Exploration of Ideas
For my research posts throughout the first marking period I have carefully selected topics to study. The main topic I studied was the writing process. My first investigation was on hooking the audience at the beginning of the film through writing. I analyzed the beginnings of three films that are of differing genres. I did this in order to see if there was a consistent pattern. The main consistency no matter what was beginning in the midst of an action. The start of the film is never at the start of the journey. For Pulp Fiction the film starts in the middle of a conversation. For Indiana Jones the film starts with Indiana already arriving at the destination of one of his expeditions. For the Matrix, the film starts with the agents chasing after Trinity. The Matrix is the most differentiated because the main character is not even in the hook. This investigation was key in writing the hook to my film. For my film I hooked the audience by showing two men dumping a body in a hole. The next investigation that I performed was focused on the structure of writing. The most common structure being the three act structure. I took a look at a few different structures and went over a few different examples of them in action. Writing structure helped me to keep the pacing of the film high while not going so fast as to confuse the audience. The final investigation that I performed was for the focus of an upcoming project that I want to work on. The focus was on VFX and the basics ways to implement them into film. For my next project I hope to create a sci-fi film. Although the original themes in art that I have selected are looking inward and invention and fantasy I went with looking outward for this film. Part of this is because of the heavily Tarantino inspired story. I wanted to try and define a style for this film by replicating the work of other film-makers.
Planning (below is link to pre-production post)
https://mrbulldops.blogspot.com/2019/10/pre-production-documentation.html
For the pre-production process I made sure to document and structure as much as possible. The first part of the process was getting the script completed. I didn't need to have it completely edited and refined, only the main concepts and plot points. Once the majority of the story, characters, props, and locations are in my head I could start the storyboarding process. Sometimes while I'm writing I'll have a clear picture of what it is I want a scene to look like. If I like a particular idea I might go ahead and write it in to the script. I only do this if I am also the director of the piece since it is not the job of the writer to tell the director where to put the camera. The storyboard in my opinion, is the most essential part of predicting the outcome of production. If this step is skipped there will be lots of wasted time on set as well as potential for missing shots. Once the shots are planned I have to acquire locations, actors, props, and crew. This step can lead to severe alterations of the original storyboard. No matter how much of the storyboard is altered by the locations it is essential to not alter the script. However, sometimes altering the location can lead to new and exciting ideas. Some people might argue you should get locations and then storyboard. I tend to disagree because I don't like the resources I have to restrict my vision. The next and most often forgotten step is the shot list. This might not seem important but it is vital when on a schedule. A shot list allows you to reorder the shots into shooting order instead of chronological order. In doing so you are able to save heaps of time and resources. After the release forms have been gathered the production phase is ready to happen.
Production
Evaluation
My original goal when going into this film was to create an entertaining film. Although the edit isn't finished I have shared previews of the final product with friends. All of the feedback I have received has been very positive. Some of the essential focus points I had when going into this project were to keep the pacing quick, create tension between characters, and not confuse the audience. After talking with those who have watched what I have it seems that I did accomplish the majority of my goals. The experience I had working on this film was very helpful. One of the things that I learned was to be able to adapt to the obstacles while on set. There was one scene that I had to completely reimagine. This was the scene in the boss' office. The door was at a different angle to the desk of the boss than I had imagined it. Also, there was junk on one side of the room so I had to carefully place the camera to avoid capturing it in frame. When shooting the dialogue scenes most of them were unscripted. This was mostly due to the fact that I had asked my friend to act that morning so he had no time to prepare. Lighting was a major part of the film that was overlooked simply because of time. Overall, the main things to take away from this production are stay flexible and experiment when there is time.
Integration
This film altered my production process from previous films. Before I never put to much thought into pre-production. I felt pre-production was sort of option in a way. This film however, showed me just how essential pre-production is to working efficiently, effectively, and methodically. I can give a 100% guarantee that if I had not done any one of the pre-production elements this film would be very different. Working efficiently does not only get production done faster but also improves production quality. This is because if you don't have your production planned you waste time. Nobody that I am aware of likes to intentionally waste time. The problem occurs when the crew begins to stop caring. This will happen quicker if there appears to be no plan, if the director is rude, or if the production is not moving forward. One of the most important tasks of the director is to keep production moving and keep everyone feeling motivated to do their best. Somethings that I felt were lacking a bit from my production were cinematography, exposition, and character development. This is mostly because I wasn't able to acquire someone to solely focus on lighting. Once again time was a major factor in the lack of controlled lighting. As I've stressed before I want to focus more on great lighting in future projects. In order to improve in the ways of lighting I will try to be performing the role of cinematographer for the next project I partake in. Exposition is an essential part of writing an understandable story which is why it will be essential to my next project. Character development is a component that keeps the audience invested in the story. For this reason I will focus more time into my characters during the writing process in future projects. Overall, the takeaway from this project is be adaptable. I will also take producing more seriously in the regards to planning out logistics of shooting. This has been my favorite overall project and I am very satisfied with how it has turned out.
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