Infomercial Evaluation

With production wrapped up on our infomercial, I can now look back on the pros and cons of the whole work period. Overall, I feel that there has been strong progress throughout the course of the module. While I was excited for the project when it was revealed to us, I was worried as I was unsure which role I wanted to partake in. Admittedly, director of photography was my only choice as the rest of the group seemed much more confident with their choices but I went with it anyway. I feel that I am stronger on set than I am doing post which was part of the reason I embraced the role assigned to me.

In terms of my role, I feel that I could've added more while working on set. It is clear from the footage that one day of shooting I managed to do a serviceable job as the actors are well lit up and the green screen is evenly lit. It was on the second day of shooting that I feel I could've done a better job. I mentioned in a pervious post that there are moments when the lighting will switch between high-key and low-key lighting. While it fits the mood for the most part, the scene in which I am guiding the audience through connecting the camera to the tripod is very dark and is noticeable because it occurs between two high-key shots. The resulting contrast in shots becomes very distracting and the lighting is jarring as a result. In the future, I will probably look into taking out external lights in order make sure the actor is lit up. 

One of the other areas that I had input with was the script. While I didn't write all of, it was given an opportunity to write a small portion of it. I managed to fit my scene into the style that had already been set by the head writer quite well and you probably wouldn't be able to tell there was a change of writer had I not addressed it. Despite being assigned the role of director of photography, I felt that my biggest input was the acting. My background is predominately acting so I take any opportunity I can to act in films when required.

I enjoyed the group I was with as we almost instantly managed to come up with our idea and saw it through to the end. Overall, I am happy with the production process. I wish there was a bit more we could to the film itself but, while I was present for part of the editing and gave some input, I wasn't the one in charge. This project has taught me that I need to have faith in the whole crew in order to piece together a strong product. Working on my own does give me freedom to write and put together my own piece however I learn more as a group. I probably wouldn't have done as much research into lighting alone as I did as a result of being in a group. Personally I think the process is better than the film itself but there isn't much more that can be done.