This document provides questions for a student named Robert-Ryan to evaluate their final film project. It addresses various aspects of the filmmaking process, including pre-production, production, post-production, scheduling, individual performance, team performance, troubleshooting, resources, production techniques, monitoring and review, early versions of the film, and an assessment of the final film. Robert-Ryan provides detailed responses evaluating what went well and could be improved at each stage of making their short film.

1. PRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT
EVALUATION
ROBERT-RYAN
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.
Pre-production went mostly well in that I was able to plan out the structure and
the order of shots I would shoot the film in by making a shot list and storyboard.
Because I was able to plan out the look and how the film would play out in my
head it made planning a more smooth process for me. While planning for the
look/structure went well I was not able to get the equipment and people that I
wanted. I planned out the equipment and who I would get to help me shoot the
film but something personal came up with my friend who would be the DP that
would prevented him from making it on the day of the shoot so I ended up
shooting and directing the film by myself which made the shoot a little harder
then expected. I think the failure here is that I should have prepared and make
sure for certain that my camera man would be there and let him know of the
changed dates for when to film. I just assumed that he would be here regardless
so I should have contacted him before I confirmed on the evaluation power point
that he would be there to help me shoot. I also ended up writing that I would use a
stedicam and shoulder mount but when it came to get the equipment they where
the gone and the only things left where the camera and tripod. So while the visual
and structural planning went well. I should have made sure I would have had
access to the right people and equipment before writing it down.

3. PRODUCTION
Broadly explain your production process. What went well, what could be
improved? How did your filming go?
Production went mostly smoothly despite having to work on the camera
equipment by myself and equipment being limited to a camera and tripod which
did make the shoot more of a challenge but we pulled through. The only problems
that came up that did lead to me reshooting the film is that I shot the first couple
shots in the wrong frame rate and I only corrected the frame rate when I noticed
that the shots looked off. Because I forgot to reshoot them during the shoot I
ended up re shooting those shots 2 weeks later because I had to wait for my turn
to get the equipment again. Other problems that came up where fixed by a few
tweaks in post. For example my thumb that appeared in the shot at one point is
not where to be seen because I used premiere pro to make the image bigger so
that my thumb would be out of frame. In certain shots before the editing process
you could hear people in the background talking but thanks to editing including
composing some ambient music as well as recording and downloading pre
recorded background noise, I was able to drown that out. The only other problem
that could not be fixed through post was the tripod I booked was hard to use and
very clunky. I ended up using a old one I had saved up on my wardrobe. I only
booked one from college as I think I would have been able to utilize more
complicated angles but the tripod was too hard to master and making the shots
still and achieving panning shots so I replaced the tripod because it was easier to
achieve both those things with the old tripod I had.

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?
Post production went smoothly and I did not face any deadlines or went above
schedule and I was able to put all of the pieces together and tell a complete story
simply because compared to everyone who made a film the editing process for
me was very minimal because the story to my film is very small scaled, simple
and would not require any after effects and complex editing techniques to tell the
story. Even when I did face any problems they did not effect the schedule and
they could have been delt with very easily. The only things that could have been
improved in my opinion is that there was one continuity issue in the kitchen
scene where a box of Weatabix appears on one side of the shot but then in the
next shot off the kitchen it is in a different place to where it was before. I should
have been more careful to make sure it wasn’t moved in between shots and
chosen the right piece of footage that would have made continuity more
consistent. There is also the issue when it comes to sound. When it shows the
protagonist bashing the criminal’s head in, I wasn’t able to get the right sound
effects I wanted and instead have the music be the only thing you hear in that
sequence. The reason being is that any noise I could find online to download or
could create at home would sound really comical and fake and the sound that you
could hear on the original footage was the sound of a hammer bashing through a
pillow that I set up for my actor to bash against. Because that became noticeable
when showing it to others it became necessary to tweak this part of the film.

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?
I planed out the visual atheistic and structure of the film by making a shot list and
a mood board. A shot list was very useful because it allows you to write about the
film bit by bit from the length of each shot, what angle are you shooting from and
what is the context of each shot and in the end you get to pin point how many
shots there are in total. Because of this it made the shoot a lot easier because I
printed out my shot list was able to give directions of the shot and camera
placement and to my actor of the emotions he should be feeling in each scene
because I had all of my ideas written down to give me guidance for how each
scene should be according to the shot list when it came to the shoot. The
storyboard was helpful for similar reasons as the shot list but was also able to
give me a idea of what the final product would look like visually. The problem with
the shot list website was that it was very limited to how many slides it would let
me make and I would have to pay in order to continue so I ended up sticking to
the shot list which I created using Microsoft word. I made sure I was in close
contact with anyone who would even slightly be involved in the making of the
film. Most of which consisted of my own family including my main actor. Even
with my camera man who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts so that when
any change would pop up they would know immediately.

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?
Because my DP wasn’t able to make it on the day of the shoot I had to take
over as both director and DP which was a very stressful task to preform but I
managed to pull through. I believed I preformed the camera work well
despite having to deal with the clunky tripod and the occasional camera. The
only aspects of the camerawork that I could not deal with was the one shot
where the camera was out of focus the one shot involving a pan that was
slightly out of time with the actors movements. Aside from those issues I
feel I have the look of the film down to how I planned it out with my shot list
and I still managed to make a visually interesting regardless of the minor
issues. As director I had my shot list to help me guide how each shot is set
up instead of remembering of by heart which made things a little more
easier for me and me and my actor got a long really well mainly due to the
fact that we are brothers, making teamwork more easier and I almost faced
no problems because of that but I have a feeling that I would be facing a
greater challenge if I was working with someone who wasn’t a family
member. Because I can be socially awkward and because I’m a student my
language when it comes to directing a project is kind of limited

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?
Because I collaborated with family members to help me make the film team work
and team performance was very efficient and consistent. My brother preformed
the role as the main actor for the film and is the one the audience follows every
step of the way. He preformed each step and direction I gave him and even when
he did something wrong he was quick to learn and pick up tips in order to
improve his performance. When it came to me portraying the criminal I had my
mum be the camera operator and because she has no experience in anything that
I’m doing at the moment I had to teach her how to operate the camera and how to
press record as well as hold the camera with her hands and do a tracking shot.
While it took a while she eventually got the hand of it and managed to shoot some
competent shots that worked well in the final product. Overall we worked well
together because we know each other so well and simply because my cast and
crew consisted of 3 people at the most, If there is more then 3 people in my crew
then it would have been more of a challenge but because of those 2 aspects. It
made the shoot more of a success. I could have improved by researching
directing a film independently online and shooting with the cameras at the same
time instead of starting fresh cause that way it would have made the start of the
shoot more of a fluent and smooth experience for me and my actor.

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?
I ended up changing the intended shooting days because things kept popping up
concerning my brother where he had to be somewhere on the day I planned to
shoot so because of this I had to push back the shoot to another week which then
lead to my cameraman dropping out because he was to busy and could not make
it on the changed date. This lead to me working by myself as both director and
cameraman which added a layer of difficulty because I had to do two things at
once which is both direct my actor in each scene as well as work on the blocking
on the camera within those scenes. I resolved that issue by just working at it as
hard as I can. It made the shooting process longer and I made a few mistakes with
the camera which I resolved by reshoots but it worked in the end. Other problems
where either fixed by changing features in the camera or in post production. For
example on the day shoot it was really hot and bright and I ended up changing the
exposure on the camera a few times when ever we had to change angles when
ever the sun would be shining bright on a shot. There was also some neighbours
who you could hear in the raw unfiltered versions of what I filmed so I got rid of
the audio in the shot and add in some pre recorded background noise which
blends well with the footage I recorded. I used that same background noise to
block out the camera noise and the voices you could hear in the background. I
even use the edit to change the lighting to match continuity with in the scene. The
lighting issues could have been improved if I had some lighting panels at my
disposal but there where non available when I booked my equipment.

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?
The tripod I booked from the college was probably the most complicated and
expensive one that I have ever used so because of this I had a hard time
trying to get the hang of it. The head of the tripod would slowly move on its
own and the head would ether be too hard to do a panning shot or it would
move by its self when I finally figured out how to loosen it. This lead to me
using an old tripod that I had in my wardrobe that I’m more used to using. I
ended up using the booked tripod for panning shots because the other
tripod I had in my wardrobe is a lot harder to do a pan because it’s a lot
tough and you can’t keep up with people running. So I ended up using the
booked tripod for one shot and at that point I kind of got the hang of it and
we where able to shoot an efficient shot. Another issue I had was with the
camera. Because I had not used a DSLR for a while I forgot to work on the
frame rate and finding the right settings in order to change it to how I want
it. I had to watch a tutorial video during the shoot in order to get the hang of
it again.

10. PRODUCTION
TECHNIQUES
Did you have to learn or develop new skills are 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?
I didn't really learn much new skills that I didn’t already know before the shoot
and felt like I didn’t need to because of the limited recourses at my disposal. Now
after the shoot, the only skill I feel that I needed to develop even more in the
future is that I needed to work both as director and DP which is a common thing
in independent filmmaking. It’s a more complicated skill with a bigger budget and
more recourses and If that ever happens again I will need to expand that skill in
order to improve. However I did learn to be patient with my actor as it takes time
for any actor to get into the mood and feel of a scene and that taught me to not
rush and take your time. Its important that you keep it smooth as possible instead
of rushing because otherwise you might end up overlooking as aspect of your
shoot that you where not aware with before, such as continuity some of the
technical aspects including keeping the camera in focus and making sure there is
nothing in the frame like a pedestrian or your face or finger/thumbs are in shot.
By working at it slowly it allows you to concentrate on little details like that so
everything is efficient. This is a skill that I’m definitely going to apply if I ever do
this again.

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?
I tracked the editing process by screenshoting every new change I made to
the film and wrote about the new changes and why they where made. As for
keeping track and making sure that I was on time, it was very easy for me
because my film was a lot more small scaled and less flashy then you
would expect from any student film so because there wouldn’t be any
effects work or green screen involved combined with the short length of 3
minutes I had plenty of time to get my project done and was able to stay on
time and even when I finished on combining all of the footage together and
adding some music and sound effects I still had some spare time to make
some small and subtle changes to my project. So me getting the project
done on time was more down to the fact that it did not involve any effects
and wasn’t a big scale film. Otherwise there would be more time dedicated
and I probably wouldn’t finish on time. It probably would be a more stressful
and time-consuming process as well. That is the main reason for my project
being done on time.

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.
The earliest version of the film that I screened was complete by 90 % so
there where a couple of sound issues such as camera noise and adding in
sound effects that needed to be tweaked. Response was mostly positive
with the only critiques being on the sound especially on the opening on
which they wanted music in the begging. I was able to add in some music in
the opening however they wanted some had bashing sound effects which
was very hard to do because the sound of the head bashing open sounded
goofy and fake and would not match the atmospheric tone that I’m going for.
So because of this I ended up removing all of the background noise for that
scene with the only noise being the music so that no one will be distracted
by the background noise. I hope that by doing this I still will be able to
create the same effect that I am aiming for and that I don’t loose something
that I already had before.

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…
The strength of my film is that the look of the film and the structure is how envisioned it from the start
Despite the limitations and not everything in pre production going according to plan I still managed to
make something that I’m proud of and I had full creative control making it. The visual look of the film
is somewhat cinematic, the lighting is eerie and effective and I feel like I have utilized the black and
white to create the sense of panic and dread that is going through the protagonist’s head pretty well,
and the reactions from the people who I screened it to where pretty positive and their criticisms where
very minimal. My only weaknesses for my final film is that one there is one shot that is out of focus
and one I should have been aware of during production. The sound can be a little inconsistent with
the background noise cutting out with only the music playing in certain sections. While its not as
distracting as other student films that face the same issues but you can partially tell when the
background noise has stopped playing and it might ruin the tension for some people. Another thing I
feel I should have done stylistically and something that would have improved the quality of the final
product is that I should have made sure that my main actor should be in every frame of the film which
is a subtle stylistic choice that is made by a few indie directors when they are making a character
study and they want the audiences to feel like they are in their shoes and they are completely
watching events of the film from their perspective and no one else. It’s a very easy way for audiences
to feel attached to a protagonist feeling everything they feel. I feel that this would have made the film
more effective as a character study as well as a thriller because you are completely in his foot steps
for the entire run time with no change of perspective or focus and I think that makes for a more
powerful and intimate viewing rather then changing perspective by adding in some establishing
shots. Even if you have to change angles having him still appear in the bottom or the corner of the
frame will still have the same effect. If I ever decide to do a film like this again this is something that
I’m definitely going to apply to in and future projects.