Evaluation & Reflection

DESCRIPTION

The Film Festival project was first announced on the 5th of November 2020, here is a brief description of the task that had been given to us! Our class was asked to re-create a movie scene based purely of the script that was given to us. We had to record visual and audio by ourselves as this project took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic therefore working directly from home.

To begin, our first milestone was to learn about the visual and audio conventions that are utilized in the media industry (Mainly Tv and Film), and to cement them into our minds to use as we were told to analyse 2 film scenes and pinpoint each convention and to explain how the convention was used to effect the overall impact of the scene. In-fact I ended up analysing 4 movie scenes instead and analysing 2 scenes with the audio conventions and 2 for the visual elements (Check the "Scene Analysis" page). 

Before we moved onto the next milestone which was the start of pre-production, Paul and Sam had set us multiple little interactive tasks for us to do at home which included creating our own Foley sound design, making our own soundscapes and filming our own cutaways for a quick 30 second video.

Next, we began our pre-production (Planning) phase of our project. Paul gave us a choice of 2 vastly different scripts, One being a horror scene and the second being a comedic sitcom, as a class we then began mind mapping and writing notes about our selected script and adding them to our blogs. The rest of the pre production paperwork followed including a proposal, risk assessment, location recce etc.

Now came the production (filming) stage, after weeks of planning and re-considering I began to record the scene, It took me roughly 3 days to film everything because I chose the horror script I couldn't just record during the day, I needed to have variety so most of my time was spent waiting for night time to roll around but I got there in the end and finished recording.

The final milestone was the post production so this includes the editing, final evaluation and critique, I had to make sure I used a range of conventions and techniques in my final edit to ensure I engaged with the assignment objectives.

For the Post production editing stage I actually booked a computer to uses within the college campus as my equipment at home wasn't good enough to run the software I needed to create a good final edit, Below are a few pictures I took while in college and working on editing! I'm very pleased with the final edit as I was able to utilize my new knowledge of conventions and techniques and apply them to my own video ; For example... In my video I included Music to help enhance the tone (Music by https://uppbeat.io/ ), I used ADR for the phone call scene and effect, I also used a range of Foley techniques like the snap of my fingers to emphasises the turn from day to night and much more.

FEELINGS

At the time of receiving the brief and assignment objectives, I was very intrigued and exited to begin working on this project however as our class got further and further into the project, I began to panic and stress about how I was going to complete some tasks and the post production stage.

Due to the COVID pandemic our college campus was closed off to the students and we was forced to work independently from home. This was not the best influence on my work ethic and confidence but choosing place of work was no longer an option.

Working through the scene analysis and the first milestone was fairly straight forward and  interesting but panic began to set in when our *first* soundscape task was set as I do not have the equipment nor the resources to work comfortably with the software I had previously used. Having to use a brand new software that I had never even heard of before I was using it was quite nerve racking. But overcoming the nerves was necessary to be able to complete the task that was given. This also leads into my struggle with completing the *Dead Space* sound design task as the software Audacity was very difficult to get my head around, But I thought I could make up for not doing the Dead Space task by doing an extra 2 scene analysis.

The production stage was even more of a nightmare. Having to make a timeslot to be able to venture into college to take some equipment home was simple enough and relatively straight forward, more problems rose when I realised I NEEDED to use the software in college to be able to produce a decent final edit. 

After being able to organise a time for me to go into college to edit my work I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I was able to relax and really feel a sense of pride that I managed to stay on top of my work and produce a good level of work even throughout all the stress of the pandemic.

EVALUATION

What went well?

To begin I feel that during this project one of the main things that went well was me being able to further my knowledge of conventions and how subtle sound and visual techniques are used in media to impact a scene. 

Secondly, another thing that went well was me being able to actually utilize my knowledge of conventions and being able to apply them into various scene analysis. 

Lastly, being able to use the college's great filming equipment really helped boost my confidence when it came to filming and editing my final video!

What didn't go so well?

If there was one thing throughout the project that I feel could didn't go exactly to plan was my time management, I feel that due to lockdown and working from home instead of working in class was that my time management took a hit. I ended up taking more time then expected to complete certain tasks which had a knock on effect to the rest of my project. My time got caught up when it came to the production stage as it took me longer than usual to be able to complete filming.

Good and Bad experiences.

GOOD: Learning about the conventions and how they are used in media was a really interesting and fun experience for me and I felt a huge sense of pride when I was successfully able to apply them to movie scenes of my choice!

Another fun experience was doing some of the little practical tasks I was set such as the cutaway task as it allowed me some freedom to experiment techniques we had learned while giving it my own little twist.

BAD: I only had one bad experience while in the duration of this project and that was at one point during the pre-production stage I felt hesitant and unsure about how my project would turn out on deadline day. I was worried and nervous that I didn't have enough time and not just that but I was worried about the outcome of my filming would not be as good as some of my previous projects.

A difficult situation; and how I resolved it.

The most difficult point in the project for me was actually the production stage because on the first few days of the production week I couldn't even start filming which caused me to miss a vital few days of filming.

On the 23rd of February 2021 I went into college to borrow a camera, Tripod and sound recorder as without them, My final edit would be nowhere near as good as it should be. But I managed to get there in the end and I was able to film, edit and finalise my video without half the stress I felt at the beginning of the production stage!

ANALYSIS

Why did things go right or wrong?

Why Things went right...

When our class was in the research stage of our project, I knew I would enjoy and engage learning as it was something that really had me engaged and eager to obtain more skills and knowledge. So the learning stage went really well because I felt a strong passion and eagerness to learn new skills.

 This leans into the second reason why things went well for me and that's because after learning about the conventions we were able to put them to use and to analyse movie scenes I could choose myself. This was a great and exiting task for me as I had a huge passion for films even before this project started so being able to put my passion and the new skills I learned together was really exiting and engaging for me! 

Why some things went wrong...

Like I said earlier, I feel my time management could of been much better. The reason why my time management went a bit astray was due to the fact that working from home brings more challenges then resolving them, when working from home you have to make sure that you stay on top of your work because if you fall behind it is extremely hard to get back into a consistent pace of work.

This is what happened to me, I failed to begin my filming on time and this caused a huge knock on effect and lead me to stress and panic and kind of rush to get it all finished. So that's the reason for the slight dip in consistency when it came to keeping up with the work.  

Could any of my teachers do anything to help?

When it comes to this particular project and circumstances, I do not blame anyone but myself for how the project went. My teachers did all they could to ensure I had a great start and the best possible chance to pass this project. I appreciate all the hard work the teachers put in to help students like myself, I respect them very much for all they do for me so to answer this point... My teachers were amazing at delivering the learning tools our class needed to do well in this project so to conclude I feel my teachers did all they could to help me do well in this project!

Comparing my knowledge before to after this project.

The Film Festival project allowed me to broaden my range of knowledge when it comes to conventions and how often they are used in media. 

I feel before this project I already had a decent amount of knowledge when it came to conventions and techniques but after this project I realised there was so much more I needed to learn and thankfully I have now!

CONCLUSION

What can I now do better?

After finishing editing and finishing the post production stage I realised that this project has done multiple things that has helped me improve myself and push myself to become a more independent and confident learner...

To start, This project taught me how to work and plan on my own, working from home and having to complete a full project all from my house was a daunting task filled with many small hurdles but being able to overcome those hurdles and finish the project all by myself was really elevating and helped boost my attitude towards working and learning. I'm very thankful that the Film Festival project taught me many things about myself.

What Skills can I improve on?

During this project, It came to my attention that I did a lot of things good and satisfactory; however there are a few fundamental skills I feel need improving!

For starters, I've already talked about this but my time management, structure and planning could all be improved upon. So next project its my aim to make sure I stay on top of my work and that I plan how I'm going to spend my time working. 

What have I learnt?

Working on this project from home as really allowed me to progress and adapt as a learner. Learning from home has improved my confidence and work ethic towards my media course. Also during this project, I improved my knowledge of conventions and techniques; thanks to the multiple scene analysis I did while working in the research milestone of the project.

After the post production stage I also noticed that I had improved a lot on working independently on certain software such as Premier Pro and Audition. Because at one point during the project I was unsure about how the outcome of the project would be because I had to use software I had never even heard of but I showed my determination and willing to still try and give it a go! But going back to software I was familiar with felt really good and uplifting.

Working on this project has taught me a bunch of things but my main take-away from this project is now I'm able to work better independently and confidently compared to before the start of this project.

ACTION PLAN

Where can I use my new experience?/ How can I use the knowledge and techniques I've picked up?

I believe that I will be using my new sound knowledge subconsciously when ever I now watch a movie, have a media lesson, have media homework or anything like that. Obviously one of my favourite hobbies is to watch movies and analysing them, now with after this project I will be going in much deeper.

I can also apply my new knowledge for my next and upcoming project no matter what the project may be. If it involves filming and audio then I'm prepped and ready for action.

If this project were to happen again; what would I do differently?

For starters if this project was to happen again I would analyse vastly different scenes in the research milestone, I would like to do more research like that so I would probably do more than 4 scenes as I loved that part of the project so much.

Next I would chose the other script instead of the same one so I can implement a range of tones instead of going for the horror script again.

And last of all I would hope that the circumstances are different, I hope we could of been doing majority of this work on campus and with my class mates to and I'd love to compare the projects with each other to see if whether I work best in college or at home.

Overall, The Film Festival project was beneficial for me in many ways, I learned important aspects of media, I put my new found knowledge to great use and I'm happy with the outcome. I'm exited to see what the future of my course holds in store, I'm eager and ready to learn much more!