?

At the start I struggled a bit with the research: what to research, explaining how it would
actually help me with my actual production but in the end I got used to it and fully
understood what to research to help me understand the codes and conventions of
psychological thrillers. Throughout the unit especially when we started to do pre-production
planning I started to fall behind on the research since I was focusing and putting 90% of my
effort into the pre-production planning and filming process, however I did end up catching up
and finishing the research as well as the final cut of the short film.
Despite the major interruptions of rainfall and last minute cancellations of filming sessions by
actors, I think the filming process went very well, I roughly spent about 9 ½ hours in total
filming with various actors and for a payment for their time given they got a wage for their
efforts. Throughout that time of filming I got many creative and professional shots that I am
very pleased about. As I was filming I thought of new shot types and small ideas that would
make the specific scene more interesting. Overall I think the filming period was very
successful due to the effort, time and thought put in.
The editing stage was probably the most successful out of filming and planning since this is
where I learnt the most, used nearly all of my skills that I have learnt beforehand and in the
process. I feel that this is where I also showed my skills the most out of everything, I
experimented with sounds and colour correcting to see what will give the best scare effect
and aesthetic look. I used 10 seconds of different songs that sounded quite creepy and
slowed down that part of the song to make a creepy and eerie track for different scenes, I
think that idea was very creative and outside the box since I only used 5-10 seconds of a start
of a song and extended it for 30 seconds to a minute long.

How could it have been improved?

I think I could have either got better actors or told my actors a more descriptive way on how
to act/ what their situation was, for example: Danny, the boy who is getting bullied, no sign of
support from anyone about the bullying/robbing, he needs to always be looking glum and
shy. I could have maybe got more varied shots for one specific shot/scene to make that
specific scene more interesting since it gives more visual information for the audience of
where the characters are etc. I also could have given more context behind the characters so
it could give the audience a better understanding of what the storyline is and who the
characters are, by putting more context behind each character could increase the
relationship between the audience and a character so they could feel more sympathy if
something negative had happened to a character. The continuity of some scenes are quite
poor since the main characters clothing changed twice throughout a 2 minute period.

What would I do differently next time?

Next unit I will put much more time into the research so I will not fall behind and the quality
of research as a result will be of a much better quality. In the next filming process that I will
take on I will give actors a more described way on how they should act and what the
characters situation in life is: depressed, stressed. I will properly make sure that EVERY shot I
film is in shot and good enough quality for the final cut to save me from either reshooting or
receiving negative feedback based on aesthetics. I will have a bit more attention to detail
when I’m editing to make the whole film run smoothly without any glitches when I’m using a
speed ramping effect for example.

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Similarities and differences to other productions

My production uses a range of locations to

present how much is on the main characters
mind and show how many things he has to
do/has responsibility over, this could show
how much pressure he is under. However,
the short film on the left called ‘Yellow’,
there is only a few locations presented but
the main location is in this dated hotel room
which doesn’t have much natural lighting,
the limited amount of locations and the dark
room that is used throughout most of the
film could portray how unfree the main
character is, the room could be seen as
really claustrophobic and unsettling. I think the other film has more of an unsettling start
with the normal scenes being already quite dark when mine starts off quite bright but glum
to give a more depressing tone.

The lighting in my production, in my opinion

was better that the other productions since
it was more manipulated and had more
thought put into it before it was used. For
example, this scene is where Danny wakes
up from the nightmare where it was
basically getting the point across to the
audience that he is a savage murderer, as
he wakes up the lighting is from low to high,
this sort of angle is used on monsters and
evil characters in films so this lighting shows
how monstrous he is but keeping the whole
tone of the scene low. In the other film
there is only light just on him and darkness
all around him which could show that there is a sinister force haunting him but this character
is also the aggressor, the lighting doesn’t really show that, it shows that he is an innocent
man who hasn’t done really wrong and is getting haunted by something evil.
 Both of these scenes are
dream/nightmare sequences (‘Dream
Girl’ on left) both of these pictures have
the same look in lighting and general
mise-en-scene, I think my production
has the same effect that could be given
off to the audience as the other
productions lighting effect. I think my
music and layered sounds used in the
dream sequence was better than the
other short films, the music was sort of
low pitch sounds which raises tension,
the layered echoed clock also creates
more tension since it portrays that time
is running out till someone finds out,
my dream sequence also has a subliminal message where everyone is pointing to Danny
showing that people know. When on the other hand, ‘Dream Girls’ sequence doesn’t really
have much meaning to it at all.

The nightmare locations are quite different,

‘Dream Girls’ nightmare location they
challenge the typical codes and conventions
of a psychological thriller since they set
nightmare scene on a beach. This would be
very difficult to make look scary since sea
sides are normally viewed in a very positive
way where people go to relax not where one
would normally have a nightmare in. On the
other hand, my location was very easy to
make it look scary since there are trees
blocking the sunlight making the whole
setting scene look scary and gloomy. Overall I
think that ‘Dream Girl’s’ nightmare scene
would have a better effect on making the audience more unsettled than my location since
they challenge the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller.
How suited am I to the media industry?
Strengths: I think my strengths are all during and after the pre-production stage, I can
develop a story quite well with a clear narrative and interesting characters that could relate
to the audience quite well, making of script was one of my other strengths, I know what I
want the characters to say and it sounds natural when it is actually said out loud, the
storyboards where definitely my biggest strength in the pre-production process, I knew what
shots would go where to give the best effect. In the filming stage I knew this was one of my
biggest strengths, I followed the story board but I thought of other professional shots to add
in since I could see them having the right place in my film. Editing is also one of my biggest
strengths as well, even without much planning on what transitions to use, what music to go
where and when I knew how to present a certain scene with colour correction and music. I
also have a good control over people mostly because I am controlling but also I know what
would make them more reliable – money.
Weaknesses: My weaknesses are all before pre-production and production stage, the primary
and secondary research. I struggle to understand on what to research and what would be
useful to my production for some time. My organisation on research and general written
work is terrible because I put practical work before anything since I am determined to make it
as high quality as possible.
Overall, I think I would be quite suitable for the media industry if I worked the more physical,
hands-on process such as the runner at the start of a career in the industry then slowly
progress up to camera work, lighting. I could also be suitable for creating storylines, scripts or
storyboards since that’s what my creative side is strong on.