Our Final Film

Year 10 Media Arts Short Film Production – Term 01 Self-reflection and evaluation:

Discuss your feelings about the production task: Please explain your responses:

·      Did you enjoy creating your short film?

I did enjoy creating my film, this is the first time I’d ever created a proper short film and I had fun whilst making it.

·      Are you satisfied with the final result?

I am satisfied with the final result, although I probably would have wanted to incorporate a few more different shot types into the film.

·      Did your film turn out as well as you pictured?

My film turned out better than I originally pictured.

·      Would like to change or improve any aspects of your final film (storyline, shots, editing etc.)?

I would have liked to change and add a few different shots and make them a bit more creative. Because most of our shots were very front on.

·      If you could start the project again, what would you do differently?

I would have changed our storyline so the film was a bit more intense and suspenseful.

As this task focused on mise-en-scene and cinematography, describe:

·      How you used specific shot types to convey the storyline without dialogue? 

            We used different shots such as close ups and long shots to show that our character was looking for something and to show that they were also sneaking around and didn’t want to be caught.

·      Whether the intended genre is depicted clearly or if this could be improved?

I don’t think our genre was as clear as it could be as our original genre idea was action although as we progressed our end film turned out more Adventure/Drama.

Reflecting upon your completed task, respond to the following points:

·      How did other people respond to your rough-edit? Did you use their feedback to make changes to the film?

Many people liked the general idea of our film but thought we needed to focus on the rule of thirds and framing and focusing our shots properly. They also thought that we should have made our film a bit more clearly in what it was about. Yes, we did use their feeback to make changes. We made sure that our second time filming that we focused more on framing the shots properly and keeping the camera steadier. We also decided to change our storyline, so that the situation happening was clearer.

·      Did your group use the planning and analysis tools effectively? (storyboards, shot lists, mise-en-scene evaluation).

I think Courtney and I did use our tools effectively, although we could have referred back to our shot list more often whilst filming.

·      Did shooting require more or less time than you thought? Why?

It required more time than I originally thought, at we ended up filming over 3 days.

·      Were there any problems or difficulties during filming and how did this affect your project. (Difficulties may include; shooting, technical, time-management, teamwork, absences or editing etc.);

We did have a few problems whilst shooting our scene where we filmed from the person’s perspective holding the gun. As we had trouble steadying the camera and lining it up properly.

·      Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection to support your work? (Look at your blogs and consider if it looks like a terms worth of work);

I think I could have done a few more reflections after every day of filming and talked more about our difficulties filming.

Jurassic Park scene - Evaluation

How was sound used effectively used in the scene?

I heart sound affects of different animals such as lions, crocodiles, etc.

I also heard sound affects of a car crashes and glass shattering. Sound was used very effectively in this scene as all the different animal sound effects all came together to sound a T Rex roar.  The sound affects of a car crashing, glass shattering and people screaming added suspense and mood to the scene and built the intensity to the scene.

How editing was used to create rhythm:

The editing and thumping of the T Rex walking created intensity and added rhythm to the scene. During the beginning of the scene it started off quite slow and as the scene progressed it became faster and faster. The editing of the T Rex created rhythm as during the scene progressed the T Rex became more aggressive and it created more suspense.

Finishing Filming

Friday 26th of February

Today we finished filming the rest of the footage for our short film. We chose to add in a close up shot when our main character opens the draw to search for the keys. This was our 3rd time re-filming this scene as we couldn't quite decide on which angel was best. We had a bit of trouble whilst taking the shot of our main character when opening the door and aiming the gun. It was hard to steady the camera as we had to capture it from the main character's perspective, although we got it in the end. Courtney and I have also decided on our soundtrack for our film and it will feature the Pink Panther theme song.

Re-Filming Our Film

Wednesday 25th of February

Today we re-filmed almost all of our shots for our final submission of our short film. Today we made it our mission to be more creative with our video location and used different areas to shoot our film instead of the same area as we did in our draft film. We also made sure that this time filming that we were using the rule of thirds and lining each shot up. We also used different camera angels instead of always facing the camera front on and filming a medium/long shot. Courtney and I had decided to change our storyline, our original idea was having someone searching for their enemy in various locations. Although after we were given our feedback from the class and teacher, we thought it was best to change our story line So that our film was easier to understand. Our new idea for our film is about a girl who comes across a secret cupboard. Curious, she tries to open it, yet she then finds that you need a key to open it. Throughout the film she goes in search for the key, then comes across another girl who is busy at work on her computer. As she looks more closely, she spots a set of keys sitting on the desk in front of the girl. Determined to steal the keys, she sneaks inside the office and snatches the keys, shooting the girl in the process.

Filming Our Short Film - Feedback

We recently finished filming our draft for our short Film. We came across a few set backs and problems when dealing with lighting and our surroundings. We found it difficult to steady the camera whilst filming and quite often our surrounding got in the way of our shots. Today in class, everyone shared they're draft films with the class and everyone watched and gave feedback to each other. Courtney and I's feedback included that we needed to make our story clearer as some people didn't understand our storyline from what we had filmed, and that our shots needed to connect a bit more. We were also told that we should be focusing on steadying the camera whilst shooting and lining up the camera using the rule of thirds. Whilst filming our final video, we will make sure to incorporate this feedback into our filming.

Below is our draft film.

Short Film - Storyboards

Below are our storyboard's for our short film.

Short Film - Shot List

Below is our rough draft shot list for our film.

Term 01 Short Film Task

This term in Media Arts we have been assigned a short film task, where we have to film and make our own short film with a partner. The task sheet says that our project needs to be based on a person finding someone or something.

Courtney and I's original idea for our film was going to be about a girl who recieves a text message from her enemy, telling her to meet at a certain location. Once she arrives at the location, she is confused to find that the room is empty and her enemy is no where to be seen. She then begins to search in different places for her. Finally, unable to find her she returns back to her original location. Confused with the text message. Then all of a sudden her enemy jumps out from behind a door and threatens to shoot her. Both pull out guns and fire.