Evaluation

R.E.D. Evaluation

Pre-Production

 I feel I could have planned the shoot more thoroughly, for example I could have spent more time on the storyboard. However I have always found that a more on-the-spot, instinctive approach has served me well, so I’m not really so worried that I didn’t spend a lot of time on the storyboard. I also could have tested ideas more, for example it would have been good to test creating an atmosphere with purely sound before the shoot so I knew how to go about doing it. The main reason for a lot of these issues is that I perhaps took too long on pre-production planning the story and characters, which in my defence has always been my main focus and interest. Basically, in future I should learn to manage my time more effectively. One good aspect of spending a lot of time on characters and story is that it resulted in me getting big ideas into a good script, which was ultimately the main goal of this project. I am very happy at how well the characters came out, I’m sure that this is a result of spending a lot of time developing the characters and really thinking through what motivates them and how they act.

Production

An important thing that I over looked is to always check the equipment before the shoot. Due to overlooking this important precaution, I ran into some problems with the camera that resulted in losing the footage and needing to re-shoot. This was a big problem that could have easily been avoided, however it did teach me the importance of checking the equipment and to be honest the footage wasn’t that good, it was rushed and overall not as good as it could have been and I somewhat glad that I had to re-shoot because the footage from the second shoot was far superior. During the making this film, I encountered a number of problems, the most annoying of which was a double booking of the studio theatre. Due to this problem, what was a four hour shoot suddenly became a two hour shoot. Fortunately, we all, Isaac, Ben and myself, worked quickly and got all but one shot done, this is due to us using the limited time effectively, shoot went very smoothly.. In the past I have always shot on location in public spaces, which inevitably meant having to deal with the general public, noise, weather etc. In contrast, I found using studio space very convenient, provided that there are no double bookings of the room. I really enjoyed being able to completely control the environment and not having to worry about the general public ruining a shot or bad weather. I will certainly consider using a studio space in future. I was happy that I managed to maintain a collaborative environment whilst still being in control. I’ve always enjoyed an easy going, collaborative work environment as I feel that it brings out the best in me and I happily welcome other people’s input but it is also important to maintain some level of control when it is your film and your ideas at it’s core.

Post-Production

One thing that I regretted whilst editing was not getting more cutaways or alternative shots.  This meant I didn’t have as much room to move as an editor and didn’t have much opportunities for alternate edits. There where a number of minor issues that had to be fixed in post-production, for example in one shot The Dark Other’s head is out of shot. To fix this I used a clip of a close-up of him to create a composite shot. I was very pleased with this as not only was it undetectable but it also made him look considerably better. Because we were using a studio space, inspired by Dogville, I instead used ambient sound to create the atmosphere of an eerie forest at night. I would have liked, if given more time, to have recorded the sounds and music myself, but due to limited time I was forced to use sounds obtained from freesound.org, I am happy though with the sounds I used and see no reason to change them now. I certainly feel that I succeeded in creating an atmosphere with purely sound. For the pacing I was inspired by a number of Sergio Leone westerns, particularly the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West. I really like the slow pace of that scene and felt that it would help my film. I had this in mind since pre-production however didn’t due to limited time I didn’t get the scene as slow as I wanted during filming. Fortunately due to the voices being re-recorded and lip-syncing not being that necessary I was able to slow the pace down a lot, which I feel helped the film considerably. After screening the film, I felt that I needed to edit the film some more to make it perfect, but upon reflection I feel that it is as good as I can be, particularly as this is really only a test of an idea rather than a completed film, although it certainly can stand alone by it self.

Conclusion

Overall I am very pleased with the film. The goal of this project was to find a method of realising my fantastical ideas in a realistic and practical manner. I consider this film a success, in my eye it has achieved this goal and proven to me that I need not hold back on my more ambitious ideas because of limited budget and means.  One thing that did worry me was the recording of the dialogue. I had always intended to re-record dialogue and sadly was unable to use the sound suite. To get around this I got out recording equipment and decided to record at home over the weekend. However, the hiss on the recording was so bad we had to use the internal microphone on Isaac’s Mac. I was worried that the recording wouldn’t be good enough but after screening the sound got good feedback and seemed absolutely fine, so I see no need to re-record the dialogue anymore. This film is, in my eyes, merely a test of a larger idea. I fully intend to carry on the story in the future, however I feel this idea is too big to do any justice next term, so I do not intend to use this idea for my final piece. For my final I intend to tell a short story that is set within the same world. The events that this film was based on will play a part and be connected but will not be the focus.