1. Final Major Project Evaluation
For my Final MajorProject,I chose to create a short film.The genre of the shortfilmwascomedy
and itsfinishedlengthwasfive minutesandthirtyseconds.Iwasheavilyinfluencedbyolder
comediessuchasBlackadderandOnlyFoolsand Horses(forthe writtenhumour) andBottom(for
the more aggressive comediccontentandslapstick). The plotof myshortfilmrevolvesarounda
teenage boywhoistalkingtohislove interestonthe phone.Afterabrief chatshe suggests theygo
out fora meal together,whichleavesthe boysetbackandshocked.The filmthenmovesonintothe
boy’shead- where hisdifferentemotions,feelingsandcharacteristicsargue anddebate onwhat
decisiontomake onthe matter. The differentcharactersbickeramongsteachother,withthe
‘leader’CommonSenseoverseeingmatters.Eventually,afteravote,theyall come to a decision.I
chose to do thisshortfilmoveranyotherprojectas I wantedto try to do somethingdifferent.Ihave
alwaysbeen interestedinwritingcomedyandthisassignmentgave me the perfectchance totest
my abilitiesandskillsinthe field. Ifoundsome of the pre-productiontasksquite difficultasIdidnot
knowwhatto do for some of them.For example,Ididnotknow what type of researchto do intomy
projectand ittook me quite some time todecide whattodo.The editingwasalsoquite difficultand
lengthy,assome partstook a lotof time toeditto a good standard.However,IwouldsaythatI have
generallyenjoyedthe process.
Technical Quality:
Throughoutthe productionprocess,Iuseda NikonDSLRcamera alongwitha digital soundrecorder.
I shotall of the footage at 24 framespersecond.Generally,Ithinkthatthe qualityof myworkis
good.Visually,myprojectisgenerallyveryclearandfocused,withverylittle-inmostcircumstances,
none at all- backgroundnoise. The qualityisn’texcellent,thoughIthinkthatit wouldbe verydifficult
for me to achieve thiswiththe equipmentIhad.However,itisclearand presentable. Forthe
majorityof the shoots,I wasable to capture the footage ingood,qualitylighting,asthe sun
providedexcellentnatural lighting.However,the sunwaswhatcausedthe majorityof myvisually
technical hindrances.Due tothe large amountof footage Ineeded,Ihadshootson manydifferent
daysat manydifferenttimes.Subsequently,the sunwasat differentpointsinthe skyandthusthe
amountof lightbeingshone onthe setvaried.However,thisonlyprovidedaslightproblem,asthe
lightingisverysimilarinall of the scenesandnone are outstandinglybrighterordarkerthanothers.
A couple of nigglesIhave withlightinscenesare forAnger’sscene’s-inwhichIthinkitlooksslightly
too bright- andintelligence’sscenes-inwhichIthinkitistoo dark. I thinkthatthe latteris like this
because of the windowbackground,whichthe camerahassubsequentlyauto-adjustedandmade it
darker.However,theyare bothpractically unnoticeableandthe lightingbetween scenes isvery
seamless.The biggestproblemIhave withthe lightingisforone of CommonSense’sscenes.Inthe
part of the filmwhere he isengaginginconversationwith‘Libido’, stronglightfromthe window
behindisseepingintothe frame. Thisresultsin the cameraauto-adjustingthe lightinginthe shot
several timesandthe scene clearlychangesinitsamountsof light.There isalsoaflare of lightat the
side of the shot throughout,thoughthisisn’ttoonoticeable.The lightingchangesatasteadypace
and youcan clearlysee the transitionfromlighttodarkand dark to lightinthe scene.Thoughitis
possible itcanbe passedoff as natural lighting,Idon’tthinkitworkswell andIthinkthe part could
have beenbetter.Because of the lighting,the scene hasslightpoortechnical qualitytoo,asithas
some slightlygrainypartsinthe shot.However,thispartisn’ttoobad and I don’tthinkthe overall
technical qualityisunderminedbecause of the scene. Anotherscene Ithinkhassomewhatpoor
technical qualityisthe scene inwhichthe boystampsonthe fly.The shot has some noise andis
2. slightlyoutof focus.However,Ithinkthatas itis fromthe pointof view of a fly,thenitisn’ttoobad
and therefore isn’tverynoticeable inthisrespect.Asmentionedabove,the qualityisnotexcellent
but,of a clear andpresentable standard.Icouldnotgainany betterqualitywithoutbetter
equipmentandthere wasnothingthatcouldbe done inpost-production.Overall though,Ithinkthe
qualityisverygoodand clear,apart fromthe slightflawsmentionedabove.
While recording,Ihadthe soundrecordermountedtothe topof the camera (whichitself was
attachedto a tripodfor much of the time) andI woulduse bothat the same time.Iwouldclapin
orderto make a shortsharp sound,fromwhichI couldeasilysyncthe videoandthe audioinpre -
productionlater.Ididthisas the soundthat the camerarecordedwasgenerallyverypoor.However,
soundrecordedonthe soundrecorderwas much clearerandaudible. Inpost-production,Iwould
bringthe soundrecorderaudioand the camera audiotogetherandcarefullysyncthemtothe
closestsecondasI could.Followingthis,Iwoulddelete the camera’saudio,leavingjustthe video
and external sound-recorderaudio.Astheywere syncedwitheachother,Iwouldthenexportthem,
inorder to create one piece of connected footage andsubsequentlymake iteasierformyself. The
audiothroughoutisverygoodand the soundcan be heardclearlyandwithoutanybackground
noise.A problemIencounteredwaswhenIwouldmove the footage inmyprojecttimeline,which
sometimesresultedinthe audioandthe videobeingveryslightlydisplaced.Idonotthinkthat ithad
a major impacton the scenesbutI thinkyoucan veryslightlyidentifyout-of-syncaudioona couple
of scenes.These are angerandintelligence’sscenes.However,Ithinkthatthismay be merelymy
brainplayingtricksonme,as I was veryworrieditwouldsounddreadful.The resultwasvery
differenthoweverandIam verypleasedwiththe videoandaudiosynchronisations. Iusedalotof
extrasoundinmy short film,includingmusicandsoundeffects.Ithinkthe soundeffectsworkvery
well,alongwiththe songs.OnLibido’sscene,Ithinkthe songis slightlytooloudasthe soundof the
actor is onlyjustlouderthanthe music.I thinkthatI shouldhave turneditdowna bit butit isn’ttoo
much of a concernand isn’tat a level whereyouare strainingtohearthe actor overthe song. I think
the majorityof my audioconcernscome fromthe phone call scenesandthe soundprovidedbythe
actressfor the short film.The qualityisokayforthe openingscenesbut,Ithinkforthe closing
scenesitdecreasesinquality.Thiswasbecause Ihadrecordedthe scene before andhadincorrectly
judgedhowlongwouldbe neededforthe actressto speak.AsI wasonlyable to recordher lines
once,I effectivelyhadto‘make do’withwhatI had. The editingwasgenerallyverygoodupuntil her
lastlines,aswhatshe said wastoo longfor the assignedsegmentof time. Throughout,Ihadto cut
and clipparts of her lines,aswell asspeeditupat points.Thiswasn’ttoonoticeable for the mass
majoritybutit isveryevidentforthe lastpart.Her lineshave beenclipped,spedupandput back
togethertoform a mis-matchedcollectionof audio.Itisaudible andclearanddoesn’tworktoobad,
but itis veryapparentthe lineshave beeneditedtogether.She seemstospeaktofastand I respond
too quicklytoherwhen she finishes. Itisalsonotentirelyseamless,asthe start of one of herlines
beginstooabruptlyandsharply,asit was the middle of the sentence inthe original recording.
However,apartfromthis,I thinkthe audioqualityof myworkwas verygood.
I thinkthat the transitioningbetweensome of the audiocouldhave beenbetterinaninstance.
Duringthe libidosegment,the songendsabruptlyandIthinkI couldhave endeditina betterway.
For example,IthinkIcouldhave fadeditoutto make a bettereffect.Also,Ifeel the transitionsfrom
the ‘real word’to inside the boy’sheadandbackagain couldhave beendone alot better.Ithink
theyare toosharp and I thinkthatthere couldhave beenbettereffectstohelpthemmore
seamlesslyintertwine.Ithinkaneffectcouldalsomake itclearerthat the filmismovingintothe
boy’shead-whichissomethingIam worriedthe audience maynotunderstand.
3. I thinkthat generally,the shotsare verygood.I use a varietyof differentanglesthroughout for
variousreasonsandeffects.These include pointof view,overthe shoulder,close up,mid-shot,
panninganddouble-charactershots.Ithinkeachserve theirpurpose andworkwell inthe video.
Examplesof some of the shotsinclude the P.O.V of the flyflyingaroundandthengettingswatted
and crushed.There isa pan shotto establishthe characterof Libidoandthere isa close upof Sloth
havingthe biscuitssnatchedfromhishand.The openingof the flywasmerelyusedtoestablishthe
filmandto bringin the teenage character.Itwas alsoinfluencedbythe openingof the musicvideo
for JoyDivision’s‘Love Will TearUsApart’.
I thinkthe editingforthe projectwasverygood,consideringthe manydifficultproceduresandtasks
I had to do. FirstlyIhad to sync the audio,whichIbelieve wasgenerallyverygoodasmentioned
above.Ishot the majorityof my character’sscenesinone take,ina shot-reverse-shotfashion.I
subsequentlyhadtocut the parts of the videointothe segmentsinwhichwereneeded.Afterdoing
thisfor eachcharacter, a large portionof the editinginvolvedplacingthe clipsinorder,soas to
make a structured,narrative shortfilm.Iplacedtransitionsonsome of the videosforeffectandin
manycircumstancesitmade thembetter.For example,Iusedafade in forthe beginningandendof
the sceneslocatedinside the boy’s head,inordertosignal the start and endof that segmentof the
story.I usedmanysoundeffectsandmusicalso.Firstly,Iusedthe jawstheme musicduringthe fly
POV.I didthisto buildsuspense- whichwassubsequentlystoppedwhenthe mysteriousbeing
ascendingthe stairswasmerelyafly.I thenuseda smackingsoundeffectandaflybuzzingnoise.I
thenuseda stamp soundwhenthe boycrushes the fly.Ienjoythisscene asI like the POV of the fly.I
cut framesout of the videolookingupatthe boy to representthe flyblinkingandIusedthe boy
bringinghisfootdownonthe flyas a markto show the title.Asthe footcomesdownandthe screen
goesblack,I bringon the maintitles.Some of the audiofromthe nextscene beginswhile the screen
isstill blackand thiswasdeliberate,soIcouldsetthe tone forthe movie andbeginthe nextscene
straightwiththe boyrespondingonthe phone. Iuseda ‘dreamlike’soundeffecttosymbolize the
filmmovingintothe boy’shead. Throughoutthissequence Ialsousedalotof music.I used‘I’m
comingout’by DianaRoss duringthe brief ‘Femininity’segment,MarvinGaye’s‘Let’sGetIt On’
duringLibido’ssegmentandsome instrumental ‘love’musicwhenintelligenceislookingata girl in
the newspaper. Ialsouse some soundeffectsincludingasmack soundeffectforwhenthe
newspaperisthrownatSloth,a recordscratch to endthe Femininitysegment andthe soundof a
phone ringing.Atthe end,Iuse a winkingsoundeffectwhenthe boywinksdirectlyintothe camera.
Thisis because the boymakesa statementthatalludestothe title of the shortfilm.Thisbroke the
fourthwall butI thoughtit was a goodpart of the video.Once the boyfinishestalkinghe walksout
of the roomwhile Boston’s‘More Thana Feeling’plays.The doorshutsbehindhimandthe screen
fadesto black,where ‘The End’fadesin.Ilike thisendinganditwasa veryeasyeffect toputin.
One componentof the videoisthe clones.Thoughthisisonlyevidentduringthe Happinessand
Sadnessscenes,Ithinkitworkedverywell.Iplacedthe footage of happinessontopof sadnessand
usedthe linearwipe tool toremove half of the frame.Ithenusedthe feathertool toremove the
harsh bordersplittingthe twovideos.Thoughyoucanstill slightlysee whereIhave mergedthe
videos,youwouldnotsee itduringregularviewingandwouldhave topause the videotoidentifyit.
I editedthe videoasbestasI couldin orderto make itfast-paced,whichIbelievedwouldhelpit
retainitshumourby beingthickandfast andnot lingeringonsomethingfortoolong. The back and
forthlinesbetweenthe differentcharacterswaseditedina wayso that the conversationseemed
flowingandnatural andnot tooslow.However,Ithinkitisslightlytooslow inplacesandso I think
thisissomethingIcould have done better.Overall though,Ithinkthe filmmaintainsagood,steady
pace.One part of editingIlikedinmyfilmisduringthe femininitysequence.The scene cuts,viaa
4. slidingtransition,to femininitygettinginfrontof a mirrorand cuts awayvia a slidingmotiontoo.
The music thatwas playingisstoppedbya recordscratch and I thinkitall workedverywell. My
editingisverygoodinplacesbut,I feel thatitisweakin others.However,thisismyfirsttime
attemptingaprojectof thismagnitude andIoverall feel thatthe shortfilm’seditingandqualityis
verygood. From a personal view,IthoughtIdidverywell inall aspectsof thisproject.AsI am the
sole actor playingmanycharacters,I hadto move inand out of costumesand personalitiestofilm
and thoughI foundthistiring,Iam verypleasedwiththe results. IthoughtIacted eachof my
characters well anddeliveredmylinesinagoodcomedicfashionandtiming.
Production Skills
I believethatIacquiredanddevelopedmanyskillsthroughoutthe course of thisassignment.This
includesall stagesof production. Firstly,duringpre-production,IdevelopedmanyskillsIhadalready
acquired.Ialreadyhadexperienceof ideasgeneration,projectresearchandtaskssuchas location
reconnaissance,riskassessmentsandthe treatment.AsIhadalreadycompletedthisstagesin
previousassignmentsforcollege work,Iknew besthow tohandle themandcomplete them
professionallyandefficiently.
I greatlyimprovedmywritingskillsduringthe pre-productionprocess.Ihave longhadan interestin
comedyandhave triedmy handat writingcomedyinthe past.However,Iwasmuchyoungerthen
and I thinkthatthistime I was able tocomplete ascript to nearprofessionalstandards,maturely
and effectively.Ialsoused‘Celtx’,whichwasthe firsttime Iusedthispiece of software andwas
subsequentlyaskill Iacquired.Iwill use thispieceof software inthe future forwritingscriptsasitis
veryeasyto use and resultsinprofessional lookingwork.
I alsogainedskillsincameraworkandsoundrecording,asthis wasthe firsttime I usedsound
synchronisingforaproject.I alsousedmanydifferentangles,whichIalsodidwhenworkingona
previouscollegeproject. Ialsoexperimentedwithseveral differentcameraanglesandpositionsto
try and make myshort filmmore effective. IalsothoughtI developedmyactingskillsandconfidence
infront of a camera,whichI coulduse for varioustypesof workinthe future.
I thinkI developedmyeditingskillsgenerallyverywell.Iexperimentedwithvariousthingsandthink
some of the resultingscenesworkedverywell andwere of aprofessional standard. Asmentioned
above,Ithinkthe camera stampscene,the femininitysceneandthe endingscene were all verygood
and I thinktheywere some of mybesteditedscenes.Ialsoenjoyedthe P.O.V of the flysequence,as
I thinkthe soundeffects,blinkingeffectandbuildupwere of agood standard.
I alsolearntmore about researchingduringthisassignment.Iwasunsure of thingsto researchand
so I useda varietyof sourcesto viewdifferentthingsrelatingtomyproject.Iwatchedexisting
products,tutorialsandreadarticlesandbookson how to write shortfilmsandcomedy. These
helpedme greatlywhenitcame towritingmyscriptand I thinkshowsthatresearchis a vital stage
of an assignment.Foranyassignmentsinthe future,Iwill definitelyuse awide range of sourcesasI
didinthis instance.
I alsodevelopedmypitchingskillsduringthisproject.Ihadto pitchmy projectanddiscusswhatit
was about,myinfluences andhowI wouldgoaboutcompletingit.Ihad previouslypitchedduring
anothercollege assignmentandsoIwas preparedforthisand knew whatwasexpectedof me.I
preparedappropriate cue cardsand a presentationwithrelatedimagery.ThoughIwasvery nervous,
I remainedcalmandcomposedanddeliveredmypitchclearly.Thishelpedtodevelopmy
communicationskillsandIthinkthe more experience Ihave doingthis,the betterIwill get.
5. Original Intentions
My shortfilmverycloselymatchesmyoriginal intentionsoutlined inmyproposal formandpitch.
The story isverysimilartothe plotpremise Idescribedandthere were onlysome veryslight
changes.For example,the boyisaskedoutfora meal onthe phone ratherthanbeingaskedforhis
numberviasocial media.Idecidedtodothisas I feltthe teenage characterneededtospeakandit
was a seminal partof the structure of the narrative formy script.I had not yetwrittenthe endingto
my shortfilmduringthe proposal formandso I cannot commentonthat and variousotherpartsof
it I hadnot wrote.Some of the characters I suggestedinthe proposal were includedinthe final film-
Sadness,Anger,LibidoandCommonSense.Ihadthe ideafor a character named‘Paranoia’thoughI
thinkthat the character wastoo similarto‘Sadness’andsoI effectivelymergedthe two.Inthe
proposal Istate that I maybringmore charactersintothe filmduringthe writingprocessandIdid-
Happiness,FemininityandSlothwere the three charactersIadded.
I describe inmyproposal howI wantfast-pacededitinganda varietyof differentcameraanglesand
shotsfor comiceffect.IthinkI achievedthisbecause,asmentionedabove,Iuse manydifferent
shotsthroughout.Forexample,the close upof Intelligence readingthe paper,the panningshotof
Libidoandthe close up of Slothbeinghitwiththe newspaper. Igoon to saythat I want a blendof
‘intelligent’and‘toilet’humourinmyshort film.IthinkIachievedthisthroughthe wittyremarksof
CommonSense andthe contrastingcharacterssuch as Intelligence andLibido.Idescribe how Imay
use cultural referencesbutIdidnotin the end.I didnotas I did notthinktheysuitedthe tone of the
filmandI couldnot finda slotinwhichto make a referential joke. Isaythat I wantto cater for
differentcomedicfansandstylesandIthinkI didthis,as I believe the sortof humourI use is
universal andneutral toall agesand genders.ThoughIwanteditto be comedy-neutral,Ioriginally
specificallyaimedthe shortfilmatteenagersandyoungadultsdue to the themesinvolved.
However,olderpeople enjoyedthe shortdue tothe comediccontentmore thananything.Ithink
that thisalsocontrasts withmyoriginal ideaforthe filmtobe more plotdriven.However,Ithinkthe
jokesandcomedytake precedence overthe storyinthe final cut.I thinkthisworkswell though,asit
showsthat the filmdoesn’ttake itself tooserious.Inthe endIverymuch preferredthe joke and
comedydrivenstyle of myfilm,asopposedtothe original narrative drivenideaIhad inmy mind.
Time Management and Problem Solving
Throughoutmyproject,I usedprojectschedulescreatedinMicrosoftexcel.Ididthisinorderto
keepupwithmy workand to assignmyself specifictimesinwhichtocomplete certaintasks. Ifirst
made an original schedulewhere Igave myselfanappropriate amountof time forthe varioustasksI
had to complete.Iupdatedthisona weeklybasis,addingextraweekstoeachtaskif it wasneeded
and makingsmall commentsatthe bottomthe table,statingwhat I changed.AsI founditdifficultto
complete certaintasksinthe original time Ioriginallyassignedmyself,Iwouldoftenaddextraweeks
to give me a comfortable time tocomplete the work. Istruggledtocomplete manyof the tasksinan
assignedamountof time andI foundmyself oftenrunningoverthe weekdeadlinesIgave myself.
Thisput heavyconstraintonmyself,asIslowlyfilteredthroughthe work,bottleneckingalarge
amountof workfor the final fewweeks.Thoughthe schedulehelpedtoadegree,itwasmyself who
shouldhave completedtasksearlierandfollowedmydeadlinesmore strictly. Alongside the project
schedules,Ialsocompletedaproductiondiaryeachweek.Thishelpedme documentmyprogress,
includingwhatIhad achievedthatweek andwhatIhopedto do the followingweek. Thishelpedme
as I couldsee inwrittenformwhere Iwas upto and it helpedme workoutwhere Iwasup to and
whatI had leftto do.There were manytimeswhenIhad to use contingencyplansduringmyproject.
6. I wouldhave tofindtime toreshootfootage,arrange alternative timesinwhichtogethelpformy
projectand findtimesinwhichtodoout-of-lessonediting.Iarrangedtocome induringthe half
termholidaytocarry onwithsome editingandIsubsequentlycame inontwodays. Thisgreatly
helpedme asitallowedme touse the software I couldnotaccess at home and alsocomplete alarge
portionof the soundsyncs whichIwas strugglingtocomplete inordinarylessontime.
Reaching My Target Audience:
My original targetaudience wasyoungpeople agedapproximately16-25.This wasdue to the
themesof younglife involved.However,olderpeople alsoenjoyedthe shortfilm, ascanbe seen
fromthe resultsinthe survey.Ithinkthatthisshowsthat the comedywasage-neutral andwasn’t
confinedtojustone age group. However,the youngeraudience alsoenjoyedit,soIam verypleased
that my original targetaudience likedittoo.Iam glad that all agesenjoyitas I like thatmy comedy
isveryuniversal. Iaskedverysimple questionsinthe surveyformyFinal MajorProject,butthey
allowedfordetailedresponses,answersandfeedback. More detailedanalysisof myaudience
feedbackisembeddedinthe same label asthisevaluation.
Summary Conclusion:
Overall,Iam verypleasedwithmyproject.However,thereare manythingsIwouldcomplete
differentlyif Iwastorespondto the projectbrief again. Iwoulddomore in-depthresearch,asthe
researchI didgreatlyhelpedme andIthinkevenmore couldhave done more forme.I wouldhave
lookedatmore editingtutorial videosand‘How To’videos.Iwouldhave alsotriedandgaineda
bettertechnical qualityof the footage. Ithinkthata bettercamerawouldhave helpedme achieve
this,butas I mentionedabove,nonewere available.Iwouldhave alsolikedtodomore
sophisticatedcloning,asthere are onlysmall partswhere cloningisevident.Ithinkthatmore
cloningandmore interactionbetweenthe characterswouldhave made the filmbetter.Iwouldhave
attemptedtohave three people inthe same scene atonce,plushave more clonedshots. Due tothe
fairlydifficultnature of the cloning,Irestrictedthe processwhile filming.Now Iknow how to
achieve it,IbelieveIcoulddoit quicklyandeffectively.I wouldalsofollow myprojectschedules
more,as I believethatfollowingthemstrictlywouldhelpme manage mytasksmore appropriately
and efficiently. Iwouldalsoseekmore helpif Iwasto do the projectagain.Duringthe production
processof thisproject,I was oftenthe sole workeronthe project.ThismeantIwas clickingrecord
on the camera andsoundrecorder,clappingtosync them, andthenmovingintoframe to begin
acting.However,thiswastiringandfrustratingat times,as if I made any mistakes,Iwouldhave to
do the whole processagain.Thiswasparticularlydifficultforthe sceneswhere Iam‘handcuffed’to
a table and wearingawigand moustache whichare hot and uncomfortable.A siblinghelpedfor
some scenesbutI wouldhave definitelybenefittedmore fromconstanttechnical assistance.
Personally,Iwouldhave likedthe shortfilmtobe biggerandmore spectacularona grander scale.
ThoughI didn’thave the abilitiestocreate the visionIoriginallyhadinmind,suchascloningand
bettereffects,IbelievethatInowpossessbettereditingskillstobe able tocreate a biggerand
bettershortfilm.Iwouldhave alsolikedformyshortfilmtobe longer,withmore inputfromsome
of the lesserfeaturedcharacters.Ithinkitwouldalsobe interestingtoaddsome extracharacters,
thoughI wouldtake care notto make the filmseempacked. Asmyeditingdidimprove throughout
the productionprocess,Iwouldbe able todo betterthingsif I hadto respondto the projectbrief
again.I wouldalsowatchmore tutorialsandask for more helpinorderto achieve whatIwanted.
However,overall Iamverypleasedwithmyfinal majorprojectshortfilm.
