Depict Evaluation

                                        

https://youtu.be/hB_Z6n9z7cs

What was the task?

Our task was to film a 90 second short film within groups. Within our group we quickly established that we wanted to go down a comedic route as that would suit us as people and would be something we would enjoy creating. We then created a mindmap of potential ideas and different scenarios that we could incorporate within our short film.

What was your idea?

Our 90 second short film is a comedy. It shows the ups and downs of our main protagonist's life and follows his journey into finding his feet in the world. Every scene includes a subliminal message, which makes our character seem alone and become easily recognizable within a crowd. We also want to portray a message by our main character, which is that you don’t have to fit into society’s standards in order to be normal, cool or accepted. The theme present within our short film is isolation, being sugarcoated by comedic effects and humorous dialogue. It incorporates realism in certain aspects as it portrays the trials and tribulations of our main protagonist's life. Our 90 second short film includes 3 characters. Our main character is played by Will within our group known in our film as Jo King. This name has been chosen specifically for comedic purposes and to be able to incorporate witty name jokes. We have also included the use of two voice-over characters who are meant to portray stereotypical commentators and whose main purpose is to narrate Jo King’s life whilst including various types of comedy like puns, relatable humour and funny accents and impressions.  All of these characters are vital to our storyline as they help to make the scenes more realistic and help to further isolate our main character from the rest of the world. 

What planning documentation/processes did you have to complete and how much input did you have? Did you 'pull your weight'?

Before production could begin we had to complete 14 pre-production documents. I feel I had a significant input within the pre-production documents as I singlehandedly completed the script, the group talent release, the email to the police and the location release. I also produced the synopsis with Katrina. All of these tasks had to be completed before production could begin so due to the amount I completed I feel I pulled my weight within the group. However, I feel I could've been more useful if I would've contributed more with things like our shot list and production schedule as these were the things that we struggled to stick to whilst filming, if we had a clearer plan our production would've ran smoother so in that aspect I feel I could've contributed more.

Did your finished work reflect the planning you had completed?

I feel certain aspects of our completed work reflected the planning we had completed. Many of our scenes stuck to the storyboard's original plan, this was a big accomplishment for our group as we had to rewrite our script due to the fact we had complications securing our actor. Our voiceover commentary ,although slightly rushed, also stuck to the original script with just a few certain aspects changing (like turning her into him). However, certain aspects of our completed work did not reflect our planning. We were originally going to film a scene of ours at the Rec, however chose to relocate it to the college as the weather was bad and we didn't have the appropriate time frame to film there, this therefore made things like our location release and our location scouting form useless. Other documents like the prop and costume list also became unnecessary. Within our group, we established early on that we wanted our main protagonist to wear an outfit consisting of one colour as to make him stand out- this would be our only costume throughout the whole project. For our props, we once again decided that we wanted things that would make our character stand out. We decided on a birdwatching book, a paper aeroplane and a seagull (in the sky opposed to the ground). All of these were chosen purposefully to make our character stand out whilst still working with our narrative and to reinforce the desired humour effect. However, due to scenes and actors changing we had to abandon the costume idea and just focus on completing the task within the time frame. The props also got abandoned or changed to fit in our new script. For example, we were going to hit our main protagonist in the head with a paper aeroplane but changed it to a lanyard in order to make it fit.  We were also going to use a prop of a tray from the cafeteria and film in the cafeteria, however we realised that filming in the cafeteria would be unrealistic and unachievable for us a group so we relocated that scene hence the tray no longer being necessary.  

What changes did you make from your planning and why?

We made many changes from our original plan. Our original actor dropped out of our film, so we had to rewrite the script in order to incorporate our new actor-being Will within our group. We changed the obvious things like she to he, but also changed a lot of the dialogue as Will thought he couldn't capture the desired humour, hence us making all of our dialogue a voiceover. We also had to change the location of a few scenes due to a tight time schedule and weather conditions. For example, we were going to film a scene at the Rec but had to relocate if we wanted to complete the project within the time frame.

What do you think is the most successful aspect of the project?

I feel that this was the most successful aspect of our project as it captures the humour we desired. We wanted to make the actions taken by our protagonist be almost nonsensical and I think we achieved that perfectly within these scenes. We also wanted the overlaying dialogue to help to emphasise that point which I think it did successfully.

What would you change or do differently if you were to undertake the task again?

If we were to undertake the task again, I would like to alter these scenes as I feel the humour wasn't the best standard and could've been easily amplified. The production of these scenes was also slightly rushed, which I feel also contributed in them being a lesser quality compared to other scenes. I would change the dialogue in the scenes into something that would capture a larger audience rather than only being funny to our group, this I feel would give the project a greater potential for success and would please a larger target.

What did you enjoy most about the project?

The thing I enjoyed most about the project was having the freedom to be creative. In previous projects, we were constricted to a certain theme and shot list, whereas in this project we had the opportunity to be creative and make it our own theme or to our own liking. I found that really enjoyable as I had options instead of being limited.