This document provides questions for a student to evaluate their final film project. The student is asked to fully answer questions about their pre-production, production, post-production, and scheduling processes. For pre-production, the student describes their three stage planning process including research, proposal/pitch, and detailed storyboards. They note organization and planning could be improved. For production, the student discusses cast issues causing reshoots and outlines sound and equipment problems. They are happy with footage quality but note organization needs work. For post-production, the student enjoyed editing and found a non-copyrighted soundtrack, using Premiere Pro and After Effects. They wish they allocated more time. For scheduling, the student created schedules but had

1. PRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT
EVALUATION
YOUR NAME HERE
YOU SHOULD USE THIS TO EVALUATE YOUR FINAL FILM
PROJECT. EACH QUESTION SHOULD BE ANSWERED FULLY, USE
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM YOUR PROJECT WHERE NECESSARY
AND EXPAND ON THE POINTS TO FULLY EXPLAIN AND JUSTIFY
YOUR ANSWERS. YOU MAY ADD ILLUSTRATIONS AND ADD
EXTRA SLIDE WHERE NECESSARY, BUT YOU MUST ANSWER
EACH QUESTION.

2. PRE-PRODUCTION
Broadly explain your pre-production process. What went well, what could be improved? How did you organise and plan your film.
The pre-production stage for the creation of my short film consisted of three stages of planning. Stage 1 included the initial
idea generation and research for my short film, this meant I had to first begin to construct my film ideas on to paper, this
included mind maps where I set out what ideas I had on to a mind map form, using single words or short sentences put into
sections describing key elements I plan to incorporate into my short. Stage 1 also involved researching into the type of
audience I intended to appeal to, this included primary and secondary target audience research as well as researching into
already existing content such as other films with similar techniques and styles as well as narratives and messages
presented. This helped me to get a better understanding as to what type of audience reacts to such content produced,
helping me to get a better understanding as to what type of audience I should be targeting with what type of content i.e. what
works for which audiences. The information and content I gathered from stage 1 planning helped to set up the next stage
which was stage 2 which consisted of the proposal and pitch of my short film. In this stage I began to piece together a more
detailed plan of my short film, including a short outline synopsis of my films narrative, character information, locations,
cast/crew requirements, resources and a hypothetical budget for the costs involved in the making of my short film. This stage
furthered my understanding of my own film by helping me to visualise the key aspects needed to produce my film. Then with
all the content I gathered from this stage I then had to put in short into a pitch that I then had to present to my class in the
form of a power point. This helped me to gain a clearer understanding of my intentions as describing what my film was going
to be about and how I planned on creating it to my class meant I had to know in detail what my intentions where. Finally the
last stage of planning and production consisted of the most detailed version of my planning, this is where I had to visually
detail my intentions through story boards of a shot by shot visual description of what my film was going to look like. I also
had to include a structural breakdown of the entire narrative of my film, meaning I planned out in detail each scene that was
going to be included as well as stage directions, dialogue and shot types. I then produced a shot list which featured every
shot I planned to included, the shot type meaning what technique I would be using with what angle and also the length of
each shot. This helped greatly with the actually production stage of my film as it gave me a detailed guideline to follow when
the production stage came around. This stage also included a contingency plan which involved planning for errors to happen
if in the event they do I would then have a plan to fix the error as to avoid any costs in production time. Production schedules
and call sheets where included in this stage, as well as a risk assessment and a visually more detailed filming location plan.
All three stages helped to create the most detailed plan I could while also helping me to have the best visualisation of the
film before I began the production of it, meaning that when It came to production the process ran smoothly as possible and
also meant I used my time effectively and did not waste it with not knowing what I needed to do.

3. PRODUCTION
Broadly explain your production process. What went well, what could be
improved? How did your filming go?
my production process has proved to be the most difficult out of the three. I have faced a number of
issues including cast issues such as unreliable actors cancelling on me last minute which resulted in
me having to play the role of my main character myself, which then caused more issues of its own
such as operating the equipment as I didn’t have anyone experienced to man the cameras meaning I
had shots which where out of focus or wonky/shaky, meaning I had to frequently reshoot shots thus
furthering the filming process. I then also had to reschedule shoots due to cast members being busy
which further hindered the production process pushing back the dates I could get new footage to put
into sequence and edit. Sound issues were also a problem that I admit in turn I should have planned
for as I am filming next to a busy road so scenes with dialogue in them are non existent, however I
have planned around this by dubbing over sound recordings I have done separately in a noise free
environment. However all in all I feel that the quality of my footage is of good standards and I am
happy with the way they have come out, I feel I have constructed the narrative well with the
techniques and shots I have used to portray each scenes emotions and messages through the
characters. I feel that as a director I have also done a good job with directing my cast, informing them
on exactly what I want from them and helping them to understand what it is I want from them and how
I want them to do it. Moreover I feel that my organisational skills with this project could have been
improved, especially in the production stage, as there were times where I would plan to shoot but not
everyone could do the dates I set or that I would go to shoot and forget a prop of key information
which in turn resulted in reshooting. Being more organised would have made the production stage a
smoother and less time costing process which would then mean I would have allowed myself more
time in the post-production stage as well as the evaluating stage.

4. POST-PRODUCTION
Broadly explain your post-production process. What went well, what could be
improved? How did you edit and produce your final piece?
For me the post production stage has been the easiest and least stressful of the three, although I haven’t
had as much time on this stage as I would have liked the process as a whole has been very enjoyable,
from piecing together my raw footage to matching up clips to the soundtrack of my choice. I feel that I
have used my time efficiently in this stage by not wasting time and focusing on the goal ahead as I know I
haven’t had as much time on this stage as most so that has urged me to focus down and get it finished as
the last thing I want is an unfinished project. The post production stage has all taken place on two adobe
software's, Premiere Pro and After Effects. I have used premiere pro to sequence my raw footage
together along side the sound effects and soundtrack so as to make a well complete finished looking
project. At first I struggled with finding a source of music to play over my short film as I wasn’t allowed to
use anything that would be copyrighted, so this spurred me to create my own soundtrack, after a few tests
with different tracks I realised my musical skills were not up to scratch to make a soundtrack worthy of
playing along side my footage so I conducted research to find a non copyrighted soundtrack to use. As I
enjoy the classical side of music I researched to see if composers such as Beethoven or Mozart’s musical
pieces were copyrighted, luckily I learned that copyright laws become non existent once the person has
been dead for longer then 70 years so this meant by law I would be able to borrow his work with no
infringements. In After Effects I important clips of footage from my sequence to then be further edited
using the tools given to me on After Effects, for instance the ending to my short film displays a big screen
with the text Look Up in bold white font. Instead of having the text just be shown I decided to wanted to
have it slowly fade into sight of the audience, to do so I simply important the clip into After Effects and
added a dissolve transition and set it to reverse. If I was to improve my post-production process next time
I would firstly ensure I gave myself a comfortable amount of time to conduct this process as to avoid any
panic or running out of time, this in turn means having more time work a project means a higher quality
piece of work should be produced as it enables me to spend more time on it and complete it to the best of
my ability.

5. SCHEDULING
How did you plan the different parts of your production? Did you use any specialist
software or techniques? What problems did you have?
In the pre-production stage I had to set out a filming schedule as well as call sheets from my cast
members, these helped as guidelines to when exactly I would be filming so that I could then forward this
to my cast and crew so that they would then be able to plan and meet my times. However this was not
always the case, there were a number of occasions where I had members cancel due to other plans
getting in the way which took a toll on the time I had to complete my project. To create my schedules I
didn’t use any specialist software or techniques, instead I just set out the dates I planned to film on a
PowerPoint table and simply followed that. I feel that this aspect of my planning could have been
improved the most as I feel that I didn’t effectively plan my dates to film along with my cast as I had
issues with a cast member playing my main character I held of making a definite decision for which day
to film as I didn’t know whether it would be possibly or not till I sorted out my main character. However
after realising I would have to use myself as the main character I then set out the dates for filming and
informed my other cast members, by this time it was already late into when I should be conducting the
production stage and quite last minute so this meant my cast members were not all available on the
dates I wanted. To combat this issue I met and discussed with all of them which days would be most
ideal and made a plan from there. I found that the call sheets helped most with the production process
and feel that I conducted them effectively, I explained what times of the day I would be filming and for
how long, I then set out exactly what I would be doing with the time I had, for instance initially once I got
to the first filming location I would begin by taking all the long shots need to get them out of the way as
to avoid moving the cameras position back and forth meaning I would have more time to conduct the
close ups and mid shots. I then planned to use the remaining time I had to shoot in the next locations
and finally to conduct the final shots need last as they took place in my room and could be filmed by
myself.

6. INDIVIDUAL
PERFORMANCE
Assess your performance in your chosen roles. What did you do? How do
you think performed in this role? Can you think of any areas where you
could have improved your performance?
Originally I was only going to direct my project and operate the camera, however due to some
implications with cast members I then had to step in to play the lead character. In doing so I
feel that I effectively directed my cast members, ensured that they received the right
information as to what each scene entailed and that they had a clear understanding of what
the films narrative involved. I am happy with the job they have done for me and feel that my
combined directing and their skills have helped to create a good quality piece of work that I am
proud to have created. I also feel that I have done the best of my ability to star as the lead
character, at first I was worried as I wasn’t sure it was going to be doable both setting up the
shots directing my actors and staring as the lead but I then realised that I knew exactly what I
wanted as a main character and knew just how to perform it. It was obviously not ideal and
would definitely prefer someone else to star as my character on the next project I make but in
turn I do feel that I effectively played the role I needed to create the type of narrative I wanted
to go for. If I were to pick aspects that needed improvement it would be camera operating skills
as I had to reshoot a few shots due to over exposure or out of focus, however I feel that this
problem only arose due to the cast implications as I feel that If I didn’t have to play the lead I
could focus more to the shots structure and how its looks other than running into frame and
acting.

7. TEAM PERFORMANCE
Assess how your team performed, did you have any problems? Did they
undertake their roles effectively? Could you have improved performance? How?
I had little issues with my teams performance after the cancelations had been sorted out
the roles for each character had been decided. I feel that I could have done better if I
had a more experienced cast however I didn’t so I had make best with what I had and I
felt that they performed well for me. There was stages in which they would get
distracted and focus on other things like chatting or being on their phones however that
wasn’t a huge issues as I quickly sorted them out. Their performance was not an issue
for me as I have said I felt they did the best they could, however their time keeping and
reliability could definitely have been improved. Some of the teams unreliability caused
further issues down the line with time keeping and the post production stage, it also
proves extremely irritating when book out the equipment you need for the day you
played and then you found out that a cast member is busy last second so your stuck
with all the equipment and no one to film with. As director and only person in charge of
this project I feel like I am partly to blame for these issues, if I were initially more
organised with my members I would have had definite plans on when to film. I would
also have been more stern with them as to ensure I can rely on their availability.
However these unavoidable problems will always arise when using non
experienced/professional actors as more then not a member will have an issue with the
filming dates set.

8. TROUBLESHOOTING
Think about the problems you had in your production [consider technical,
logistical, organisational and personnel related issues]. How did you resolve
them? Did your contingency plan work? How could you have improved this?
There were a number of problems I faced that I initially did not plan for or were situations in which I
couldn’t have foreseen happening, however I feel that I resolved these issues to the best of my ability.
With the technical aspects of my filming there were a few issues I faced involving the equipment I had
and the types of shots I planned on getting. For example I initially planned to use a few tracking shots
in my film which would have needed the use of a steadicam or shoulder mount, unfortunately the
college couldn’t lend me a steadicam and the day in which I had the shoulder mount to film with my
cast members cancelled on me. I had to resolve this problem by changing my shot list to meet with the
equipment that I had so instead I have to use still shots and changed some shots as to make them
match. Logistically there were a few problems I faced involving my planning and organisational skills,
this meant that other areas were hindered by my lack or organisation such as leaving me with less
time on my post-production stage however I feel that have managed well with lack of time have left
myself and have tried not to waste any time and ensure full focus in my work. One of my biggest
issues was my personnel, my cast/crew were unreliable and this took a big toll on my time keeping for
the whole project, it pushed back filming dates meaning I would have nothing to do till then as I had
already completed all the other stages of work. This proved to be an issues that I couldn’t resolve
other than reschedule a day to shoot and hope that there would be no further issues. My contingency
plan didn’t take effect for any of the other issues as they were not issues that I would have put down in
it however personnel was a possible issues a put in my contingency plan however I already struggled
to get enough cast members as it was so I couldn’t have any back up members to stand in for anyone
who had cancelled.

9. RESOURCES
You may have mentioned your acquisition and usage of resources in your
broad overviews above, however, are there any specific issues you
encountered [getting equipment, props, costumes, etc] that can discuss?
There were a number of issues I faced with resources, the biggest being equipment. As I do
not own my own camera or the equipment that goes with it for that matter, I was given the
option to hire out what I needed from the college. This in turn proved to be a problem with
accessibility to equipment as my whole group would also need to hire out equipment which
resulted in me not being able to obtain all the equipment I need for the dates I organised e.g. a
shoulder mount. However this wasn’t a huge problem as the accessibility for hiring equipment
is of good standards as the college has a vast range of cameras to use from. Gaining the
props I needed for my film didn’t prove too much of a task as beforehand while planning I
made sure to only include props that I knew I had, for instance an old phone I could use to
throw at the wall for one scene, a name badge with work uniform and many more. One prop
that I have had trouble with is a digital alarm clock, I thought beforehand that I already owned
one but turns out I did not so I had to ask around to see who could lend me one, eventually I
borrowed one from one of my friends. Costumes were not a a problem either, I decided I
wanted my characters outfits to change the further the film went through, going from black to
blue to grey to white. I knew I had all those clothes already so that was not an issue. For my
other cast members I ask them all to bring at least three changes of clothes as to follow with
the changing of days, this was neither a problem either.

10. PRODUCTION
TECHNIQUES
Did you have to learn or develop new skills as part of your production? How did this change or influence your
choice of production techniques? Of the techniques used which did you rate as the most successful and why?
Which techniques were not as you had expected? Why?
There weren’t many new techniques I learned however I did implement a number of different skills and techniques I
haven’t put into practice before, there were a few techniques I wanted to use before I began the production stage, I
referenced these in my planning stage. One technique I used I had gained from the famous British directors style, Guy
Ritchie. This technique displays a quick montage of a number of shots included in a specific routine, in my case a morning
routine, however all the shots are put into quick concession one after another to quickly portray what is going on in the
scene without taking up too much time or boring the audience with non vital information or footage. I had never done this
before but always admired the style of quickly informing an audience. I didn’t struggle too much on reincorporating this
technique into my own product however I realised while conducting it that is it important to ensure all the shots being used
are in the same ISO as well as focus. Recording the sound in each shot I also found was important, to get the same effect
as Guy Ritchie it is important the the sound of each shot, for instance a shower turning on, then the sound must be clear
and loud as to when added into sequence the sound is sharp and snappy as to keep up with the quick flow of the
technique. I felt that I conducted this technique the most successfully, I feel like the end product works really well and has
just the effect I wanted to create. A new technique I have also had to learn is ADR (automated dialog replacement). This is
a technique used to re-record dialogue by the original actor after the filming process, this is used in cases to improve audio
quality or reflect dialogue changes. In my case I had to use this method due to my filming location and lack of decent
sound recording equipment. As I was filming next to a busy road it proved impossible to pick up good quality sounding
dialog along with my footage. To conduct the process I luckily gained access to a sound recording booth from an
associate, called up my original actors, pulled up the original footage and played it back to the actors for them to redub
over. This is something I had never done before and found the process tricky as the actors had to speak exactly the way
they were while being recorded so that the footage and dialog were in time when put together in sequence. There were a
number of techniques I have used before that I also incorporated into my short film. A number of camera techniques were
used from the basics such as close ups and long shots to also tracking shots, movement pans and others. I did not
struggle with these techniques as they are basic and I have used them a number of times, however one I did find tricky
takes place in the scene in the characters room, the camera pans up and to the right from the main characters face to
display the time on a clock on the wall, their a subtle edit then put in place, such as a dip to white which then shows the
clock displaying a different time, the camera then pans down from the clock back to the bed to show the phone on the bed
as the main character picks I back up. This shots seemed easier when I first planned it however when it came to filming I
had not booked out the Libec tripod this day so didn’t have a great quality tripod to use for the fluid pan, so in the film there
are a number of stutters and sticks in the movement of the camera. If I were to use this technique again I would insist on
getting the best tripod for the job to minimalize the amount of stick while movement to give the end shot a smoother
quality.

11. MONITORING AND REVIEW
How did you monitor and review the progress of your project? Essentially, how did
you track the project to keep it on deadline?
There were a number of different methods I implicated into my pre production planning stage to ensure I
had a well constructed plan and schedule as to follow that helped me maintain my work to meet the
given deadline. Initially I constructed a shooting schedule timetable in which I set out the days I planned
to film, how long in each day I was going to film and as to what it was I would be filming in those set
time slots. This meant that I had a clear plan to follow for when the production stage began. However I
soon found out that there were more implications that would arise that created an effect on my
production rate. Implications such as unreliable actors, they proved a big issue when It came to keeping
on schedule as it meant the days they couldn’t film would then mean I would have to push back filming
days which thus meant I was out of sync of my already set out schedule. Scenes needing to be re-shot
also meant that my schedule was not accurate, this further pushed back the dates I initially planned to
film on meaning I would have less time in the post production stage.
The shot list, structural breakdown and storyboard I created in the pre-production stage helped me out
greatly when it came to the post-production stage as it gave me guidelines to follow when structuring
the sequence for all my clips. The story board gave me a brief visual plan to follow, helping know what
shots went where, how they would be constructed and what effect they would give to the film as a
whole. The shot list and structural breakdown also helped with this stage as it gave me a structure to
follow and recreate within premiere pro, but not only this it also helped in the production stage. In the
production stage having the shot list and structural breakdown helped me to visualise what shots I
would need to film next, as well as more details such as how long I planned them to be, where it was I
would be shooting them and what type of shot it was I would be creating.
Due to implications with cast members as well as others the schedule I wanted to follow didn’t happen,
it left me with less time on the post production stage as well as this stage of evaluation and also the
other pieces of work I had remaining or those that had corrections needing to be made on them.
However in the end I conducted myself effectively, ensuring not to waste time and focus on what I
needed to do, this meant that I finished the post production stage just a bit before the recommended

12. EARLY VERSIONS OF YOUR FILM
Explain the process that you went through in order to complete your final film. This should consider your
choice of interim screenings and what feedback you received, how you used this feedback and whether it
affected your final film.
Once I had finished the production stage, acquired all the clips I needed and conducted the reshoots that were
necessary, I then sequenced all my shots together, constructed the narrative of my story and implemented the
sound track over the footage I was then finished with the completion of my short film. However this meant that I
could receive feedback on my complete project to see if there were anymore changes I could add to further the
quality of my short film. Initially the first feedback I received concerned the dubbing over of dialogue shown
towards then end of my film. I was informed that there could be changes made to the quality of the sound
recordings to enhance the realism of them as they clearly sound pre recorded and didn’t match with clips it was
put over. To alter these problems I first selected the sound clip in premiere pro, brought up the sound effects tab
and dragged over the EQ effect. This meant I could alter the sound frequencies of the clip, doing so meant that I
could lower the bass frequencies to make the clip sound more like it was recorded outside then in a sound booth, I
also took away any echo sounds as well as bring the master volume for the clip down all together so it didn’t
become the main focus of the scene. To further the realism of the sound recording I also implemented additional
sound effects over the dialogue to drown outside the sound, sound effects such as passing cars and other ambient
surrounding sounds such as construction work and birds. Another important set of feedback I received concerned
the long shots that take place at the start of each scene set at the bus depot. the shots appeared to be slightly tiled
to the left and through out the whole post production stage I had not realised this, this feedback proved to be very
helpful as I would not have realised myself without a 2nd opinion. It also proved easy to fix as I just altered the
rotation and scale of the shots so that they appeared to be level.
Before I had completely finished my short film we held a draft screening as a group for those who had made
enough progress to show off what they had made and to have feedback received. I selected the first 30 seconds
of my film exported it and placed it on a file to be shown in the lecture screen. This helped me as I received a
number helpful points regarding sections that could be improved. Firstly I was told that my lighting could be altered
in some of the shots as to display a clearer picture of the scene. I also received feedback regarding the opening
sequence of my film, this included the morning routine sequence shot in the similar style of Guy Ritchie, using fast
cut shots too quickly display what would be a longer sequence. I was told that it would be more effective to have

13. FINAL FILM
Assess your final film in the following areas; technical qualities, creative qualities
and whether it fit your plan. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each area and
suggest how you could improve it further
My film in terms of technical quality I am pleased with the end product. Of course I feel that there are areas in which I
could definitely improve. Areas such as the quality of shots such as the panning to clock shot, that could have done with a
smoother pan, also feel there were some shots that could have done with retaking as some were slightly out of focus or
could have been either more zoomed in/out. However by the most part I feel that the majority of shots a well focused, the
ISO balance is correct throughout leaving non under/over exposed. An important feature I feel I could have improved on
technically is the sound recording, not just for the dialog but also for the ambient sounds, I problem with the equipment I
used the sound recording was very clear on it so it was hard to use any of the clips along with their sound as most of the
time the sound of a car would drown out the scene. I feel in future attempts I could definitely improve my work on this,
next time by using a higher quality recording device. I have a large amount of confidence in my creative aspect of this
project, I feel that I have used my creative skills to come up with an original piece of work by featuring aspects I have
come across in my life as well my own personal views as well as other peoples, added all these together and created a
piece of work I am proud of. I feel that I creatively displayed my skills in the form of techniques, angles and styles that I
have learned from my time attending this course. The majority of my final piece meets just what I planned initially in the
planning stage, for instance the narrative is still the same and the majority of the shots I initially planned to use are the
still the same. Although there are of course some slight changes to angles or shot types as to what was originally
planned, this is due to factors coming into play that I did not foresee initially, however this was combatted instantly and
proved a little challenge. There was a specific technique that I wanted to use that did not go to plan so I decided to leave
it out. This technique involved a scene transitional wipe, similar to the famous star wars wipe, however instead I wanted
to use an object to mark the wiping line of transition, in this case I wanted to use a bus coming across frame to transition
to the next. Once filmed and I began to attempted this edit I found it to be too difficult as a number of problems arose
such as the shots had to in the exact same position for the transition to be clean, as well as the bus moving too fast
across shot for me to track it. I am confident in my choice of sound track and feel that it works well along side the footage
it meets the tempo of the editing as well as the tone of the film. However if I were to do this project again I feel that I could
improve on this by implementing my own soundtrack that I have made myself, as the sound track I chose was an original
Beethoven piece and I chose it because of there being no copyright laws attached to an artist who has been dead for
longer then 70 years. I feel that if I made my own it would feel like more of an achievement and would give me something
to even more proud of.