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.

Script and Structure

After reviewing my sketchbook and and visiting the screenplay section of the pathway and exploratory stage  I looked back on much of the techniques and potential ideas so I decided not to go with when doing the project.  Many of these seemed interesting ideas that could be adapted to fit the revolutionary focus of my FMP.  The standout was a plan I had written for a script about the interactions between a wealthy man and a homeless man, the latter coming to save the formers life. From this I added parts that showed the wealthy man would learn from this and use it to become a better person mainly through the way the heat see use people and give them a chance rather than judging them.   Right now I am drafting a script in order to structure my story and I am doing brief chunks of dialogue to fill out, however much of this will probably be a changed  as I have fellow classmates and tutors look over it and show me how to improve. This is very important for writing dialogue, because you have to only include what is necessary rather than having the characters quasi-look into the camera and tell the audience what they're thinking, you have to show them this rather than express it through dialogue.

The First Crit

The first Crit gave me some very pratical and forward thinking ways to complete my research. My tutor believed that I should include myself more in my research, that i should be more reflective and try to hold a personal revolution within my own life, possibly at work or within my school or simply in the way i go about my day to day life.I fell this was a good point and by doing so would help me get into the mind of my characters more and understand how it feels to make the changes they are making. However, im not sure how i could do this, attempting a revolt at work is likely to get me fired, my manager really doesnt like me that much and despite being aggressively marxist, i like getting paid.

I was also told that a good stepping stone now would be to draft my first script or tender of a story, a narrative that shows the message i want to put out there and that i can roll and experiement with. In Order to do this im going to look through my sketch book and blog, paying attention especially to the sections of notes on screenwriting technique and moral premise in order to help me, as this is always much easier and more inspiring then attempting to conceptualise and structure a story from scratch.

Practical Preparation- Sound

As I would soon be working on my project i decided to take a class to brush up on my sound recording skills as i believe sound often makes or breaks a student film. Also, due to time restraints of the FMP, i would like to be able to record as much sound on the day as possible without having to re-dub much of it the day after.

From this seminar i learned that, despite it being more complex, a double system gives you better quality sound and should probably recorded at 48 kHz, which is ideal for digital video.
Its also not tethered to the camera and so allows more freedom of movement in order to get closer to the subject.
Try and keep and 18 DB difference between ambient noise and the desired dialogue.
For my film my best option would be to use a Lav mic and a Boom

Secondary Contextual research- Protests

Occupy Wall Street

in 2011, thousand of americans from different political backgrounds took up camp in Wall Street to protest the economic landscape of america and unethical capitalism. For me this was a good example of the modern day revolution and how it is still relevant in todays society. Corporations have such strong links to every branch of government that standing up to them is now the same as revolting against the branches that represent them.

though it failed to change much, the unity and persistence of the group is something i can take from for my own film, financial inequality is a catch all issue that effects everyone and so i feel my story could reflect this.

The Women's March on Washington

The day after Donald Trump's inauguration was a huge protest organised by women's rights activists that attracted approx. 250,000 men and women against Trump and The GOP's attitudes towards women, pay disparity, reproductive rights and sexual assault. This was a signifier of the massive political polarisation for women in America as 53% of female voters were actually pro-Trump rather then Hillary Clinton. This again is something i can take to my film as during revolution opinions and ideas are often extremely polarised and the revolution comes from the split down the middle that is caused by this.

Secondary Contextual film Research

As part of my research I decided to watch several films that could inspire my project, from real life stories like Sophie Scholl, who dissented against the Nazis, to The Lego Movie, a modern day children animation with Marxist undertones.

Sophie Scholl was very inspiring to me as it is a true story. Scholl, her family and friends worked together to undermine the Nazi regime and eventually sacrificed their lives. The films interview scenes are very symbolic of her standing up alone to a system that didn't work, it dials down major issues and events and contains them in a jail cell or interview room. This is good from my perspective as my films will not have a budget and must take place on the small scale, but with this deliver the huge impact to the audience that a revolution should make them feel.

This film was hugely inspirational for the direction
of my idea. It tells the story of a Sports agent who has a moral epiphany that he should stop obsessing over money and expanding success and scale down so he can actually look after his clients. Its story strongly focused on the personal revolution, actively working to change and improve his own life by becoming a better person.

The Godfather is also extremely relevant to the ideas of personal revolution, however unlike Jerry Maguire, Michael Corleone's personal revolution moves in the opposite direction; once a respected war hero, he moves toward greed, vengeance and personal gain, culminating in him murdering his own brother in part II. This made realise that my film has an entirely new direction to move into and one i think i actually prefer, revolutions often don't go well, leading to downward spirals and i think this might be a better narrative arch to explore as it could be a good twist to put to the audience and make them think. 

Secondary Research- Russian Revolutionary artwork

Conveniently during my study of revolution the Royal academy were displaying art work from Russia from 1917 to 1932- displaying the work created in a time when the Revolutionary Bolsheviks had won the Civil war and as a result, Russia. The art was extremely interesting as it showed how the people responded to the victory of revolution. I hoped that looking at this would inspire any ideas for visuals of my film, i like giving my pieces a unique and surrealist look that is often captured in paintings.

Death of a Commissar (1928)

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin

This image represented the price of victory in the Russian Civil War as a Red Army soldier lies in the arms of his Comrade. The picture symbolises the Russians potentially moving on and forgeting the sacrifices made for them to live thier lives under Bolshevism

Tram Condcuter

Alexander Samokvalov, 1928

This painting was the symbol of Russia's social and economic progress under the Bolsheviks in the late 1920s. It showed how industrialisation had changed Russia, and how women had become a greater force in society, here the conductor stands tall and powerful under the blue flash of electric.

This was a protest piece from the early 1920s, depicting Russia as massive, hellish prison of which Vladimir Lenin is the centre, flanked by his politburo with soliders supressing the white army in each corner. Work like this would have been outlawed, epecially after Stalins succeful rise to power.

FMP Primary Research- Protests

As further Primary research I decided to attend some high profile protests in London against the rise of right wing reacionism and populism. After Brexit and the Election of Donald Trump people feel we are moving backwards to a more hateful and polarised time, and so people felt the need to turn out  and show that they were not happy with this, and did not intend to go quietly.

As shown in the picture, much of the anger of the protest was directed towards Trump, after Teresa May's announcement for him to have a state visit at the expense of the Tax payer. People rightly believed it was wrong for someone so hated and against the international community, to be allowed to come here for free to try and ensure a good post-brexit deal. "Teresa The Appeaser" was a commob nick name being thrown around.

Revolution FMP- Primary Research and interviews

To begin the research for my FMP i have decided to start by gaining as much primary research as possible as this is often the hardest to get. I have conducted about 7 interviews with fellow classmates to understand other people's ideas on revolution and see if this could help inspire me to think of topics to base the narrative. I learned that others mainly would want to revolt against the lack of equality that still exists in society as they feel this is the stem of many of societies problems. However most people were unsure how they can bring this around, its impossible to force change when it comes to how people think and feel, especially on topics of race, as peolpe can know all the facts and still feel a deep lying hatred.
People also discussed the ideas of  ending world poverty by increasing peopels awareness of the need for even the smallest donations and simply working harder to shift the excesses of 1st world countries to the 3rd world.
My questions then moved to the ideas of a personal revolution; how, if you could, would you revolutionise your own life? what major changes would you make to yourself or your surroundings.
Most explained that they would want to work harder and procrastinate less, they have goals that they fell will bring them lifelong happiness in thier careers but these could only be achieved if they worked harder, however, they couldn't explain why they couldnt motivate themselves, it seemed to me as if people living in a routine they are comfortable in can not just up and suddenly change, much like a revolution, great change needs a Catalyst.

Proposal

Screenplay project week 2

In the second week of the project we began sending the screenplay around class and received other to give feedback too. I feel like this helped get my week off to a better start than I had had in the first as reading other people's work gave me a more positive outlook and inspiration to do my own piece, as I now began to realise what I should be doing with my time.

I went back on my sketchbook to look for further inspiration and found a few bullet points of a film idea I had in September that had been overlooked for a different idea, from here I developed it further and began working on my own original screenplay. From this I learned yet again that my sketchbook is an invaluable source of inspiration and ideas, especially when struggling with the crisis of writers block.

As we started getting into the week it came around that we would have to begin filming. Due to the fact we were filming In a tiny student Kitchen it was decided that I should stay as my presence would only complicate things in the space. This was good for me as it gave me the time I need to focus on my own screenplay which I felt very happy with and was key to getting me out of the creative slump I had been in. Though I have not been able to film it, those who read it gave me extremely positive feedback, as it convays the moral values and subtexy that we were asked to create At the start of the project.

Screenplay task week 1

This project took much of the focus away from our final outcome and looked mainly at the narrative and story that drove it, this is because as film students, we may often prioritise nice visuals and and good editing while sacrificing the actual ark of our story, and this leaves our films without any moral value or true artistic depth. This meant brainstorming and creating a full, printed screenplay.
I struggled at the beggining of the task as I decided that I wanted to write my screenplay alone and then form a group after this to shoot it, as I feel this is a much more efficient way of working. However I then found myself with a lack of ideas and decided move to a group, this was also because, by the time my screenplay would be finished, people would be too involved in their own projects to be willing to volunteer their time to work on mine. I now felt like there was no right decision as I struggled to contribute any creative ideas to this group, and felt that I was simply sitting in as they discussed the idea they eventually chose, if was scenarios like this which were why I had chosen to work alone in the first place.

Personal freedom week 2

Upon returning for the second week I met with class mate and regular collaborator Nali Raouf who invited me to work with him on his project, centring around self exceptance and body image. I felt this was a good project for me to join as I related on a personal level with my own weight loss and gain. I saw people's ideas of the "Perfect Body" as a marketing scheme to sell gym memberships, equipment and protein supplements, and it was freeing to realise this and live how you are comfortable, rather than how the world tells you to.

Filming this presented new challenges as we were working with an outside actor, who had to be given his likes on the day and did not understand basic film making laws about continuity and framing. There fore we needed a lot more on set patiences to brief him and make sure he fully understood mine and Nali's direction and his own lines. Overall I believe we did this well and got a strong performance from him.

We did not do a crit for this film, however feedback from our fellow class mates were general but positive.

Personal freedom week 1

We started this week with a film about a man's personal freedom in which he attempted to walk from lands end to Inverness naked. This helped to open our minds to the possiblities of how far we could go with the project and how we could explore it. Films do not have to be personal, but can simply explore the ideas of other people's personal experiences and this can be the basis of our narrative. 

I also tried thinking outside the box by looking into BDSM, which rejects personal freedom in order to put there will in the hands of someone else. I Looked at socialist revolutionaries and the likes of Sophie Scholl who stood up against the Nazis and called for an end to WWII, which eventually led to her execution. 

 

Despite these extremely inspiring sources I could not find an appropriate narrative to make a film for, these stories were fascinating but I lacked the time to do a historical period piece as well as the setting. I learned from this that though I tend to flourish in most circumstances, working alone is not always the best option, as I am prone to writers block, and when working for two weekend deadlines this can not happen.

Opening titles week 2

The second week running very smoothly for me due to the planning I have done in the first. I started by shooting primal fear, I was lucky that I had knowledge of a local church nearby my old college that was willing to allow film students on the premises. It's very large, old fashionedChurch of expenses graveyard and this set the right feel for the psychological drama that I was trying to create.
 Moonrise Kingdom went just as smoothly, however it may have helped to scout my location first before heading over there. It was shot in the park but I found arriving that I wasn't sure which area of the park would be best to film the piece, this led to a lot of re-shoots on the day which wasted a lot of time, however we finished well within the deadline.

I enjoyed the post production of this piece because it gave me an opportunity to experiment in the editing suites and soundtracking. I watched many tutorials that gave me the skills to turn a normal sounding choir soundtrack into something much more sinister and creepy by distorting it, raising or lowering the pitch, and I believe this was very effective in the final piece.  I also got to experiment with colour grading which I use to decrease the tone of the colour and desaturate like to give it a far less friendly feel and create further  discomfort and tension for the viewer.

The crit went well, people initially felt the responses I wanted them to feel and were able to correctly guess the genre of the films. However they did feel that the sound was too loud where I had edited it and that I should remember to reduce the amplification when doing it again.

Opening titles project-week 1

Beginning the opening titles project was a struggle as, before starting, I had never truly considered the art of the title sequence and how it corresponds meaning, symbolism and genre to the viewer. This gave me the feeling that i was going in  blind on this topic compared to when i had done more conventional work on short films. To get over this problem research was very key, looking at the works of Saul Bass helped a lot when trying to understand the ideas of symbolism and semiotics in the sequences. At first I struggled becasue I saw this as an exact science, I was over thinking how to tell a visual story, believing that I had to lay out the entire narrative of my film in one small sequence.  However, I realised that opening sequences only have to give a feel for the film that we are making, and  by studying genre and learning what techniques I can use to create this feel the work became a lot easier.  Further proof to achieve good work on this course simply requires the correct amount of research in the right areas.

I decided to pick two films that were polarise in terms of genre one being a romantic comedy name to Moonrise Kingdom and the other being a tenant psychological drama queen primal fear.  I chose is by narrowing down many different ideas before listing everything I would need and the availability of locations this house we realise that these two films of been the best to make it in time set.  I learned from this that to produce my best work I have to do often work alone when when at the beginning of an idea in order to have a clear vision of what I want to film and then Plan in tensely in order to be fully prepared for the coming shoot.

TV script week 2

Now working with a much better and achievable script we had new ups and downs to overcome.
Planning was overall extremely positive. We were able to get our hands on and work with lights, sound equipment and rigs that we had not used before and this would be key in the future to have experience and a chance to experiment with these. We also got all of the first choice actors for the roles that we wanted and they were looking to work hard and be dedicated to the piece. The setting of the script was in a house with just three actors and so this was much more achievable for us as film students.

Despite the positive nature of the planning when we got to shoot there was clear lack of single leadership, it appeared everyone in our group, actors and editors included, wanted to direct the piece, and this led to a butting of heads amongst group members, which constantly stalled filming as we stopped to debate how each shot should be lit and angled. Because of this, it took a long time for our group to find its flow and we finished much later into the evening than we had previously hoped. From these mistakes, we learned that these ideas about our vision for the film should be discussed at the storyboarding stage with the director and editor so that time is not wasted on the set.

More problems arose in post production due to this, in the days before shooting we were set on a dramatic feel for our finished outcome, but when on set, decided to go with a more comedic interpretation. However, this new direction was not discussed with our editor, who attempted to cut our comedic shots in a more dramatic way, the result being a mis-hit for both genres. again, these mistakes simply came down to a lack of communication that could have easily been avoided.

TV Script project- week 1

Working on a project with a pre-written professional script was a challenge from beginning to end for many reasons.

Upon first reading and forming groups, an issue was found as we realised that we had very little control over the production of the final project like we would for something we have written ourselves, the first script we reviewed was set in a doctors office and featured roughly 7 characters of varying ages from young to old. These are both issues as it means we will have work as production designers to find a space and transform it into something that looks like a doctors office, this would be fine however none of us had experience in this area and due to commitments to deadlines and classes, we could not spend long periods of time creating a set.

After much debate, we realised that bringing this script to life was not fathomable in the time frame and therefore would have to take another script from the ones made available to us and start from scratch despite already being several days deep into the project. What we learned from this is that we would have to be far more decisive when looking at scripts as to what we are capable of, and to also consider our options with other pathways if the first is not achievable.

Advertisement crit

Overall the crib for a campaign was positive,  our view is found that the phone we were serving had made improvements to phones on the current market that related to the brick concept we were given at the start of the brief they like the sleek looking advert that we are parodied from apples IPhone campaigns, and were very impressed by how photographers work with the posters that had sleek graphics and included hashtags they are often seen in modern advertising for social media. However we were critics for a sound which wasn't quite loud enough. In the future we now know it's a listen through through several channels rather than just earphones as always master of sound in Adobe audition after we are finished.

The advertisement task

The advertising task presented new challenges for me as it was unlike any project I had under taken before. Creating campaigns and commercials are different from my usual short dramas, everything has to be positive and centralised around a product and a company, rather than a character and narrative. To help with this issue we started the week by researching many different advertising campaigns in order to analyse how they are so influential. Two that really inspired my group were campaigns by Hieneken and  Old Spice Deoderant. The Heineken ad seemed straight forward, a character becomes the life of the party while drinking the beer, though this plays heavily on the Late ideas of advertising, by having him drink the beer as he does his thing, it gives the viewer idea that theirs lives and popularity can be changed simply by buying the product, and that's something our adverts should aim to do.

Old Spice was interesting because it breaks all the rules in terms of the subtleties of advertising, acted Terry Crews screams at the viewer about the strength and over all supremacy of the deodorant  in a way that hasn't been seen before in advertising, and this aggression and in your face attitude is extremely memorable as it stand out. It's also extremely funny as it uses surreal techniques, such as journeying insides Crews armpit to show how good it now smells. Breaking the rules like this is something I will look to do on the project.

We were then put into groups to come up with our own product and campaign to sell it, given vague words to use as inspiration, ours being Brick. From this we came up with brick products that exist and decided that Brick phones would be the best selling point, as phones are arguably the biggest selling product right now but, at the same time, as we found through group discussions, could be improved by going back to being more like a brick, due to their strength, durability and security.
We researched more and found that IPhone ads were very successful at putting across the sleek and  improved features of the new phones.  We decided it would be interesting to parody this by running similar adverts for showing old-fashioned phone we had secured from a relative.  We also supported this with a new type of advert being seen a lot recently featuring interviews with potential customers who review the device, this has it latent affect on the viewer who sees the customers and relates to them as themselves  rather than a hired actor who is being paid to say good things.  However the interviewers were actors and were fed lines that we felt would appeal to customers in today's market.

Christmas Project- Behind the Tinsel

Before breaking up for Christmas we were given the brief to create a short film that focused on the dark side of Christmas. As someone who looks at socio-economics from a Marxist perspective I found this task very interesting as I found my beliefs clashing, on one side enjoying Christmas, the happy times with family and gift giving, I also acknowledge that it's original message has been skewed severely by capitalist marketing to ensure that heads of large corporations have the merriest Christmas of all. I also felt it was difficult, from my perspective, to put myself in the position of imagining, researching and recreating people who are suffering at a time when I'm so happy was difficult.

My part time job is in Romford, a place with a large concentration of homeless people, and this gave me the inspiration to make a film about someone made homeless at Christmas, and concludes with their descent into alcoholism. I had many ideas for how this plot could move and change and so to help clear my thoughts I learned from past experiences to story board a solide and efficient story board. This prevented any confusion about the narrative and was extremely helpful to keeping me on task as I was the only crew, and was also the lead actor.

In the crit, my tutors and class mates seemed happy with my work and it's interesting story, however they felt that the film could do with some kind of pay off, rather than focusing on an almost entirely downward spiral for the protagonist. From now on I will consider my stories before storing boarding and ask myself where they are going, and if the ending will not essentially be happy, but will it pay off? Will the view feel the last few minutes watching were worth it from what they saw and learned?

4X4 Project

The four by four challenge was created by Channel four as a short film competition, the rule being that it can only consist of four shots that all last 4 seconds. This was extremely challenging at first as coming up with a narrative for such a restricted format is never easy. The break came as we realised that these had to be short and entertaining, and what else is short and entertaining? Jokes. And so we decided that 3 shots woulda be build up, leading the viewer in one direction before the four delivered a punchline that surprised the viewer in a humourous way. Once the lay out was settled we sat down for a brief brainstorming session, this would have worked better if we had written down or recorded our process better for future reference, however we were rushing to meet a deadline and therefore did it all verbally and shot the short minutes later, a comedy about a date that is going well up until the 4th shot when a disagreement over condiments ruins everything. In the Crit we received heavy praise for the piece, the main compliments going towards pacing which allowed us to fit in all the necessary information in the first 3 shots while slowly timing the punch in the fourth for maximum comedic pay off. I learned from this that all comedy is based on delivery and time, and that for future comedy Projects, to make it work, many takes of the same line delivered to the best of their time will have to be taken in order to get the best result.

transcription project week 2

After the success of the initial tests i performed with class mates, i picked out 5 people i knew, ranging from close friends to near strangers, who i thought would provide a range of interests and passions to talk about. A challenge was keeping the premise a secret from them in order to gage realistic arguments from the participants, especially since i had already run test interviews with other class mates, but this turned out to be very worth it as much of the humour of the documentary comes from the blindsides participants who did not expect the interview to go this way.

Another challenge of the interviews at the start was building the confidence to criticise strangers for something they cared about, i learned i simply had to remind myself that in a few minutes they would be laughing with me when they understand the premise, and the further i pushed them, the more they would enjoy it when they come to watch it later.

overall i feel the documentary was a huge success and i received unanimous praise from my class mates and tutors, i feel from now on i will aim to make all of my films comedy based to entertain my audience, and wok with like minded people who want the same thing.