The student reflects on their experience in pre-production for their group film project. They felt that time management, team chemistry, and role distribution were going well. Their technical skills have developed through lectures on topics like three-act structure and equipment inductions. The student was assigned the role of sound producer. They have done research on using sound and music to create atmosphere, like in films A Quiet Place and The Conjuring. They will be responsible for capturing dialogue and operating microphones during filming. No plans have been made for post-production yet, but the student will obtain sound effects and music to mix for the final cut.

1. Individual Reflection
Bloglink:
Thisreportwill be reflectingonwhatI have learnedduringpre-production.Iwouldsaysofar into
the processeverythingisgreatwithtime management,teamchemistryandeverybodydoingtheir
role as well assupportingandassistingin general withthe otherjobsroles.Iama little hesitanton
the ideatheycame up not because itwas bad interms of storytellingandqualitybutthatthey
thoughtof as if theyhada Hollywoodbudget.Ialsohadgreat shortfilmideasandpitcheditto my
groupto showthat I am investinginbeingateamplayerandcommittedtoworkinginthisproject.
The ideasI thoughtup were more realistictothe budgetwe hadandlocationand I pitchedtwo
great ideasthatthe teamreallylikedbutultimatelyturned down.Due tothatfact, theyalreadyhad
thingsinmotionwe are currentlydoingandthat it will show ourbestqualityworkonthe pre-
productionside andpost-productionside,whichIagreed.
My technical skillshave alsodevelopedfromthe pre-productionwe are doingwiththe lecturesand
inductions. Duringthe earlystagesof pre-production we didn’treallyhave aproblemhavingideas
for scenesandcamerashots as I andLuke came up witha lotbut we still reallydidn’thave afully
formedideaorhow to dowhat we wantedto.Lecturessuchas the 10 commonmistakesfilmmakers
do show us mistakeswe couldmake andhow to avoidthem.Particularlywhenthe lecture mentions
the three-actstructure whicheveryoneinourteamknowsbutdidn’tapplytoour script until Iwas
showninthe lecture have an evenbalance of positiveandnegative.Thiswasaweaknessinour
narrative as I re-readourscriptonlyseeingnegativesonthe character,thisleadsme toadd positive
scenesinthe middle andendof the filmthatcertainlymake ournarrative stronger.The equipment
inductionswere alsouseful andhelpedexpandmytechnical knowledgeof equipmentbutbesides
those,Ihave not reallylearnedalotof new skillsinpre-productionasIhave done thistype of
projectnumeroustimesinpast.
The job role I wasassignedtoisthe soundproducerwhere Iwouldmix the entire soundtrackand
operate the audioduringproduction.Ihave done anextensive amount of researchonsound by
lookingatotherfilmsasinspiration.FilmslikeA QuietPlace (2018) reallyplayswiththe ideaof
soundand musicalsobeinga horrorgenre like ourfilmfitswell intowhatwe are trying toproduce.I
thinkbecause we are dealingwithisolationourprotagonistdoesnotreallysaymuchat firstand a
lotof the soundshouldbe ambientnoisesof the roomoroutside topresentthe ideaof isolationto
the audience andthiswill emphasisedthroughoutthe film.The musicinourfilmIthinkwill be more
prominentasmore as our character goes insane we hearmore dialogue fromhimtellingthe viewer
he’stransitioningintoinsanity. Withsoundandmusicclassichorrorconventionswill be used inthe
background,gettinglouderinpitchfilmssuchas TheConjuring (2013) has helpedinspiredthat as

2. Individual Reflection
well asthe film CastAway (2000) withthe ideaof paranoiaconsumingthe character as those films
alsohave verylittle dialogueinthe firstact.
OtherindependentresearchIhave beendoingisprimaryresearchwhere have beenbookingout
equipmentfromthe universitiesAV store andtestingoutpersonallywhichsoundtoolswouldbe
bestfor filming.Itestedthese outside of classwithmygroupduringthe planningsessionsof pre-
production.Ifoundthat overall the boommicwouldbe more useful forourfilmasitcapturessound
and noise of whateverishappeninginthe roombest.Ihave alsoresearcheddifferentsound
techniquesIcouldutilisesuchas an-empatheticsound, whichleavesaudiencestothinkthat there’s
a deeperunderstandingbiggerpartplayingtothe genre,charactersand narrative.If un-ironicmusic
was playedinsteadthenthe film’snarrative isformedmore,butan-empatheticmusicformsthe
film’snarrative inanunalignedway. The soundisimportantbecause itaddsvalue tothe imageswe
see onscreenimpactingthe audience withacertainemotionortone.
In regardsto the secondhalf of thisunit,we will beginfilmingandstartpost-productiontocreate
our final product.Duringthis, Iwill playakeypart in filmingbyhelping setupthe locationreadyto
be filmedandaswell setupall relevantsoundequipmentforfilming.Inthe processof filming,Iwill
alsobe responsible forcapturingdialogue andsoundbeingthe soundoperatorandmakingsure all
the microphonesare workingathighstandards.I will alsocontribute alotwiththe whatshouldbe
saidand done inthe scenesandshots.Helpingthe directorwiththe storytellingandnarrative asI
feel Ican be a bighelpinthisstage and I am sure that will notbe alone inhelpingourdirector
Declan.Noplanshave beenmade forpost-productionyetbutIthinkwe all agreedtobe together
withthe editorwheneditingourfootage sowe can all contribute andput oureffortsintomaking
the bestfinal cut.Equallyimportant,asthe soundmixertoo,I will obtainall the rightappropriate
music,soundeffects,volume levelsandsuchthatwill bestfitthe shortfilm.Some skill gapsIcould
improve duringthe secondhalf orif I were tothisagain I wouldbookoutsome of the sound
equipmentmore gainingexperience onhow touse themand how I can findsome techniquesusing
them.I onlybookedafewpiecesof equipment once,soforthe secondhalf,Iwill make apersonal
planto bookout soundequipmentagainsoI can be preparedforfilmingandmaybe testoutsome
differentsoundequipmenttosee whichwouldbe bestforourspecificscenes. Overall, good
experience sofarandI thinkwe’re onpointwiththe unit’sbrief.
FILMOGRAPHY:
The Conjuring. (2013) Directed by James Wan [Online] Available through Netflix. [Accessed
on 31st October 2018]

3. Individual Reflection
Cast Away. (2000) Directed by Robert Zemeckis [Online] Available through Netflix. [Accessed
on 31st October 2018]
A Quiet Place. (2018) Directed by John Krasinski [Online] Available through Netflix.
[Accessed on 29th October 2018]