EVALUATIONAmanda White - 8069

Wake 6th Form College

QUESTION 1: WHAT WERE THE AIMS OF YOUR ARTEFACT?

➤ I believe I achieved the brief that was set successfully as my final short film has a strong link the sequences I studied for my textual analysis. From doing the textual analysis, before hand I hoped that it would aid my understanding in how to portray specific meanings through the use of the micro technical elements (sound, editing, mise-en-scene and cinematography) as both of the sequences have very similar themes and narrative therefore I hoped that I would be able to interpret both approaches to conveying the theme ‘death as part of life’ and use a mixture of techniques from both sequences as well as my own ideas when creating my own film.

➤ I found that for my genre/theme of my short film and textual analysis sequences that the main editing technique used is the pace of it. Fast pace editing is used to create panic and a sense of rush whereas the slower, longer duration shots are used to create tension and to imply various meanings such as in ‘If I Stay’ the long duration of Mia’s mother implies her lack of ability to let go and accept her death. It also highlighted to me that I could portray my theme in my short film in various ways. ‘If I Stay’ uses a montage to portray what is happening inside Mia’s head where as ‘Charlie St Cloud’ used a more naturalistic approach and used hand-held, point of view shots and fast pace editing to express the protagonists emotions.

➤ Before I began this process of completing the brief I hoped that I would achieve a successful and effective 2 minute short film which shows a clear and strong link to the textual analysis sequences I studied. My aim was to create a short movie which conveyed how sudden death can effect someone. I hoped to achieve this by planning and researching different camera techniques to build suspense and to create panic, and also the conventions/iconography of a drama/thriller. I had decided to use the more natural approach in the editing by using no transitions and just quick or longer cuts like in ‘Charlie St Cloud’ as I hoped this would look more effective and create verisimilitude, however I hoped rhythmic editing would be effective to create tension. I also hoped to achieve before I began filming and planning, a well organised and structured filming schedule, keeping continuity so it will be easy for myself when coming to edit it.

QUESTION 2: WHAT CODES AND CONVENTIONS IDENTIFIED IN THE TEXTUAL ANALYSIS WERE USED IN YOUR FILM?

➤ I created a short film which was the same genre as the two films I studied for my TA (Drama/thriller). I focused mainly on the theme ‘death’ as this is what I focused my short film on and what my two sequences I chose are based on. The iconography of this is things such as, blood, dark, gloomy lights, tears, etc, all which I have included in my short film.

QUESTION 2: CINEMATOGRAPHY

➤ In both sequences I studied for my textual analysis many close ups are used of the protagonists and antagonists faces. This explicitly portrays the characters emotions through facial expressions therefore I used many close ups in my short film as I wanted my audience to connect with my character as much as possible in the short time. Hand held, point of view shots are also commonly used in both of the sequences and I believed they were effective in portraying the panic and shock of the situation therefore I also used this technique in my short film as it also created verisimilitude. Furthermore, I used the conventions of film such as a high angle shot to portray vulnerability and a longer duration to create suspense.

QUESTION 2: CINEMATOGRAPHY - SCREEN SHOTS➤ Here are some of the shots from my film which were clearly

influenced by the textual analysis sequences I studied. The close up of Sam shows his distressed face but also the blood stained t-shirt in the background (iconography for death/accident) where as in my movie I use a high angle shot (portrays vulnerability) which shows the blood coming from Chrissy’s mouth and Alice’s distressed position.

➤ The other screen shot portrays the simple angles of close ups which I took from the sequences and used in my own film as I believed they were effective in portraying the emotions of my protagonist well.

QUESTION 2: MISE-EN-SCENE➤ Mia’s costume in ‘If I Stay’ is a light colour, resembling her

innocence therefore I asked for my main protagonist to wear a top which is either white, or baby pink as it helped convey that death happens to everyone regardless of purity etc. linking back to my TA. Furthermore, red is a visible colour throughout ‘Charlie St Cloud’, it is in the ambulance and also on Sam’s hat as it connotes danger, therefore I got my actress who is playing Chrissy to wear something red to foreshadow something bad is going to happen to her. Furthermore, in ‘If I Stay’ and ‘Charlie St Cloud’ therefore are several props in the background to help reinforce the setting (nurses, medical equipment for ‘If I Stay’ and life saving resources for ‘Charlie St Cloud’ therefore I believed it was important to use a prop to show who’s house they are in in my film therefore I asked Francesca Rogers to bring a family photo which I used in a close up therefore my audience will know where my film is set.

QUESTION 2: MISE-EN-SCENETA My Film

QUESTION 2: EDITING➤ Both of my sequences for my textual

analysis use a quick editing pace to create a dramatic and tense atmosphere. I used this convention in my own short film as I wanted to create a similar atmosphere to what the sequences I analysed set out to make.

➤ I also followed the convention of using longer durations to create suspense and tension and short durations and cuts to create panic in my film which is also evidently applied in my TA sequences. I mainly followed the editing style of ‘Charlie St Cloud;’ as this uses continuity, match on action editing which creates verisimilitude which is what I wished to create therefore I applied this to my own film. In the editing process.

QUESTION 2: SOUND ➤ From analysing the sequences for my TA

it was apparent that both diegetic (dialogue and ambient sound) and non diegetic sound (sound track) were needed to create the desired atmosphere I wanted. I believed the sound of the flat line in ‘Charlie St Cloud’ was very effective and reinforced the theme of ‘death’ therefore I used this for the sound of the phone line to help exaggerate the panic more.

QUESTION 3: HOW WERE THE PLANNING MATERIALS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ARTEFACT?➤ I learnt the conventions of the micro elements

which aided me to spot them in my TA and understand what the conventions used portrayed. All the planning tasks and research I carried out helped with the construction of my short film, however I found analysing my TA sequences and the 3 short films which were in the same genre of my own film were the most helpful. This was because it gave me ideas of how to portray similar meanings through the use of the technical elements.

➤ I also found creating a shot list was extremely useful as it gave me a better understanding of how best to shoot my film due to the time restriction and numerous number of shots and camera angles I wanted. However, on the day the shot list was not exactly followed as some took more time than I believed they would and the whether effected the exterior shots. Therefore, I would be sure to check what the whether is like on the day of filming if I were to film again.

QUESTION 3:

In particular the editing and mise-en-scene was mainly influenced partly by my TA but by “The List” short film I analysed. Where as my cinematography and sound was influence by partly my TA and “2AM: The Smiling Man” short film.

QUESTION 3: ➤ I believe I could of researched more into

camera techniques to have a wider variety of camera shot and techniques used to make it more interesting and it would expand my knowledge on how create more effective cinematography such as a pull focus.

➤ My film has a strong link to my TA and my planning. Majority of my planning is focused on the genre drama/thriller and the theme ‘death’, which is reflected in my own film.

QUESTION 3: SCREEN SHOTS OF PLANNING IN RELATION TO MY FILM

QUESTION 3:My Film:Planning:

QUESTION 3:My Film:

Planning:

QUESTION 3:

My Film:

Planning:

QUESTION 4: HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THE ARTEFACT IN ACHIEVING THE AIMS?➤ I believe that I achieved my original aims for my TA by

analysing the sequence, which influenced my ideas for my own film. I wanted to create a short film which reflected the same theme as the one I studied for my TA (death) which I believe I achieved by the use of micro features and uses similar techniques to ones used in the sequences I studied for my TA and the conventions of my genre which I found during the planning stage (e.g. Iconography)

➤ After showing my film to other people I received some feedback, positive point and improvements. The conventions and editing style I used was noticed by the audience which showed that I had applied them effectively.

➤ If I were able to do another edit I would make more cuts, creating a faster editing pace during the inside ‘999’ scene to create more of a panic and tense atmosphere. I would also make some parts of my film silent to represent the numbness and confusion my protagonist, Alice would feel. If I had the chance to start over again, I would do even more planning so I was certain I knew exactly what conventions and techniques were best to portray my theme and genre, and in my filming I would use more camera angles and techniques to make my overall film more visually effective.