Task 4 Post-production: Self-reflection and evaluation:

Year 10 Creative Media Short Film Production – Term 03 Mr Andrews

Task 4 Post-production: Self-reflection and evaluation:

Discuss your feelings about the post-production and editing task:

·      Are you satisfied with the final result?

Yes I am satisfied with the final result of my film but feel as if with more organization and time I could have done better.

·      Did the editing require more/less time than you originally thought?

The editing required more time than I initially thought it would but this extra time was not allowed for. The editing required a lot more time in the way of actually doing the same functions over and over again for each shot than planning and thinking about what I was going to do.

·      Would like to change any aspects of your final film (scene editing, music, dialogue etc)?

Yes, if I could I would have changed my soundtrack to my final movie. I had trouble finding the right loops to set the right mood in some parts of my film. I do believe I did do moderately well with the time space provided but I do think I could have put more planning into my soundtrack and have not left it until I had finished my editing.

·      If you could start the project again what would you do differently?

If I could start the project again I would have planned the entire film so it went for longer. I also would have changed some of the shots and made the film more based around the story of the criminal than it is. I would do this because it is not initially explained in my movie that the point of the introduction is to convey the point that everyone is blaming the older sister for the murder and that the rest of the movie was going to be about how she tries with professionals to prove that it was not her. I addition to this I would have made sure that as a group we communicated more in the terms of what people had on their weekend well in advance. I would have done this as we would have been able to shoot more footage as a group and would have been more organized.

Respond to each of the following dot points (using complete sentences or paragraphs). You should include as much detail as possible in your responses.

·      Discuss whether your film has turned out the way you pictured it?

Yes my film is how I visualized it and pictured it to be. I can’t exactly remember how I wanted the film to look, as it was so long ago, but I do know that there were no major differences between the picture in my head and the actual film.

·      Describe whether your film clearly depicts the intended genre and describe some specific editing techniques you have used to achieve this;

I think our film may not make perfect sense but it does depict the film noir genre. In the film we used the specific dark lighting that a film noir involves. The film noir genre meaning ‘black film’ is a distinct branch of the crime/gangsta sagas from the 1930’s. This is not what our film was based around but as research does state, film noirs are usually black and white films with primary moods of melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. They often feature a cynical, loner hero (anti-hero) and femme fatale, in a seedy big city. This is not exactly what the film clearly depicts. But it does include bleakness, disillusionment and evilness in many shots such as the murder scene and when Emma is walking down stairs to get Nurofen.

·      Did you have all of the necessary shots to complete your film?

For the first initial task of the film being for 3-4mins we had perfect amount of shots to complete a film that made sense. But for the next post-production task we did not as the time requirements were 4-5mins and my film did not reach this time requirement.

·      Would additional footage or reshooting some scenes have helped during the editing process?

Yes, additional footage or the reshooting of some scenes would have definitely helped during the editing as it would have made my end film long enough and have made more sense.

·      Describe whether your group worked effectively or whether most of the work was left to one or two people;

Yes I think all members of our group worked effectively, apart from one incident where we each had to edit scenes to hand in, in the final assessment the next day, but one group member did not complete this. This turned out fine though as we got the first film completed.

·      Explain whether you used Final Cut Pro to effectively organise your project (through the use of appropriate clip names, bins, sequences) and what you could improve for future projects;

Yes I did use Final Cut Pro effectively to organise my project as I chose to use one initial sequence to include everything in and then organise each scene into its own bin. I had an effective naming strategy that I followed in Final Cut Pro that also made my project whilst editing more organised. I don’t think there are any more organisational skills I could have used in Final Cut Pro to make my organisation better in any ways.

·      Describe any problems or difficulties you encountered during post-production and editing. These may include; technical difficulties, corrupt or missing files, difficulty using the editing software, problems exporting sound or video etc;

There were only a few minor problems I encountered during my post-production and that was having trouble opening the Final Cut Pro editing I had done in the lesson before. I soon resolved this my learning very quickly the right ways to save and open my saved work correctly. We did think we had some missing files but we soon found them as only  one member of the group had them as they were a last minute shoot before we handed in out last piece of assessment.

·      Clarify how you made use of storyboards, shot-lists and the rough-edit during the editing process;

I used the shot-list during the editing process to help organise my EDL for the post-production process. The shot-list really assisted me as it gave me all the shot names and times. It also gave me the order in which I had to enter the shots into Final Cut Pro in.

·      Discuss whether you made effective use of the EDL and Sound Design templates to support the editing and decision making process;

I did make effective use of the EDL during the editing decision and making process as it told me what shots I needed where at what times and for how long. This made it really easy for me to just sit down and get the minor cutting and razoring editing stages done at the beginning of this assessment. I did not use the sound design template to support my editing and decision-making process during the post-production process as I left my sound track to the end and at the point the aim was to just get it complete.

·      Clarify any time-management issues you or your group encountered during the editing process and describe the steps you took to improve in this area;

The only time-management issues my group encountered during this assessment was firstly getting the footage off everyone to begin the editing process as a different member of the group was away everyday and secondly was getting the time to re-shoot which we didn’t. We didn’t get another chance to re-shoot as girls had different commitments every weekend and Bella sold the house in which we did most of our filming in.

·      Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection to throughout your project. Have you provided enough evidence to support your work? (Look back at your blogs/journals and think about whether it looks like a whole terms worth of work);

No I did not undertake an adequate amount of detailed reflection throughout my project as I was very busy getting the rest done, as well as the work from my other subjects. I think I have provided enough evidence in terms of planning and templates to support my work and why I did what I did but not in terms of reflections. I do not think I have a whole terms worth of reflections on my blog and think that is something I should aim to improve in my last term of Media Arts.