Final Statement

REVIEW OF FINAL MAJOR PROJECT (FMP)

Student Name: Harry Thomas Pathway: Media Productiom- Film

Final Major Project Title: The Beggar

You will need to submit this evaluation with your full project hand in 

Editing continues

Putting off my sound problems for a while I've began cutting down my film I found that I had a very MySpace to it and our cruise very clear. I began screaming at two groups of fellow students and tutors in order to get their feedback and understand how I could improve, it I still had lots of leftover footage and possible ideas of how the film could change and this gave me a lot of possibilities that I can achieve.  Most of the feedback was very positive; people understood and enjoyed the Ark and complex fights that takes place in it. Most of the advice and feedback was simply to cut down some shots that lasted too long or cut them so they became action shots rather than static shots.   This is very good feedback as it made my film a lot more streamlined and there was no wasted seconds on screen what started off as a two and a half minute short became a much faster, well paced and concise 1 minute and 40 seconds Film through the help of the feedback.

I also figured out my sound problems. For the scenes with clear conversations I was able to quite easily find the correct recording, but for one liner scene etc it was much harder, however I sorted This by finding the "audio gain" option and turning up the DB for all my scenes before I mastered it, this isn't just much easier for me but also far quicker, once this was done I had more time to experiment before deciding on my final cut.

Enjoy some screenshots from the final piece:

Beginning editing

 The beginning of editing was easy enough gathering together all of my good usable footage as well as possible Alternative cuts was simple enough. I simply had to give them a rough piecing together in premiere pro to see the general outline of my film  before I began to cut the shops down to get a feel of the pace and timing of the film.

  My first problems came when I realise much of the film recorded on the road microphone was not loud enough, I would have to require the boom recordings I have no experience in syncing up film that has been independently recorded from another device and so this became very complicated as we had over 90 sound recordings and 70 pieces of footage.   This is something I would have to consult with Matt about as he has some knowledge of this.

The shoot

 As the day of the shoot arrived and I have decided to use a boom sound recording set up which should be operated by Michaela Donegan and recruited Matt Hawkins as my DOP, who shot the majority on a shoulder rig. I have recruited four actors, my brother Rory Thomas to play thug one Sukh to play thug 2, Charlie Briggs to play The beggar and Adam acus to play John.

None of these people are actors and so I decided to dedicate a good six hours before heading to the shoot to rehearse.  we only had 2 1/2 hours to film after the sun goes down and so I had to make sure that all actors knew their lines beforehand and would be able to perform on Q as quickly as possible when we got to location . The Rehearsal process gave me the opportunity to go through all lines with actors and make sure They understood them, understand the characters motivation and also how to deliver the Line.  This turned out to be extremely effective as my professional actors delivered extremely professional performances on set the vast majority is of the lines were performed with  them even need needing to see the script because they were so well versed in the story and understood what was going to happen next.  As a result this saves a huge amount of time on set meaning that all of my phone could be shot in one day and everyone can get home at a reasonable time which is always a risk doing a night shift .




 As well as this rehearsal of the actors I also sat down Matt several times in order to talk him through the process of the film so he also understood what I was trying to create. I sent him a copy of every shop list draft and explain to him all of the changes so that I can hear his feedback of understand how he would shoot the film under my direction.


 As well as talking through it theoretically, as part of practical preparation I made all actors and crew arrive at the scene two hours before sunset meaning we had two hours to practice rehearse and a set up shots to ensure that things will go as quickly as possible.  All of this had a massive positive impact on my film and the time it took to shoot. I feel the biggest part of being a director goes into all of the time before the camera starts rolling making sure that everyone you're with understands your vision so that you can execute perfectly.
 The only real struggle was sound. none of us were experience sound recordists and so setting up sound recording cues and having it recorded in unison with the video proves to be difficult not just on set but also with the edit. Next time I will also take the time to practice with the boom pole and make sure that the sound recorders understands all of the lines, cues and direction so they can move with the filing.

 In the end we finish 10 minutes earlier than predicted all of the food I need a shop as well as extra coverage I consider this an extremely successful shoot .

location scouting

As well as shooting on the train I also went down to scout the side streets of Elm
Park station to make sure this would also not be an issue, the area is usually not very used however it was possible that cars could be pulling in and out and this could ruin my
Continuity.
While scouting this public car park I found that just beyond the wall was a private car park and dark alleyway that was reserved for people living in the nearby flats, and this meant it was far less used than the public car park I had in mind. It also hard harsher, white artificial lighting that was originally what I wanted and this would Make my colour grade and post production far easier, so this was a massive boost for me. I may have to shift my script around slightly to make it work but this should not be a problem for such a beneficial location.

Test shoots

After going through and refining my script until i was happy, i decided to head to the locations I had in mind to test shoot and make sure it would work for my film, was private enough and wouldn't give me any continuity issues.
Attempting to film on the northern line was extremely difficult and proved to me why test shoots are so important. Passengers would get off and on which would create obvious continuity issues, some would even sit right next to me and my actor on an empty carriage which was very frustrating.
Once all was shot and taken to editing I noticed that often cuts to shots would show the train moving at different Speeds which rendered the work unusable.

The test shoots are a good thing as it gave me the opportunity to plan ahead and solve these problems. I did some research into different types of stations and timetables and found that the Stratford over ground trains often sit at a stand still for roughly 20-30 minutes. This would work brilliantly for me as it cuts all the issues I would have had shooting on a train that was moving, the only problem that remained was that I may catch my reflection in the large windows but this is easily manageable as long as I really pay attention to how I frame my shots and don't take the risk of being caught out.

Script development

 I am taking from my original idea I have added this intro seeing an ending seen the post take place on the train the two scenes feature almost unrelated to the centrepoint of the plot which involve the homeless person saving the rich man's life, however they are there to summarise how the main character begins the film and then the ending scene summarises his experience and how that has changed him as a person and I will upload the script and to show this.