Final Major Project Evaluation

In the following is my overall review on each aspect I covered during my production. It was a challenging process but overall, with my future intentions in mind, I believe I was successful in what I wanted to achieve. 

Upon entering the course, I knew I  was expected to produce a final major project and I thought I would have a large amount of time to produce the final product, but once the time had arrived I was nervous and I think everyone else was. It was difficult for me to choose what I wanted to do for my FMP as I wanted to cover as many aspects as I possibly could, both technically and creatively. I had recently returned from Tanzania and I felt I had to use the footage of everyone involved to make a series of short documentaries or one long length documentary.  However, I decided I would prefer working on something for which I would have to write a script.  After a couple days of thinking I decided to work on creating a short drama from scratch. 

It didn’t take me long to realise  the concept for my drama as I spend some of my spare time writing scripts that I plan to work on when I am more successful. I pitched the idea to some of my classmates and, after hearing their feedback, I decided to use one of my written scripts. However, the one I wanted to produce was a long length episode of roughly forty-five minutes to an hour.  Therefore, first, I had to cut it down due to the timeframe I had been given. My prediction on how long the short script would last was roughly twenty minutes; the drama lasted for fourteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. The narrative of my drama originally came from the news report of the meteor shower in Russia and how, in my opinion, no one in England seemed to care.  From there I decided to use that as the main incident forcing characters together. Next, I thought about whom would the main protagonists be and what would make them interesting along with the incident. In dramas I am especially fond of distant relatives, due to unknown loss in the family.  Therefore, I combined them both together and wrote it out. Whilst writing, I imagined that it was based on me and my brother with these qualities so that I would have more of a realistic look on the whole drama and that’s what I believe makes the drama so appealing for everyone involved; that the characters are relatable to the audience and cast.

As it was clear now what I wanted to produce I had to research more in depth of similar genre products which focus more on the characters with life altering situations such post apocalypse madness, and two of my favourite pieces are “The Walking Dead” and “The Road” which both are set in a post apocalyptic world but focuses on the characters. The next stage of my research was just to ensure that certain aspects of my script were authentic enough to create the illusion of real life which every film/series attempts for. From the research I realised that to achieve a high level of atheism, makeup would be an important factor along with the acting so I advised Christi-Leigh Cooper to look at her own research and mine as well.

 All my research is evidenced on my blog.  During the production and post production stages I intended to do on-set video blogs but, due to time, I wasn’t able to achieve this and I knew it would be more interesting.  Luckily, Christi was gathering behind the scenes footage, which I did view, hoping I could use for my own video blogs but it wasn’t suitable enough.

Once I had written out the script and started thinking about the next step I realised that getting a crew together may be difficult considering everyone else would be working on their own project.  I started reaching out to members of media to see who would like to be involved.  At first Becky Gill & Emily McGregor were to be involved but, due to their own commitments, they were not able to help. Eventually I gained Lewis Johnson and Jordan Gott as part of my crew with the understanding that I helped them with their projects.  There was a lot of organising around things for each of us to cover all pre-production aspects such as recruiting actors and reccying locations. Unfortunately for them, they were not able to commence their own productions, due to other people letting them down, and they came onboard  my production as official members of the crew. 

I did have other locations in mind for my production but I decided to use my own home as the location as it made it more feasible to plan and prepare more and also, whilst writing the script, I imagined that it was happening in my house and the two protagonist were my brother and myself, which is a common technique for writers. With the location sorted, I spent many days going over lighting, camera positioning and rehearsing. As part of my plan to prepare I booked out the camera a number of times so that we could practice shots. One I particularly wanted to get was zooming into the eyes, different location, zoom out of the eyes. We spent many hours practicing this but it seemed too difficult, especially with the lighting change.

Gathering the actors was somewhat difficult. I like to think my main expertise in the media industry is the script writing as I really enjoy writing and opening up my creativity, especially in dramas. But considering this is my project, I had to take the roles of Director and Producer which I was very nervous about. When I was gaining feedback from everyone about my idea, the majority of people mentioned that I should try to get proper actors instead of using my friends which I agreed with but I didn’t know how to begin searching for a cast. I was told to check the website “Starnow” which is one of the main sites to search for acting talent. I put an ad out which didn’t get much response but got enough responses for me to choose from for my characters. For the character “Luke” I was excited with the responses and I was especially interested in using a certain boy as he looked really innocent and seemed to be really talented but, after a couple of weeks of arranging the schedule, I wasn’t able to use him at all which left me in a predicament because it was too late to find another actor off the site. Luckily, one of my tutor’s kids enjoys acting and was willing to be involved. Also, due to the fact I had to keep re-arranging I lost time for the editing. As part of my pitching skills for the actors, I decided to quickly produce a storyboard for them and us to work off. This would show I was taking this seriously; making them more comfortable as an employee knowing that I am checking everything expected off the list.

Before beginning production the crew had one last production meeting to ensure everyone was clear on the roles and responsibilities for the production days. Lewis took on the role of sound engineer which requires him to check and recheck on scenes or segments and which sounds are required. However, I made it clear that I wanted to use a snippet of a friends band music,  to allow them to have that bit more publicity, as I have future plans which requires their talent. The band is called “So Called Friends”. 

I was really nervous about starting the production aspect of the project considering that in past projects the majority of my roles were for the pre-production area, whereas now I had to take all responsibility for each aspect even with other members taking on roles. However, the process has actually enticed my ideas on future careers within the media industry. 

From what I had learned from past experience when it came to recording drama’s , we all agreed to the shoot days which consisted of two full days and an extra one just in case  it was required. I was fully aware that not everything would be done within the timeframe we gave ourselves but I thought as the Director and Producer I had to always seem confident for the actors, truly showing my professionalism towards the work, even when something would go wrong I still made sure that they believed it was anticipated and we had a contingency planned. Due to the timeframe we had and the style of the script when it came to dialog I wasn’t able to have an official audition set up for the actors but I made sure that I got at least and one to one sit down with them, allowing me to bond a bit more, which made them more comfortable, also by doing this it made it easier for me to predict the final product. 

I and the crew live a distance from each other so we made arrangements for them all to stop at my home considering the location was at my house, this allowed us more time to set up and recheck any issues that may present themselves. Some days we had a late start due to technical issues but we proceeded within reasonable timescales. I was the Director, something I haven’t really experienced properly, was really enjoyable. Thanks to the actor’s professionalism, there wasn’t any reason to have to explain much and at any time get strict with work ethics which I am aware of is natural for a director.  There was times when the actors were “corpsing” which basically means breaks character and laughs or completely loses the point in story. I tried to keep a cool head at all times but after the seventh, eighth take it started to get pressing for everyone, luckily the actor Peter Quinn had experience in calming a director and gave me points on what to do in this type of situation.  

When it came to casting for this piece I envisioned on what the actors would look like and how it would reflect their characters. What I have learnt from recruiting is that the image of the actor completely changes the character for better or not, my main example is the character Tom. Tom in my mind would have been stereotyped as a “chav”, similar to Jack O’Connell’s character in Skins “Cook” but the actor, Phil looked in no way close to that. Phil seemed more realistic, avoiding the stereotype making the audience seem more connected to the narrative as they have more sympathy for someone that isn’t a “chav”. Phil is one of those rare talents that is unfortunate to not of been discovered yet, talking & chilling with him you somewhat expect a standard performance but once he is in character and the camera is rolling, you are shocked to see how much he forms into that character. He really delivered the bullying, depressed, emotional damaged teenager. What I really enjoyed about his involvement was his keen interest in wanting to know more about the narrative and characters. He wasn’t afraid to improve at anytime; he was working with two actors which were not properly prepared or trained actors and how he worked off their lines and actions truly showed dedication.

I have worked with Peter Quinn before and intended to work with him again because not only does he give a great performance, the advice I gain from him really helps. He is a professional actor and has worked with hundreds of people, so he is more aware of what to expect when it comes to difficult situations. The fact he is willing to work with students stands out to me because it shows that he actually enjoys what he does whereas some of his peers may just do it for money or fame. 

Working with George was shocking to say the least for me; his mother is one of my tutors and really got me out of a hole. My young actor wanted to reschedule every other day, so I couldn’t use him and George was more than willing to get involved. From what I was told George enjoyed acting but hadn’t had much experience so I made it clear to the crew that rehearsal was important but as it turned out I shouldn’t have worried because he was fully prepared and had caught the elements of his character, Luke. As the same as Phil, he was willing to do some improvisation and at times scared me. Whilst they were practicing the basement 2 scene it seemed to miss something so I allowed them to go with what they felt best and Phil launched George across the room. George seemed genuinely scared and hurt but he started laughing and encouraged for more. 

I was confident in everyone’s performance, both crew and cast. My main concern was not having a member to constantly check and list off what’s in shot to prevent continuity errors and ensuring we got all scenes. Once we got all the footage on the MACS we realised that we had missed some shots but it was too late to shoot again. 

Looking over the final product, I have mixed feelings about it.  As I previously mentioned my main aspect within a production is the script writing, so it was important for me to get the narrative and character development across as much as possible. As I noted, the changes I made with the character Tom was more of an improvement. I wanted Tom to come off as a “chav” which would at first give a negative effect to the audience as a “chav” is usually stereotyped as thugs which Tom is but as the story developed I hoped the audience would begin to like Tom. Having Tom as an everyday rebellious teenager, it makes it easier for the audience to bond and feel sympathy for him without stereotyping.

When I started my FMP I had to shorten down my original script which made it difficult because it was meant to be a slow paced drama, so cutting down meant I had to keep the essentials. The essentials being the relationship between Tom, Mother, Luke, the drug addiction, the incident and the bond development between Tom & Luke. I believe the added scene of the gas masked figure walking past has a dramatic effect on the audience as it leaves them thinking about what happened and what’s to come which is my overall intention with this drama.

I am very proud by the overall performances from the cast, each of them worked very professionally and really brought my characters to life. There are some segments which are noticeable in a perhaps negative view, for example the segment where the Mother and Stepdad are leaving but Luke gives Mother a hug goodbye. The two actors didn’t really know each other; they were both uncomfortable with hugging each other. However this segment is only a short one and I don’t believe it pulls away from the narrative.

My main issues with the final piece were the lighting elements during certain scenes and the sound. We mainly focused on lighting the basement as the lighting has to appear natural and would have to reflect the situation the characters are in. They are trapped in the basement and only have candles as their light source, so it was to be expected to have areas of darkness. However by the fact we focused on the lighting in the basement we didn’t take much time to check the lighting in other areas, we wanted to use natural lighting which we did in the bedroom but the main area with problems was the hallway and kitchen scenes. It downgraded the quality of the final piece but as this is our first attempt on making something well lengthened and is considered our tester for the series can be seen as acceptable. This has simply taught me to constantly check and recheck each area for the lighting. The other issue is sound, I wasn’t in charge of the sound department but I made sure that it was all good and it appeared to be fine during the shoot but once we began editing the audio that is off screen seems further then actually is, I have been told that in future projects I should use the best quality of audio for that segment. I would have done this in the first place but the fact the editors had their own sections spread out and I wasn’t aware of this until after I finished I couldn’t but at least I now know this for future reference.

As it was my idea I can’t think of any scene or segment that I didn’t like apart from the awkwardness between Heather & George, but if I had to pick my favourite bits of the film I would have two.

My first is the sudden close up of Tom puking on the floor due to his drug withdrawal, this segment you hear him vomiting but then we suddenly cut into a close up of him actually puking which I think shocks the audience making it a memorable moment. It was a segment I struggled to decide upon because there was various options on how to present it to the audience. The second segment I really like is the gasmask scene as it is an intense scene where it makes everyone questions what’s next.

The next step for everyone on the course is the college exhibition, this is where we show the public our final pieces and hopefully sell ourselves a bit more. I am a bit cautious because I have my concerns of my final product but I enjoy the idea of dressing and acting professionally showing off our work. I have tried to get involved in building as much of the exhibition as possible but I believe I could have done more.  The media department have been given a large space to build a cinema and I got to say it definitely stands out, however due to the fact my FMP has a large amount of drug abuse and ill language it can’t all be shown on the cinema screen and instead mine will be on a MAC with headphones. 

From this experience I think I have learnt and improved professionally a lot, as I mentioned that the experience has made me think about career prospects. For a while all I thought my key area was script writing but I extremely enjoyed being the director and producer, I have worked on those areas before but this felt different and more appealing. I simply enjoyed the professionalism in gathering and meeting actors, I feel like I have knack for it. The final product could be improved and will be improved once we begin the next stage, I have avoided mentioning it but the next stage for me is working on a production company a few members of media have started. For us, the whole point of this drama was do a test run and see what worked and what didn’t, I believe that this project will be our official first one to go into a series. I do feel like the stress of everything got to me towards the end but once I had finished and had time to reflect and even with the final product not being too best quality, I think that I performed to a professional manner and therefore a success.