Unit 1.3 - Evaluation

Whilst we were managing and organising our first film production. There were many things that I learnt along the way.

When the group were faced with problems, we coped well, however there were small mistakes in areas, such as in the area we  were shooting in, even though we were given permission from the council in the pre production stage, we still had to wait for the general public to clear so we could film, this was a problem at the time because as time went on, the day lost light, so we had to rush certain takes, these were however done again on another day because when looking at them, they did not look professional enough. As our first woods scene, all went wrong, we had to do it again, this was a major problem to be solved, this was because it was hard to take in to account he fact that we were on set for about four hours and we couldn't use the footage, the reason for this was because for some of the shots, the lighting was dark and and the camera was not always in focus. These were large errors as it effected our shooting schedule arrangement and set us back one day, however, we dealt with the problem quite well, as a few days after we did the Church scene and the next day we re-did the woods, with clearer lighting and good focus, next time, we know that tee will check all of the potential issues in advance so we can address them so we don't waste time, but we learnt from these mistakes and improved our other footage.

Shooting Schedule: Our shooting schedule was detailed, we each knew the date and time of when we had to be at the shoot, this helped us as we were able to read when to get there. The schedule also covered how long we would be there, this was also helpful, however, the duration sometimes went over as we did not always take in to account that the sun light would fade and there would be general public sometimes walking through a shot, this sometimes held us up. The equipment that was needed on each shoot also was written in the schedule, this allowed us to focus on important matters rather than worrying at the last minute of what equipment we needed and where we would get it from. There were sometimes issues with timing, this was because sometimes we did not take in to account the fact the public transport was busy and can hold us up, there were a couple of times when transport would slow us down and this would effect the production stage a small bit, as we would lose 10-15 minutes of time, for the street and woods, this did not matter as we could simply add the time back on, however for the Church, it could not fully be added back on because we were given 2 hours to film. On the shooting schedule we also stated how many shots would be used for each scene, this was not followed up, this is because once we got to the location, we filmed between 40-100 shots in each location, especially for the church and woods the scenes that we filmed were considerably more than what were stated in the shooting schedule, however this was not a major issue as we just did the shots we wanted to do by following the shot list and occasionally the storyboard.

Storyboard: The storyboard was detailed and thorough, there were 5 pages of shots and this allowed us to remember how each individual scene would look like, we did not always use the storyboard however, this is because on shoot, we sometimes added other scenes right there.

Shot List: The shot list was written in the correct order of how we would film the shots, I decided that we would shoot the street scene last as it was the easiest to film, the church was first as a date and time were set and the woods were second, so the two most difficult scenes were done first. Within all of those scenes, we did not always stick to the shooting script, this was because as something else came up, we wanted to film it straight away, or sometimes on set, we would think of a small scene to add in, however, overall the shot list was organised and detailed enough to work with on set.

Location Recce's: As there were three people in our group, we each took responsibility for one location recce each, this was because there was a lot of work to do and we all knew a particular location quite well, most things were taken in to consideration correctly when carrying them out, for instance, the location recce of the church showed that there was not much background noise, this is because it was quite and know one else was in there at the time. It was however a little echoey, this was not a large problem, however on shoot, we found out that even at the back you had to be quite because you could easily be heard from the front and this could effect the sound in the film, this happened a few times and when looking back on the footage, some of it could not be used as there was a small echo of someone else footsteps. We had to check the lighting in the church also, this was fine as the main light was not too bright and overall it provided a nice dim view on the picture whilst it could easily be seen. There was one issue with the lighting after pre production location recce at the church, this was the fact that there was a large window on the roof, so the sun shone in and sometimes reflected badly on the picture. We were given permission to use the church by the Vicar, this allowed us to film for two hours without any distractions.

Actors: As our main actor was already in the group, a major benefit to this was the fact that he knew the story quite well, he knew what character he was playing and understood how to pull it off. This was good for us and saved us a lot of time because the actor knew the script. The second actor was not in the group, but the role was not entirely difficult, however, there were a few issues, such as on set, he was wrapped underneath the bed sheets and in the dirt for over an hour, to make this easier on both the actor and crew, next time we should plan out the timing a little bit better for when we were on shoot. Both actors were the right choice for the actors, neither actor was asked at the last minute, both knew they would be in the short film quite early in the pre production stages, which was easier for us in the group as we could then focus on more pressing matters,

Crew Roles: Each person in our team knew their crew role will, however, at the start it was more difficult as we were not as organised, however, we improved our organisation and we were then able to concentrate on our jobs in hand. The Producer (Ashley) knew what he was responsible for as did the Director (Kenny) and as did the Camera Operator (James), because of the act that we all knew our jobs and there involvement, it meant that we were able to carry out our jobs and responsibilities quicker and better. Which by doing so, we knew that it would help in the production stage if we all knew our role thoroughly. The props were bought in time also, which dod not slow us down during the shoot, we did not have to buy anything just before filming, it was all done before hand.

Equipment Checks: The equipment was checked when we booked it out, we made sure that we would take the camera at the end of the day so wee could let it charge throughout the day, a tripod and a lighting kit were also booked out in advance, they were easily collected at the end of the day, there were no issues involving equipment.

Call Sheets: The call sheets were done correctly, we all knew how to contact each other and how to get in touch to ask certain things before and after and between each shoot. This turned out to be rather important, tis is because we were able to find out where a group member was if they were running a little bit late. The call sheets enabled us to get the resources there on time, such as the props, this was because we had to transport them, the props were objects such as, the shovel, fake blood, a plastic knife and a bed sheet for the woods, fake blood for the street and fake blood and a plastic knife for the Church.

In conclusion; next time, to make our short five minute film a success, we will make sure, that in the pre production stages, that everything is done properly and on time, I will also make sure that the shot list and storyboard are both individually followed while on set, to make the filming easier on the actors and the the crew. We have also understood that time is money in this industry and being a late can't be accepted, whether it only be 10 minutes, so leaving earlier will be a major factor to be changed next time.