Hanna Wong

Preliminary Film Evaluation For my preliminary film, I was given the task of creating a short film, which needed to include two different characters, one of whom needed to open a door, walk across the room and have a conversation. This particular scene had to be included in my preliminary film and if it weren’t, I would’ve failed this coursework. So having to include this particular scene in the preliminary film was essential. Before I started my preliminary film, I had been given a few suggestions by the students in class and teachers in my school, however, it didn’t interest me. My initial idea was to have my preliminary film about a student missing an assignment, being shouted at by the head teacher, rushing to get the assignment completed and being lectured by the subject teacher afterwards. In the end, I used my initial idea about a student missing an assignment and so on. I chose to stick with my initial idea for my preliminary film because it interested me most and it somehow challenged me to make it an exciting and an upbeat short film. The influences that had given me the idea of having a student missing an assignment was due to a past AS Media student who had already completed the film and had uploaded it on YouTube. It was fascinating as to how the student had made such a plain storyline into an upbeat, comedic short film. This is how I came up with my initial idea. The preliminary film doesn’t have a specific genre as it consists of a student being shouted at by the head teacher, rushing to complete an assignment, running all over the school to find the subject teacher and being lectured at. As it doesn’t have a specific genre that it belongs to, there is a moral to the preliminary film and the moral of it is to complete all work before deadline. However, during the preliminary film, there are certain parts of my preliminary film that do convey comedy. Though I managed to display comedy in my preliminary film, it wasn’t the genre I was actually aiming for. There wasn’t a specific genre that I wanted my preliminary film to be in. so instead of having my preliminary film fit into one specific genre, I had included various types of genres to make it interesting. Comedy is one of the genres that I included along with many others which created a combination of different genres that I had included in my preliminary film. There were several problems that I had anticipated would happen. The challenges were that I wouldn’t be able to complete my preliminary task and miss the deadline. Also, that I wouldn’t have enough time to cut and edit my preliminary film as I was running out of time. Another problem

Hanna Wong

that I figured would happen is that my cast and protagonist would be absent very often which would create inconveniences to the people helping me film and edit my preliminary film. So as I thought of these problems that has a possibility of occurring, I thought about different methods that will help prevents such events from happening. In the end, because of the use of these different methods, I was able to finish my preliminary film with a few slight changes to the actual film. The way that I had managed the group dynamics whilst filming my preliminary film, I had to think of ways and methods in which my group is willing to work in such as negotiating a deal for example, if I am willing to help them with their preliminary film, this will convince them to work for me as well. Another thing that I had to manage whilst filming my preliminary film was the equipment and the resources. Equipment and resources was very easy to manage as everything was already in school which includes the camera and everything else I used which meant that it was easy to start filming as everything was already at school. However, the thing that was very troubling was the fact that my filming crew had a hard time finding the right tripod as everyone else in the class were using the tripods as well. In addition, wearing the same clothes is also part of the equipment and resources as it is important for the casts and the protagonist to wear the same clothes as it is essential for continuity. During the process of filming my preliminary film, there were no health and safety problems that occurred. However, as for the logistical issues, they occurred by not as often as thought of. This was because during the course of the filming, I had to film from different angles and areas which meant that the camera had to move constantly. Though I constantly kept changing angles and areas, the moving of the camera and tripod wasn’t troublesome as the filming crew took turns holding different equipments being used. The method that I had used to organized my human resources were to use the students in my class as it were easier to recruit and that they would be familiar with the plot as everyones preliminary film had consisted similar content. Also, this method was easy as all I had to do were to ask the students in my class instead of holding auditions for the person to be in my preliminary film. The way I managed to sort of the location and props that will be needed in my preliminary film was to go on a ‘rekki’ which is taking a walk/tour around the school, looking at different areas of it and finding the suitable location for my preliminary film. After having gone on a ‘rekki’, I had

Hanna Wong

decided where to film and what props to use as they came by one at a time. In addition, the method I used to manage my actors were to praise them and at the same time, help them with their filming project. As for actors who weren’t in my media class, simply enjoyed having an appearance in my film as they knew it would be on YouTube. The storyboard that I had drawn up and the shooting script I had created has similar aspects but they both have equal differences as there were changes that I had wanted to make. Whilst creating the shooting script, I had included more camera shots, angles and movements to make the preliminary film more interesting and upbeat which meant that instead of keeping with the storyboard, I had made decisions that diverted from the original plan from the storyboard to the shooting script as the shooting script needed more detail of what was going to happen and where every shot was going to take place. The way I managed my time during the filming process was to estimate how many shots I was going to film, how long it would take and how many people would it need to film it. Also, I have to consider how many people and how many of my actors would turn up to school. Having made these considerations and estimations had made me make different decisions as the original protagonist often weren’t in so I had to make another person as my protagonist. This time, choosing another protagonist meant that the actor would have to be in school all the time and is willing to be in my preliminary film. Having made these decisions meant that I could finish all my filming as soon as possible and would be able to start editing it. Having such advanced technology at hand is very convenient because it allowed me to do certain things that a basic form of technology wouldn’t let me. For example, for the camera, I used a digital camera meaning that I could zoom in and out, play back scenes and several other things but however, if it was just a standard camera, I would only be allowed to take pictures. Another example is for my editing, I used iMovie to edit my preliminary film which includes the sounds, cuts and transitions between each scene. This had allowed me to create a film that is similar to the films that are produced by large, successful companies such as Paramount and many others. On the other hand, if I were to use Windows Movie Maker, I wouldn’t be able to have the same effects and my preliminary film wouldn’t look very similar to the films made by Paramount and more as I had used a different software other than iMovie or Final Cut Pro. As soon as I was given the original brief of the preliminary film, I immediately thought of different audiences I was going to aim for, what genres I should base my preliminary film around, thought of different plots and how to make it interesting for the audience. I thought of several

Hanna Wong

storylines but was most satisfied with a student missing an assignment and being shouted at by the head teacher. I also thought in depth about what genres I should base my preliminary film around but as there were many genres, I couldn’t decide which to base my preliminary film around so instead I decided to combine them all together. During the process of making preliminary film, I didn’t make any teasers for my preliminary film as it would have taken a long time and also, reduced the time I would’ve had for editing my actual preliminary film. Though I didn’t produce any teasers for my preliminary film, I had allowed certain people to see different scenes and aspects of my preliminary film to give them a brief outline of what is going to happen. The reaction of my audience was expected as I only let them view a small fragment of my preliminary film, this way, they will be intrigued and will want to watch the rest of my preliminary film as it caught their attention. Also, the different fragments of my preliminary film that I had shown to certain people are the fragments that would leave them speechless or laughing constantly. This meant that I would have left the audience wanting more. What I have represented in my preliminary film is that as my preliminary is based in my school sixth form, I have represented that students who go to college/sixth form doesn’t always have a carefree educational life style, so what I wanted to show through my preliminary film is that students get into trouble as well. Also, I wanted to show my audience how important is it to hand in coursework and assignments as it can affect their future habits. In addition, I wanted to show the consequences of the action of not doing assignments and coursework and also submitting them on time. Thought I have displayed this in my preliminary film, I have also included some comedic scenes to make my preliminary film not too serious in a light hearted manner. The kind of realism that I was trying convey through my preliminary film is that not all students who go to college/sixth form have an easy lifestyle. So what I was trying to convey in my preliminary film is that students also have to keep working hard, keep towards deadlines and stick to assignments and coursework. In my preliminary film, I feel very proud of it as I have put in and used most of my time and effort to make it a good first film of mine. In addition, I have made my preliminary film to the best of my ability and that is why I received good feedback. Also, as I have used several pieces of equipment and resources that are similar to the equipment and resources used in Hollywood films. I think that the reason why my preliminary film was such a success was because I was able to use similar equipment that Hollywood films would use. Also, I have used the resources

Hanna Wong

and equipment that was available around me to an extend and was able to create such a good film. The challenging things that I had to overcome were the fact that my original protagonist had often been absent which meant that I weren’t able to film. Also, I didn’t have the correct equipment; there weren’t enough tripods for the class to use meaning that we had to take turns/ sharing tripods. This led to wasting time and not enough filming was able to be done. Furthermore, the location of where my preliminary film was based was very noisy and had to change to various areas to shoot a scene to my satisfaction. There isn’t anything that I would like to change as I am satisfied the way it is. The thing that I am most proud of is my editing skills and the amount of camera shots I have used in my preliminary film. I am proud of the amount of camera shots I have included in my preliminary film because it is evidence that I understand how to use them and the fact that I used a variety of shots meaning that my preliminary film wouldn’t be boring. I am also proud of my editing skills because I was able to manipulate the dialogue and different sound effects used in my preliminary film. Furthermore, in the editing process, I was able to cut out different scenes that I had needed for different parts of my preliminary film. In addition, I was able to use the software iMovie to edit my preliminary film. Having used iMovie to edit my preliminary film meant that it was easier to use as it had more functions and effects on it, also, it was more advanced than Windows Movie Maker.