Final Assessment

Introduction

The overall objective of our project was to create a project of any genre we wanted to explore, and to provide extensive evidence of our progress and research, through weekly journals and organised documentation respectively. Our target audience for the short was ages 15-25, as the themes presented in our short film are most likely to resonate with this demographic. Our short explores themes of failure and the struggle to be creative, which are most likely to resonate with a teenage to young adult audience. The topics and themes explored by our short film are ones that resonate deeply with me, and I find them to be issues I constantly struggle with. The themes of incompetence's constant relationship with creativity is something I have wanted to explore in a film for a while. Other themes I decided to incorporate include anxieties of failure and self loathing, though the purpose of these subjects are purely to strengthen the initial idea of failure.

The early inspiration for my idea was about a man trying to write a script in an isolated room. My original idea didn't have any of the themes I would later try to incorporate, and was a much more formulaic horror short. I later changed the direction to more of a 'psychological drama' of shorts, drawing specific details from the practitioners and filmmakers that inspired my initial idea, such as David Lynch and Denis Villeneuve. My short film was mostly inspired by the film 'Eraserhead', which I combined with Villeneuve's detached style of shot composition, and some of the dreamlike atmosphere the films of Terry Gilliam and David Lynch create. As a group, we decided that working on the shot lists and storyboards together would be useful, not only could everyone grasp a better understanding of the shots and overall plot, but they could contribute ideas to areas which I had left little detail. Their inclusions to the project were incredibly useful, although sometimes we clashed on certain ideas. I believe that our collaboration on these particular sectors of planning was undeniably useful, as visualizing my ideas coherently is something I struggle with. As an individual, I was in charge of writing the script and the initial idea, along with the storyboard, which I later had assistance with. The basic framework for the story was cemented early into production, but the script was finished 2 weeks before shooting, with a few minor tweaks being made within that time, mostly to add additional descriptions to shots or scenes. The storyboard was initially only around 12 panels long, but we later added more detail, and tweaked certain panels to better fit the script.

Research and Planning

For my personal research, I researched films that inspired my initial idea, whether that be due to stylistic interpretations, similar themes, or music that I hoped to employ in the finished product. I documented what about the particular films inspired me, and how I hope to employ similar ideas or techniques. Alongside this, I documented the different online sources of information I used to research practical techniques. These consisted of online journals, articles on particular technical setups, and video essays explaining moments from specific films. I found the video essays to be the most useful out of the online sources, as they provided plenty of example footage to visualize what they were explaining, along with audio snippets of practitioners explaining their craft. Another source of research I sought after was literary research. I read and documented what I learnt from two different books on film making. The parts I found to be the most useful out of these were the articles on blocking, and how to effectively incorporate it into your short film. Alongside this, there were snippets of interviews with famous filmmakers, such as David Lynch and Lars Von Trier, and they explained their craft, along with advice creative processes. I found these to be exceptionally intriguing, especially seeing how their respective opinions overlap and contrast. These books were not as helpful as other sources I found, but they gave an interesting and unique perspective nonetheless. The final piece of secondary research used was comparing and contrasting online journals and reviews for particular films. This gave me a lot of contrasting views and opinions, and allowed an in depth look into certain aspects of the film that may resonate with some, and be detrimental to others. I researched both certified critical reviews, and the opinions of general audiences. The audience perspective was interesting, as the majority's view is often overlooked in intellectual discussions over films. My primary research was to contact filmmaking practitioners to gain practical advice, and surveying my peers to create an average demographic. Both of these exercises improved my professional communication and timekeeping skills. Experimental research was to simply practice lighting techniques and camera angles. This was exceptionally helpful, because we were inexperienced with handling lighting techniques, which are a pivotal part of the short.

Overall, I found my research to be incredibly useful towards achieving my goal. The most helpful research I collected was my secondary research, as the documents I studied were often created and reviewed by credible sources, including first-hand accounts from famous filmmakers themselves. The primary research I gathered was also incredibly insightful, because it required me to reach out to my peers and other practitioners for insight. This exercise improved my ability to communicate on a professional level, and also provided useful statistics and advice for use in shaping my own shape film. Experimental research was useful, as we learnt how to effectively light a scene , as well as set up the equipment quickly and efficiently.

One of the ways I could've improved upon my research was to broaden my range of sources, in order to gain a wider variety of perspectives. One source of inspiration I could've sought out was surrealist artworks, as David Lynch was heavily inspired by the works of Salvador Dali among other artists, and researching his sources of inspiration would've helped me better understand the medium I am trying to replicate. Another area I could've studied was additional literary sources. My research in this field was by far the most limited, which could've potentially helped me greatly towards achieving my goal.

Finished Product

My finished product greatly resembles the one outlined in my pre-production paperwork, albeit with a few minor tweaks. Narratively, my final major project remained identical thought the planning phase, with a few minor elements tweaked for brevity, such as removing the computer's chord from the story entirely. One area that changed drastically throughout production was the overall style. While similar in tone, the original concept for my short film was for the overall atmosphere to be much grungier and darker than what it eventually became, and took a more overtly Terry Gilliam-esque piece of film. The style was later developed to fit into a more David Lynch style piece, with an overall sense of gloom and dread replacing the anxious, more typical surrealist horror tone it originally held. I personally believe that this was a change for the better, as the more subdued tone of the short fits the themes of isolation and paranoia much better than the outwardly abrasive style it once held. My original project concept was also more outwardly dreamlike, with a larger emphasis on style and surrealism. The final short film still contains these elements, but is much more subdued and grounded,with these elements toned down to create a strange, uneasy atmosphere.

The audio and visual elements of my short film were major points that were necessary to the success of my short. There is not a single line of spoken dialogue throughout the runtime of the short film, so we needed to rely on the audio visual representation to convey the narrative and thematic elements. The mannerisms and overall performance of the protagonist was difficult to find a balance with, as we wanted to create the look of an incredibly subdued individual uncomfortable in his own skin, whilst also making his expressions easy to follow and appropriate for the specific scenarios. The camera movement and overall shot composition was another difficult area to find a balance within. It was a difficult choice to determine whether to employ a more handheld look to the short, or alternatively, a starker, more bleak looking range of still shots. We eventually opted to use handheld, to show a slight sense of unease, and the idea that the protagonist is slowly crumbling under the pressure of his work. I believe this was the correct choice, as it was more suited to the style of visual storytelling we wanted to employ. The colour scheme of the film also helps solidify the overall tone of the film, as the bulk of the colour palette is incredibly muted, mostly comprised of blacks and whites, while being contrasted by soft yellows and occasionally sharp reds to create a jarring effect. The audio was also an area that took a large amount of consideration to perfect. For the short film, we mixed a wide variety of different sounds, including moments of drawn out silence, non diegetic music, and diegetic sound effects. We use these different elements in numerous different occasions, and I believe that we created a healthy balance between all three. The music is also an integral part of the short film, as it conveys a much needed atmosphere to certain scenes. The music is taken from a wide variety of different sources, mostly from film soundtracks, such as 'Eraserhead' and 'Gone Girl'. It was interesting to see how a track from an entirely different piece of source material can be effectively implemented into another, entirely different scenario. The most effective element of audio presented is undeniably the silence. We use silence sparingly, but it is incredibly effective at showing the loneliness and struggle of the main character. It also helps slow the pace down after a pivotal moment, allowing the audience to a small amount of breathing room.

One area I have majorly improved upon is my application and gathering of research into my projects. Out of all my previous projects, my research into my FMP has by far been my most extensive and in depth. My most pivotal piece of research is by far my secondary, as I have researched a wide spectrum of different media formats and practitioners to solidify my ideas. The first hand accounts I gathered from filmmakers were incredibly useful, as they not only described their creative process, but also the things they themselves drew their creative inspirations from. My research application has also improved greatly, as I now have a greater understanding of the elements integral to effective filmmaking, and how to implement them for my own works. This time I have narrowed my focus on my research subjects, and I have therefore created a greater archive of useful concepts and ideas to draw from. My short film wears its influences on its sleeve, and they all blend well with the overarching themes and tone of the short. Another field I believe that I have improved greatly upon is my production diaries and overall management of time. Unlike other projects, these elements have been a pivotal aspect of the overall process, as I am now more familiar with their overall purpose and utility, as they can be effective tools for keeping track of the work you've completed, as well as presenting the work you need to prioritize for the coming weeks. I have found myself creating more in depth and more focused diary entries as time has passed. My overall timekeeping and organisation has also been improved drastically. Due to extensive forethought and planning, we were able to reduce our production phase to a single day. We have kept up a steady work schedule, and we have never overlapped beyond our predicted deadlines for work. We have also improved the overall quality of our paperwork, comparative to our previous projects. In terms of overall effectiveness, our editing phase hasn't changed as drastically as our other elements, but is nonetheless noticeably improved. This can be explained through our experience and knowledge of how to operate the software effectively, as opposed to any kind of scheduling changes, or major diverges from our usual methods.

The practical area that I have improved upon the most throughout the year was with lighting equipment. Prior to this assignment I had very little beyond the basic knowledge of how to set up and light a scene; however through extensive practice and research we were able to perfect this particular skill, and effectively employed it in our short film. Another skill I have vastly improved upon is my skill as a director. as comparatively, I was overall much more focused and determined than I was in other projects, as I spent a tremendous amount of time preparing and cementing my ideas in a much more coherent way. I also believe that my teamwork and communicational skills have drastically improved, as I was able to effectively communicate with, and lead our group towards a unified goal. Along with personal progress, I feel more comfortable and confident handling and utilising the equipment and software provided. Most notably my knowledge of sound mixing, which was previously shoddy at best, but has seen a major improvement since our prior works. One major challenge that occurred during this field was my overall knowledge of post production sound editing. I found myself to be struggling with this aspect initially, but through online research and help from my tutors, I was able to grasp the overall concept, and managed to effectively utilise these for my short film. Another area I struggled with was the planning phase of pre production. I initially had no concept of locations or props for my short film, but through help from my peers, I was able to better visualise my ideas into a more realistic point of view.

One area I need to improve for the future is my overall organisation skills. So far I have kept to every deadline presented, and we have been effective when working as a group, but I don't feel I was as independent as I could've been. As a director, I should've been the one coaching my group towards our goal, but I relied on the help of my peers, which may have been burdensome on my group as a whole. I also took longer than I would've liked on the script, which could've been helpful for my group to complete their individual work. I also believe my overall ability to communicate with my group is lacking, most notably my conveyance of ideas to my group.

I believe that overall our project was successful, but fell short in a few areas. One area that could've been greatly improved upon was the camerawork. The decision to shoot handheld was one made from a genuine and thoughtful idea, but came across as unintentionally ammeter and sloppy. We could've possibly prevented this with more practice, or an entirely different style of shooting that required less effort. Another area I found lacking in our production was the overall pace of the short; the final cut turned out to be significantly longer than initially conceived, and the short can come across as rather dull and uneventful in certain areas. Something that could've possibly rectified this would be a more precise shot list, as a few filler shots can seem unnecessary in the grander picture. Another potential fix could be a more thorough edit, but this could've potentially thrown the pacing of the short in the opposite direction. The one area I wish I could rectify from the very beginning is the overall presentation. Although the narrative goes to surreal places, the overall shooting style is drab and plain, which I feel was a major mistake. The style was an attempt to replicate the shooting style of 'Eraserhead' and other David Lynch projects, but unlike those works, we didn't have a particularly strong visual style to match the overall effect, therefore coming across as unintentionally bleak. I don't believe that our short film was entirely a misstep, as there are a lot of assets that I believe were executed exceptionally well. Most notably out of these elements is the sound design, particularly the music. All the diegetic sound effects are well blended and feel natural within the scene; the use of silence is effective (but arguably overused), and the music adds a layer of tension and ambience that would've been non-existent without it. Another area we excelled at was the lighting. I am happy with this, not only because it was a skill we had to learn specifically for this production, but it made the overall production look much more polished and professional, along with our use of coloured gels to water the mood of specific scenes. Despite the aforementioned problems, I am proud of the finished product.