Alexander McKenzie

Monday 31 January 2011

Kinda confusing

The next couple of posts are all the evaluation.. There might possibly be some coming after this too; as i may need to post some screen shots.

What was your role in the pre-production, production and post production?

In the pre production stages of this project I worked alongside Sam in a pair. We worked well together to begin with and shared the work between us and had no problems doing so. When we were filming, we enjoyed sharing different responsibilities, and at times several responsibilities simultaneously. As the unit went on and the project became long winded; due to hurdles that were rather difficult to overcome, we became less motivated to work to the best of our ability. When we finally began editing our final piece, the school was burgled and the Apple Mac’s were stolen from the editing suite – which meant editing had to be postponed until further notice. After this Samantha and myself began to edit two separate projects, using the same footage, in order to try and achieve the best grades possible.

How does the final version of your short film differ from the original idea you had and why?

Synopsis, characters, location, props, costume, script. What stayed the same?

In the beginning our idea for the short film was practically the perfect idea, both Sam and I agreed on aspects that we wanted to include in our short film. In a short summary, the idea was based around people being too interested in other peoples business on public transport, and a girl plays a practical joke on the other passengers on her journey - The girl was played by Georgina, a close friend. The first attempt at filming went completely wrong, as we were given a Pre-16 camera instead of a Sony HVR HD 1080i that we use at post-16. The camera didn’t allow us to apply the setting necessary to record what we needed to record. We also encountered problems trying to film on a bus in central London, as the bus would often be too crowded or completely empty. The second attempt at filming went a lot better initially, and we obtained all the shots required and more. However, when it came to the editing stages of production we had problems log and capturing the footage we recorded, eventually we discovered it was due to the fact that we didn’t film in a HD format. After this we decided to change our idea to something as simple as possible – which lead us to the idea of LOL (: number 3; which began as a story of a young woman who murders her boyfriend and goes to a psychiatric prison. We planned to include the events leading up to her imprisonment, but this would have been too time consuming, so we changed our idea once again. Consequently, there were a number of variables that had to be altered, including all of the pre-production paperwork. The location and actor had to be changed, as well as the plan to have a female voiceover. Now that I am in the final stages of editing, it has become clear that my finished product will be different from the preliminary plans.

Who is your target audience and how have you reached them?

My intended target audience is teenagers aged 15 to young adults in their early 20’s. The concept of the short film is quite a mature theme, and I would consider it to be part of the thriller genre – which is often affiliated with teens. Also the protagonist is a young female, and although most teenagers wouldn’t be able to relate to her, it would be easier for them to be interested by a younger person. Another thing that will allow the short film reach out to our target audience is the name ‘LOL (:’ and this is because teenagers commonly use it during text and online conversation – this means it is easily recognisable and instantly indicates to the public who the audience is.

How does your piece conform to short film codes and conventions; think both in terms of technique and content?

First and foremost, I think my end product conforms to the codes and conventions of short film due to the simplicity of the film. The majority of short films take place on a singular day, and in as minimal amount of locations as possible. Whilst planning and filming the film Samantha and myself had full intentions to ensure the idea for the project would be as simple as possible, as well as being captivating. We decided to cast Sam as ‘Rebecca’, who is the only character in the film. Also the overall duration of my film is roughly 3 minutes. I think my piece includes all of the factors that make a short film a short film.