short film

1. Evaluation
India-Rain Harrison

2. Production Process
Evaluation

3. Research
I spent a lot of time on my research, trying to receive as many different opinions from
my survey to ensure I could make my film the best it could be. I shared it on all social
media platforms, asking people if they could fill it out honestly to help me with my
main product. If I could do it again, I would ask more questions and make the survey
longer, giving myself more information to work from, rather than try to work out what
my audience like via just a few question; rather than ask just five questions, I wish I
asked ten, giving myself a broad range of information. If I had more questions or a
more detailed survey, rather than simple questions, I would have had more details to
work with for when I began filming. My research helped me with my product as it
helped me to understand and know what sort of features I should include within my
film and what specific effects audience members like when watching films, so that
helps with how I filmed my film and how everything was placed within the shot. If I
had included more questions within my survey or had another method of collecting
data for my movie, I would have been able to have a range of different options for
what genre of movie I would create when it came to filming and production. I feel the
research I did compensated enough for me to be able to create my film how I wanted
it too, I just wish I had asked more questions to give myself more of a definite
technique when filming.

4. Planning
For my planning I took more of a “write down the first thing that comes to mind”
approach and developed ideas from around that. I never had a specific idea to begin
with, just several scenarios that I combined either together or kept apart and
attempted to develop them further; this is how I ended up with my final idea for my
film Trapped. The way I planned my film was to create a mind map of two scenarios
that we had thought of and insert them into our initial plans PowerPoint, with a mood
board to briefly explain how we would want our film to look. When creating the two
mood boards, it became apparent to me which idea I would prefer to pursue over the
other. The weaknesses within my planning were that I don’t feel I didn’t fully know or
understand the audience I was hoping to attract when creating my film until
production was almost complete. I wasn’t fully aware of what genre film I was creating
until I had filmed my first scene. I wish I had thought and composed my idea on paper
more thoroughly until I was completely satisfied with how it were to look once filmed,
before actually going ahead and filming, however I am happy with the result I ended
up with. If I were to create a product like this one again, I would definitely spend more
time planning in order to make it the best it could be rather than making do with the
planning I had done and making somethings up as I went along.

5. Time Management
I feel I managed my time well as I was able to film all of my shots in one day, with a
little time at the end to re-take if needed be. I feel I needed extra time to complete
my PowerPoints for this rotation, meaning I came into college in hours I wasn’t
scheduled to be and did work at home also in order for them all to be finished on
time. I also feel I needed more time to be able to edit my shots and create the film
and also adding sound effects. If I were to redo this this rotation, I would manage my
time more efficiently, setting myself goals to meet with certain aspects of the task so
I was able to keep up to date with deadlines etc. therefore, for my next rotation, I will
plan out each of my tasks with specific times to be finished with it so I can keep up
to date on hand ins and maybe have a little extra time towards the end to go over all
of my work and re-evaluate it all to make it better than it was. I also felt I needed
more time to be able to plan exactly what my film was going to be, as I've said
already, I felt I didn’t fully well know which idea I was going to do that I had planned
out and ended up going with the easiest option instead of studying each plan
properly and deciding based on genre and content which would be better. I feel I
could’ve really developed all of my ideas better if I had an extra couple of lessons to
do so, instead of, like I say, going for the easiest option when it came to filming and
production.

6. Technical Qualities - Camera
My filming technique is similar to that of The Vampire Diaries where we capture the
expressions of our main cast and emphasise looks of horror/surprise, we also try
and film from different angles in order to really capture the emotion within the
scene. The similarities with the shots is that they both, again, capture the
expressions of the main characters in order for the audience to feel what they’re
feeling. The differences between them being that my shot was an over should shot,
with all natural lighting, where as The Vampire Diaries have used a midshot for this
sequence and are likely to have studio lights, as well as natural light which
enhances the quality of the picture.

7. Technical Qualities - Audio
With audio, it is hard to show how I used it as we weren’t able to use speech when
creating our video, thus meaning we could only use sound effects etc. however I do
use the occasional gasp within mine that I recorded with my phone microphone.
Again, I will compare my work with that of The Vampire Diaries as we use similar
audio within our films. When coming to a scene that doesn’t use audio in The
Vampire Diaries, they really enhance the background music, making the scene
more dramatic in order to captivate the audience and keep them on the edge of
their seats when an intense part of the episode comes up, continuing to play the
music right through to the end of the episode. I attempted to do similar with this film
that I created, keep the suspense up by using a dramatic song in the background of
my movie (using royalty free music from YouTube). I felt this was a really good
effect as it kept the mysteriousness to what was to happen next up and definitely
caused that sense of thrill, especially towards the end with the life support beeping
and coming to a stand still. I felt that was a really good way to make the audience
wonder what was going on, and give them a slight adrenaline rush when my
characters eyes re-opened.

8. Technical Qualities –
Editing/Post
Editing wise, I felt I edited my work the best to my current ability. There were areas
where I felt could’ve been filmed better in order to make the editing process easier
for me, however due to time, I didn’t have time to re-film scenes so had to make do
with the shots I already had. Comparing my work to the movie Dunkirk, I feel the
editing techniques were those of similar effect. There were plenty of shot-reverse-
shots within that movie, cutting from one area to another continuously, creating that
gut wrenching feeling if something bad were to happen within the film. I also editing
an image on to the green screen area of my movie, which I felt could’ve been
edited better, however it is convincing enough to gather the gist of where the film is
taking place and the conditions of the room in which my character is acting within.
Because the background looks unrealistic, I felt that was the area that made it less
convincing, I had used an image taken by myself or filmed on location, it would’ve
looked more professional when watching. I feel that when filming, I cut the
recording off too fast, meaning it was more difficult to edit round mistakes, I wish I
had kept the camera recording slightly longer, giving me a better chance to where
appropriate and give me that extra bit of space to cut shots and slot others between
them.

9. Aesthetic Qualities
I feel the outside shots that were taken are the best lighting throughout my film as
natural light enhanced everything that I was filming and around it; personally, I don’t
feel studio lighting gives that same effect unless you set it up perfect and take time
placing everything in the right place in order to brighten the scene. I like the way my
film fell together, I feel each shot was edited together well, making the film flow;
there are certain areas I wish I could improve, such as the lighting inside, however
when I create something like this again, I will spend more time fixing the lighting to
make it how I prefer rather than leave it how it was and make do with it like that. I
also wish I had extra time to re-film some shots to make them better, which in turn
would have made my film better also. I wish I had filmed on location as apposed to
in front of a green screen as I feel the backdrop would have looked better if it were
real instead of an image found on google; I feel that doesn’t give the same effect I
was looking for as it made the film look more animated as the backdrop looked
more like an anime instead of real life, however the realistic images I found weren’t
quite what I was looking for, hence why I chose the anime image instead.

10. Audience Appeal
My target audience was actually for a comedy short film, so creating a thriller was
unconventional as that wasn’t the specific audience I was supposed to make a film
for. I don’t feel there are any areas of my film that include a comedic streak, this
meaning my film hasn’t appealed to my target audience in anyway. If I were to
create a horror spoof, then I feel that would’ve appealed more to my audience as
that would’ve made my film more like the Scary Movie films that all enjoy. The
reason I chose to create a thriller instead of a comedy is because I find it easier to
create thriller movies, I do understand that I need to branch out further and push
myself to create something that isn't specifically in my comfort zone. When asked
what peoples favourite part of short films were, my audience mainly voted on the
intensity which I feel is something I definitely included within my film and I felt my
audience definitely enjoyed that area of the film. My audience also said that the
story line is what interests them most also, which I feel I definitely had an
interesting storyline that really made you thing about what was happening within
my film and I feel has a range of possible outcomes at the end before it completely
cuts off. If I were to make my film again, I would listen to what my target audience
would like for a short film and listen to my research further in order to create a film
that is appealing to all, rather than a select few.

11. Peer Feedback

12. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
• The cinematography was the strongest area of the film as
it included different types of shots. I especially like the one
where the camera tracks Maya standing up which added
suspension.
• The music was exceptionally well made as it worked with
the footage as well as having a mysterious vibe.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
• I would say the pacing could have been a lot better since
some of the shots went over my head which made it
difficult to understand the plot.

13. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
• It’s very well shot and the music is very immersive. The close
up shots are executed brilliantly and the actress performs the
scenes well. Especially the forest scene where she smiles off
the side of the camera, conveying innocence and sadness in
equal measure.
• What improvements could have been made to the product?
• The gap between the forest scene and Maya waking up was
a little bit too long, the music could have been cut down to
make it shorter.

14. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
• I liked the shots in the film; you used a variety of different
types of shot. I also like how you used a variety of different
filming locations in such a short film. Also, I like the music
because it fits in with the theme of the film and it is in time
with the shots.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
• I found the plot very hard to understand, and I was
confused throughout the film. However, I am not sure if
this was intentional or not.

15. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
• I agree that the shots I had taken were well shot and I had taken
time to position the camera and ensure the lighting for each
particular shot was perfect; also that my actress was in the best
possible place when filming. I also think the music I chose was
well fitting within the plot.
• What do you disagree with from your peer
feedback?
• I do agree that the plot is hard to follow, however it is easy to
what I happening within the film, if I had more time I would’ve
added more shots in order to really emphasise what the film was
about.

16. Peer Feedback Summary
Like stated in feedback 2, I would change the gap between the forest and my
character waking up as I feel it is slightly too long, I would either add and extra
scene before/after those shots, maybe something that could help the storyline out
further. I also feel I could’ve added some more audio into my video, however I like
the limited sound i.e. only having the background music as sound as I like the idea
of it being a silent film. I feel if I added a little extra to the end of the film it would’ve
helped wit the storyline more; I did have an extended version of this film that
included a doctor in a hospital before and after each time my actress opens her
eyes, however due to time, I couldn't film those scenes, therefore meaning I had to
stick with what I had which I feel I managed to work well with.
What changes would you make to your product based upon
your peer feedback and why?