Final Module Evaluation

During the sound piece I learnt a lot about how sound works and the importance of sound when it comes to storytelling. During the sound piece we attempted to create an atmospheric piece conveying the internal feelings of anxiety. As I didn’t really know much about sound recording or editing this was a great chance for me to explore this and learn how to tell story through sound only. I really enjoyed the task and by the end of it I had a range of skills that I would be able to carry through to the next task such as sound recording skills, sound design skills story telling through sound.

During the experimental project it gave me a chance to focus on the image and editing and how those two things are used in storytelling and how particular combinations of images and the way they are edited together convey certain ideas. Whereas the previous task allowed me to explore sound this one allowed me to explore the use of image and as an aspiring cinematographer I took great advantage of this and allowed myself to learn all I could about image in experimental film.

During the documentary project I was able to focus a lot on how to work in larger groups and how we can all collaborate together to create a film. I took on the directing role for this project which I love doing as I have directed before however I hadn’t directed a documentary and it was completely new to me. I learnt a lot about how to work with different parts of the team to get the narrative of the documentary across or the themes of the film across. Working with cinematographers, editors and sound designers to tell a story was really exciting for me.

Finally, during the drama I learnt a lot about working under pressure and within a certain time frame. This was due to the fact we only had one day to film the entire film which meant everyone was under pressure to get it all done and finished but keep it of high quality and not look rushed. I also learnt a lot about how to use lighting to enhance the image and when using natural lighting the best way to reflect or bounce it to create shadow or light something in a particular way. I also learnt a lot about writing because I had never really written a script for film before, I had written for stage but never anything for film. I found it to be very hard but I did my best to learn the format and how film is written.

The things that I have learnt about sound, cinematography, editing and directing are things that I will be able to carry over and build on during my career as a film maker.   

Final Evaluation of Film

The process of making this film was a stressful one. We began with a completely different idea which we ran with for the first couple of weeks, we scripted it and began finding actors and locations but because of the story we had we would need actors of a specific age that were difficult to find. Due to this we decided to change ideas to one that we could easily find actors for. We got an idea together, scripted it and found actors. We only had one day to film the entire film so we had to make sure we were ready. We printed off copies of the script, booked all the equipment and locations, we prepped the actors and sorted everything out before hand. The shoot itself was very quick and felt rushed which wasn’t the best way to do it.

Everyone in the group worked extremely hard during this project and put a lot of time and effort in. We all turned up for the shoot to help out with equipment, offer ideas and just make the shoot run as smooth as possible. This was a great help because we already knew how rushed it would be but with everyone around tell lend a hand it just took a bit of the pressure off.

The strengths of the final piece were that I believe I did what I set out to do in terms of the cinematography, I was able to create the certain look and feel that the director wanted. I believe that another strength of the final piece was our groups dedication to get it to a best quality as possible. Richard and Danni came to Uni at 6am to Edit the film and put in max effort to get it to look as best it could.

There are a lot of weaknesses about the final film and I think the main one was the performances. The actors we had in the film were not actors in any way and only offered to be in it because we couldn’t get anyone else. The performances do not convey the emotion of the film which was the whole point of the film which means that the film has no emotion behind it. I believe If we had better actors then the emotion would have been conveyed better.

If we were to do this again I would want to make sure we got on a lot earlier and have a lot more time to go back and do re shoots or get better actors. I think that if we had done this then our final film would have been a lot better than it was. I also think that if I were to do this again I would do a lot more research into colour and how to do colour grading as I feel that the final image wasn’t always the way I had intended.

film link

i have embedded the link of the final film below
https://vimeo.com/211304596

Film Treatment with camera notes

Whilst coming up with the script for the film Tom (Director) took the script that i wrote and turned it into a film treatment so that we could easily identify the themes and core ideas of the film. I then looked over the treatment and made camera notes on what Tom had written.

Film Title

Actor

Theme/Core Idea

This film explores a tough love style relationship between an aspiring actor and a producer.

Outline

In scene one we cut straight in to a montage scene of auditions, Charlie (the aspiring actor) walks in to frame from the right. (WILL BE SHOT ON TRIPOD, SINGLE MID SHOT) The producer is off screen but still diegetic. He begins his performance imitating a scene from Goodfellas, from this point on the montage begins cutting to his impersonation of iconic lines spoken by a range of prestigious actors, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Samuel L Jackson, Robert Deniro, Brad Pitt (as Tyler Durden from Fight Club), and Charlie Chaplin.(LIGHTING SLIGHTLY ORANGE / AMATEUR/ 2 POINT LIGHTING) Following on the montage then changes from focusing on the actor to focusing on the Producers rejecting him, all thanking him for his time and saying that they will let him know whether he was successful for his roles.

During scene two we follow Charlie as he gets ready for his audition styled in a montage like sequence. (NATURAL LIGHTING)The Scene starts from black with an alarm clock going off. We see the alarm clock on the side table next to Charlie’s bed. He turns it off and gets up. Pieces of scripts are stuck all around his bedroom, on the mirror, on the wall, in the bathroom on his wardrobe. While he brushes his teeth and gets dressed making himself look presentable he is constantly reading the script and going over his lines, practicing how he is going to play the part. He has a clear drive and passion for his craft and its clear during this scene.(SHOT USING SHOULDER RIG FOR FLUID MOTION)

Scene three is where the bulk of the film will unravel and is the penultimate scene. (SHOT USING DOLLY TRACK AND NATURAL LIGHTING)We see Charlie sat in a cluttered hallway anxiously waiting to be called in to the audition room. He gets up from his chair and goes to a water fountain across the hall. A gentleman comes and greets him. Here is where we see the Gentleman (Robert a.k.a the producer) begin to question him as to whether he is here for the auditions. Charlie however doesn’t realise that this man is indeed the producer, unaware Charlie responds to his question asking if he was here for the auditions too, soon realising that this man is actually the producer. This is where the tough love relationship between these two characters begin, as their convocation progresses and Robert gives Charlie some advice on not giving up due to rejections from his previous work and tells him a story about how Meryl Streep was turned down from her audition for the role of Ann in King Kong and how pushing her to the edge was what made her so great. Robert then leaves and Charlie returns to his seat. 

(SHOT USING JIB CRAIN FIXED TO THE DOLLY TRACK) He is then called into the audition room where he is introduced to Robert, as Charlie tries to say that they have previously met Robert ignores him. This is the first sign of the tough love approach that Robert is about to use in order to get the fullest potential out of Charlie. The scene becomes quickly heated as Robert begins to be very cold and direct with Charlie stating that his attempts at reading the lines aren’t good, at first seeming to be putting Charlie down. This continues through the scene with Robert becoming more and more confrontational and harsh in his criticisms, ending with Robert whispering into Charlies ear that he will never make it in the industry and demanding him to leave. Charlie now put down leaves and goes home wondering what had just happened, as the scene is coming to a close he suddenly has a flash back to the story about Meryl Streep and what Robert had said to him. The scene ends with Charlie simply smiling as he realises what Robert was doing in the audition room.

Appraisal

This script was written by Josh Beattie and is largely inspired by the work of Damian Chazelle and his film Whiplash. It’s taking the idea which Damian had explored in that particular film about a tough love styled relationship between two characters where one character is seemingly pushing the other character to the limit to see if they really have what it takes to become the best. I believe that Josh has shown this style of relationship very well and is very reminiscent of Whiplash whilst remaining an original piece of work. The interesting use of Meryl Streep and a real story about her career, in my opinion helps to maintain the illusion that this scenario could happen in real life and does happen in real life. From a critical analysis stand point I feel that we could have more scenes establishing this relationship from the beginning of the film and using the progression of the film to further solidify the relationship between the two characters. Overall the film is a concrete idea and has had a lot of thought put into it in order to create and develop these two characters.