Critical Evaluation

I feel that the process that we underwent into order to create our film was a fulfilling and enjoyable one.  I learnt a lot and managed to convey the areas in film making that I feel are my strongest. After coming up with the ideas for our film and picking the one we felt would be the best to convey, we all set off in our roles. I was assigned to write the script however on the day we only loosely used the final draft and instead went for more natural dialogue. Despite this, the writing was element of the film that was praised the most so I do take pride in that since it was based on my writing initially. The thought that went into the film when we started was to try and create a realistic and relatable atmosphere so the audience could identify with the characters on screen and the scenario.

Inspired by the scene in ‘Whiplash’ which sees Andrew break up with his girlfriend, we had a very easy time on the shooting day. We met up hours before just so that the actors could go through my script and interpret it themselves. We got very lucky with our actors because they had excellent chemistry which I kept in mind when writing the film. They were also available when we needed them to, contributed well on the day of shooting and were overall very co-operative. I would gladly work with them again as I now know how reliable they are. As a crew, we also did well together. We managed to keep in quick contact with each other so if anything came up we could easily tell each other. As my role required many drafts, I was able to successfully send them to my crew for their input which helped.

The most complicated element that we ran into was the audio for our film. On the day, the sound that was being recorded sounded fine through the recorder however when we screened the film (which was the first time I had seen the finished film), our biggest complaint was that the ambient noises of the coffee shop almost drowned out the dialogue. In a way, it does sort of capture the idea that the protagonist Dan was so heartbroken that he was drowning out what Zoe was saying and instead plunged into his own mind until he was alone. Luckily, the last monologue at the end sounded fine most likely because the shop was quieter as it was later in the day. This was due to use shooting the film in chronological order which therefore meant that film progressed naturally. Another small issue that I personally think is almost unavoidable is the continuity of drinks. You may see that the drinks go down very quickly however with multiple takes as well as the fact they were hot drinks meant that we simply could not refill them for every take.

Visually, I believe this film is shot very nicely. We had multiple cameras running at the same time at different positions so that we could capture close ups of the actor’s faces and having a consistent shot of both of them across the table.  I also adore the fact that we had a table directly adjacent to the window which is how I always imagined the scene looking when I was writing it. It’s a good feeling when you see your writing brought to life and this is the main sensation I got when we actually got around to shooting our film.

I believe that the best way we can make improvements for next time is by experimenting with more equipment. After the screening, I was approached about which sound equipment as more reliable and fitting for our shoot which I took note of. It might also be a good idea to monitor the editing process in case anything came up that I could give input on.

On the flip side of my opinion for Film 2, I did not enjoy my Film 1 project. Initially, I thought through what could be said when analysis my clips however the actual execution was not a good one. I took a director’s commentary take on it by watching the films and pointing out what works and what doesn’t in an unscripted manner. I just wasn’t sure how to go about producing this film, while it did give me a new outlook on my films; I feel it was a disaster. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been for it and it was impossible to fit in the run time, hence why I had to leave one of my films out (which I had a lot to say about it) and why the ending is so abrupt. If there was no set run time and I had no more time carefully scour through the film and pick the most important aspects to talk about.

Looking back on the module, I feel like I have taken away a lot of new techniques and knowledge about practical film making as well as thinking through how to create a film from the idea stage all the way to the finished product. I was allowed to exemplify my writing background with a well-constructed script and also got to work on the practical side when we finally got around to shooting the film. If I were to take anything from this process, I would say that I should have had more input on the post-production area of the film such as the editing instead of finishing the shoot and ten not seeing it until the actual screening. The pre-production was well collaborated and I thoroughly enjoyed working with a strong cast and crew. Overall, I really enjoyed this module and feel like I have developed as a film maker as a result and anticipate using these skills to make more films in the future.