Final Cut

 

CCR 4: How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

 

Film Interview

CCR 3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Directors cut

 

CCR 2: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

 

Critic's review of a movie poster of our film opening

CCR 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

(YouTube style video essay)

 

Group collaboration (reflection) 35

         As a final conclusion to our entire film production, the last aspect I would like to touch on is our group collaboration. Going into this process, I was very cautious in picking my members due to major conlfict in my previous team.

Recap:  I started by talking with Dylan (former cinematographer & current editor) and determined that we would still be groupmates moving into this production. However, after our prior teammates had left the group, we needed a third person to fill the role of cinematogrpaher. After some searching, Miley (current cinmetographer) came up to us and asked to join the group! We ultimetly said yes and started developing the film. In this post, I would like to discuss my perception of our collaboration as a whole and each members individual impact.

Dylan (current editor):  As I stated above, Dylan and I were formerly in a production together, which allowed us to know eachothers workethics and skills. However, I had to take into account that Dylan was switching roles and wasn't neseccarily going to work the same. Nontheless, one thing that helped Dylan and I the most in terms of collabortaion was facetime. As you may know, being editor means constantly communicating with your group to ensure everyones vision is being relayed. Thus, him and I made a plan to call each editing session, so I could get an update on how the film was looking. Looking back, this idea was an extremly smart move in terms of collaboration and something I will take with me into the future.

Miley (current cinematographer): With this production being Miley and I's first project together, I was unaware of how she worked with others. However, her work ethic was no different to that of my own. There were times where she was absent from school for 2-3 days at a time which initially came off as a concern to Dylan and I. Although, the days she was absent never directly affected our filming schedule, they still meant that she was out of the loop of certain aspects like the plot, script, and even filming locations. In the future, if one of my teammates is not in school, its my job to express my concerns and ensure to keep them in the loop in their time away. 

Together: As a whole I belive that we worked excellent together. In the beginning, I initally felt that I was soley leading the group when it came to makeing decisions, specifially the plot. After a few days of conversation, we ended up making further advancments. In hindsight, I understand I am the director and its my job to lead group discussions, however, I think the collaboration process took a little longer this time to kickoff. 

Overall, though this production process wasn't perfect, I believe that it was a big step up from my first production. Though it may seem obvious, having open commutation is key to good collaboration.

Location (reflection) 34

        With this entire process coming to a close, a vital aspect I need to reflect on is how we implemented our two locations and what advice I would like to take into the future. To review, we filmed in two vital locations; the Coral Springs High School auditorium and my personal bedroom. 

Scene 1: CSHS auditorium

As seen throughout my previous location planning + implementation posts, filming in the auditorium was sort of a rollercoaster. I won't bore you with the same details about finding a plan B and getting in contact with the theater teacher, but I will discuss a problem that arose on filming day. As you can see from the image below, there is a large screen hanging behind Lily.. this was not intentional. When we got to the auditorium, everything was going as plan, that was until the theater teacher informed us that the projector screen was stuck down and could not be moved. At first I brushed this off, however as filming progressed, this became more of an issue. Me and my crew described the screen background as sort of an interview style, it just wasn't.. right. Overall, obtaining and getting to this location worked out in the end, but the little things (like not checking to see if the screen was broken!!) can wreck the project.

Snap shot of Lily acting in front of broken screen

Scene 2: My bedroom

Before we even started to develop the plot, I knew my room would be a good filming location due to my availability. Thus, when the collaboration process came, we agreed that my own room would represent Annie's personal thoughts and mind. And as I discussed in my directing reflection post, I made the decision to film here first, so my cinematographer and I could find our momentum while not being under a time crunch. However, there was still a major issue. Just because I knew the size of my room, that didn't mean my group did. When Miley (cinematographer) arrived at my house, she told me her concerns with the shot list/storyboard due to her misperception of how much of room we would have to film. As a result, we had to make last minute changes to the shots to fit the size of my room. Overall, not even some wide angle example pictures could of given the same detail as an in-person visit could have.

In summary, there are a few things I learned throughout the entire location process that I will take with me in the future, the main one being to check first!! Though it may seem relatively simple, as a group we failed to have a test run with the locations. As director and as the group leader, I picked which locations to use and initially thought that they were fine and ready to use! In retrospect I was completely wrong. No matter how sure you might be, directors should always take initiative and test the locations to ensure they are fit to film.