Evaluation

Evaluation

Proposal:

The process of writing the proposal for my final major project has been both helpful and effective. It enabled me to flesh out ideas and the more I discussed or thought about them, the more I could see whether they could be realised or not. The short film I created benefitted from focusing on different aspects like the narrative, how the project will be developed and the film's target audience. Following the initial thought process, I ended up with 3 strong ideas that could become the media product of a short film. The three ideas were developed by mind-mapping short storyboards. The first consisted of a lone woman on the streets of London, who is walking around after finding out some sad news, the second idea featured a drummer, who has lost her way, the third was a boxer and her coach and their relationship as the boxer goes through difficult times. I found this method effective as it gave me a variety of ideas to choose from. Deciding upon the idea of a protagonist boxer and her coach, I felt it had a strong narrative idea that could become a good screenplay. Being a boxer myself, I felt I understood and had unique insights into the characters that I wanted to portray. The chosen subject allowed me to focus on aspects that needed more development, including the narrative theories that I would apply, the target audience and the job role that I would focus on to develop my own personal skills. I could have made the proposal more effective by going into more detail about the film's stylistic approach, so when shooting I would have had a clearer idea of what I was trying to achieve. With a better style concept, I could have improved on the training scene in particular.

Skills/Techniques Required:

In the rationale, I thought about the types of skills that would be needed to create the film, which I then highlighted in the skills sheet. I also applied various skills used in past projects, which included script and storyboard writing, editing, foley sound, colour grading, cinematography, camera work (angles and movements) and time management. I then looked at how I could develop them further. In my last project, I focused on editing and learned a range of techniques by following professional guides which have given me more confidence working with my editing skills. I wanted to develop my camera techniques further and assigned myself the job of a camera operator, focusing on movement and angles to use in different scenes. To improve this skill set and be more effective, I could have given more examples of how I could develop and improve my skill to utilise a broader use of camera angles. The research, both past and present for skills and techniques, has been effective and carried forward into the production stage of my FMP.

Concept development:

Having a clear view of what I had to create and the skills I would need, I moved on to how the concept would be developed. This included the product objective, development of the project, mood board, themes and genre. This would be followed by a stylistic approach, character development, the theories that I would apply & narrative structure. I would then look at the target audience, the resources I might need for the project, problems I expect to face & influences and inspiration. With all these in hand, I could then look at the production timetable and how the project would be evaluated. I found these exercises effective, as I then knew what needed to be developed in the subject area of the proposal and in the research and production stages of my FMP. I felt the most productive part of the proposal was the influences and inspirations of sports films, particularly the 2016 film ‘Creed’ because it gave me ideas on how to tackle the technical aspects of camera work, including over-the-shoulder shots. There were no problems to overcome as I knew what needed to be developed before filming began. To improve, I could have given more examples of ways to develop the concepts and gone into specific detail about what is required for each category and how other filmmakers achieve this, particularly in the genre and themes of the film category. This is because I feel some of the themes I want to convey in the film weren’t clearly outlined.

Research:

After completing the concept development stage, I started to do research for the project. This was achieved by breaking the story ideas down into three different parts to cover all aspects needed for the research, including influences and inspiration, action and target audience. I set mini-deadlines to complete each research segment. Breaking the research down helped me to complete the research in time for the deadline. This helped my understanding of what was needed and prevented me from becoming overwhelmed by what I needed to do. I began with action research, looking at the methods behind creating the film, focusing on my job role as a camera operator. Then I focused on budgeting, equipment requirements and planning data - giving a clear outline of who the correct audience is to aim the project at, looking at data focused on primary and secondary data gathered through questionnaires. Finally, I researched the influences and inspirations, focusing on the technical aspect of film scenes that inspired me, films such as the 2004 film ‘Million Dollar Baby’, ‘Creed’,(2015) ‘Rocky’ (1977) and finally ‘The Fighter’ (2010). Overall, by dividing the research into three stages, I found it useful and effective as any problems that arose before the production stages could be solved thanks to conducting research. By the time I started production, I knew what would be required for filming, for example, after researching props, I knew I needed to make sure that the proper gym equipment was present in the location that would display the codes and conventions of the boxing sports genre. To improve, I could have researched more in-depth the film's secondary audience more by creating a questionnaire as I mentioned above, it would have given me a clear knowledge of who my target audience is.

Effectiveness and Improving the Research:

After researching each aspect needed to know before filming, I am happy with the general outcome of the film, as it has given me a more in-depth knowledge of the influences, inspirations and technical ideas used by other filmmakers and will be useful in the production stages. My proposal and bibliography were very useful as references when researching various parts of the project giving me a clearer knowledge of what needed to be studied. However, I feel that certain aspects could have been improved upon. So after writing the research, I then divided it into three different subsections, pre-production, production and post-production.

Pre-production research:

For pre-production, a variety of categories had to be researched that are essential when creating a film. These categories included target audience, influences, narrative structure, screenplay writing, storyboarding, genre, theory and budgeting. Researching these subjects was effective for many reasons, including making sure the audience I was aiming at was suitable, working on a film with no budget and how to apply representation and narrative theory. I also learned how to write a sports genre script and short film that matches the codes and conventions of the intended genre, by studying a professional who explained how to write a boxing scene. I encountered no issues while researching this part of the project, as everything was clear and straightforward to study and will in future, as mentioned before, include secondary target audiences.

Production research:

After completing the pre-production stage of research, I moved on to physical production.

For this, I researched equipment, locations, props, and camera work, including angles and movements. This research enabled me to be prepared before filming and highlighted any issues that could arise before the production dates. Studying equipment that would be needed for the production dates was effective, as I then knew what would be needed to achieve the high standard of footage I required. The equipment needed would include a camera, foley sound equipment and a tripod. Prop requirements consisted of gloves and a punch bag, fulfilling the sports genre. When it came to locations, a problem that I expected to arise when researching at the production stage, was how I would be able to use a public boxing gym to fit the description I had in the script. The difficulty I faced, was being unable to gain permission to film in these locations, due to them being in constant use by the public. This meant meaning I had to do further research into private gyms that would give consent to film. Luckily, the problem was resolved through a contact who owned a small gym and allowed to me to make the film on their premises. During the research, I focused on my job as a camera operator, looking at camera angles and movements in more detail, finding it an essential skill to research. It taught me how to create angles and movements when they are best to use and learned from practical examples, for which I viewed various secondary YouTube tutorials. My camera work research was invaluable, as it meant when screenwriting, storyboarding and filming I knew which types of shots would be correct to use in creating atmosphere and tension and how to set these up. There were no problems I faced when conducting in-depth research into the role of a camera operator, as everything was clear and it gave me an understanding in the pre-production stages of the project, including learning about important angles such as the Dutch angle and tracking shots. To improve further in this stage of research, I could have looked at more examples of camera operators’ work which would have expanded my knowledge. I thought the primary and secondary methods were useful, as they gave me different viewpoints on the aspects needed to study and I am happy that I successfully researched my job role to a high standard.

Post-Production Research:

The final stage of research was post-production and for this, I looked into the use of music for the soundtrack, then techniques such as how to edit and colour grade. I found this very effective and managed to create realistic colour grading and focus on editing transitions including fade and cutaway. The use of music was the main issue that I encountered in this stage of research, this involved a song I wanted to include called ‘Heroes’ By David Bowie. Due to copyright laws, I wasn’t able to use that song, so I overcame the problem by finding other suitable music that was royalty-free. This was achieved this by searching the royalty-free music on YouTube and discovering a 12-hour video with various types of songs and music with different moods, choosing one that I was happy with as it matched the mood of the chosen scene. To improve, I could have further researched colour grading and created more realistic and effective lighting by watching YouTube tutorials. I now know to research this in future projects to further improve my work.

Production Stages:

Pre-Production:

I created an initial template storyboard for the first stages of pre-production with a few shots and storyboard ideas that I wanted to include in the film. This enabled me to create a draft script and storyboard and helped me understand what I would need to prepare for the other stages of production. I started with a list of production documents that I would need to be signed before filming and looked at past projects that I have worked on so that I could use them as a reference for documents needed for filming. These included location recces, production schedule, shot list, call sheet, release forms, risk assessments, legal and ethical and testing equipment clips. Whilst completing the forms, I could then act on any problems that arose before filming. Three forms highlighted issues, the call sheet, location recce and legal and ethical form. I composed a call sheet for the short film and contacted actors to give them dates and times to come in, when I did this a problem arose when the cast member playing the part of the bully was unable to come in. As a result, I made adjustments to the script and changed the dialogue from a physical person bullying to virtual bullying sent by text, therefore keeping to the narrative of the script. When filling in forms to use public gyms after scouting locations, I found I was unable to meet the requirements needed, including insurance, as I was using props and equipment to meet my brief. This was resolved by filming in a private gym, however, some of the props mentioned in the script, for example, the punch bag was not at the location so I had to adapt the script to accommodate this by having the protagonist shadowboxing to still show the codes and conventions of the spots boxing genre. The last problem was with the legal and ethical forms. I was not legally allowed to use the song ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie. To combat this, I researched royalty-free music on YouTube that best matched the scene with which I was planning to use it.

To improve, I could have added more detail to the call sheet for each day instead of a general one, so people had more of an understanding of the exact location the production was being filmed in, what they needed to bring and more general information for the cast and crew. However, I feel the pre-production stage went well and the problems that arose being solved effectively. Now, with all forms completed and problems resolved, I was ready to film.

Production:

The production stage that involved the actual filming of the FMP ran smoothly. The only technical issue that arose was on the first day of filming at the gym location, which involved the protagonist Frankie training. I found the camera was too shaky and couldn’t use the footage we had filmed, so I resolved this by connecting the camera to a smaller tripod that allowed more control and was less handheld. The cast and crew were punctual for all four days of filming and reshoot days. The cast and crew worked well together and when someone had an idea, it was discussed and sometimes incorporated into filming, an example being when the actor playing ‘Frankie’ Evelyn Crossman, suggested having more close-ups between Frankie and the trainer Mia, to capture the emotion.

In the production stage of filming, I was able to work in the job role that I wanted, in order to improve my skills as a camera operator. I followed the script and storyboard shot descriptions of angle movements and framing suggestions - including tracking shots, over-the-shoulder shots, pan shots and close-ups while changing some aspects that I felt could be filmed from another angle. In the script and storyboard, I had planned that when Frankie receives a text from the bully, I would go to the next shot of her frustrated, hitting a punch bag, this was originally going to be a static long shot, however, when filming this I felt it didn’t capture the anguish of the scene that I wanted to achieve. I decided to add a slow movement and bring the camera into a mid shot, in order to capture more emotion in the protagonist's face, this worked well, improving the narrative, thanks to being able to focus on Frankie’s facial expressions. Having a variety of camera angles and shots worked well and meant the footage didn’t have the same recurring angle or movement which would have made it boring for an audience to watch. When it came to the performance, I asked the actors in the production stage to use the scripted dialogue as a guide and not recite it word for word, this enabled the dialogue to flow more easily and be more naturalistic, including the scene where the trainer Mia talks to Frankie about an upcoming fight and the possibility of her going to university, this ad-libbing some of the dialogue, made the scene feel more genuine. One issue that heavily affected day one and part of day two of filming was the lighting. The film was originally set at night, however, the actor was only available to work during the day, with a window in the gym letting in light even when we tried to block it out. It looked wrong and was difficult to shoot around, so I changed the timings in the script to accommodate this.

Overall, I feel the filming days went well and we managed to shoot all of the footage needed in time and without going over schedule. I had no emotional management problems when filming. The cast and crew worked well together and the pre-production documents organised the shoot and made sure everything was ready. To improve, I feel I could have used more variations of movement shots to get more varied material, including whip pan shots to bring a fast-moving effect to the training scenes, in particular, the scene when Frankie is messing up the boxing shots, it would have added more urgency and been more interesting for the viewing audience.

When filming was completed I spoke to a member of the cast, Evelyn Crossman, to get her opinion on working as a team & if there were any problems, if I gave clear instructions when filming, was there enough guidance, was there was a clear outline of the job, did she feel supported and how effective my management style was. This is her feedback:

“If a problem occurred when filming you came up with solutions to make sure it worked in the narrative, particularly when the lighting was wrong in the scene, you changed it in the script to make sure it made sense in the story. You also checked all the footage before moving on to the next shot which made sure all the footage filmed could be used in editing, particularly when the camera was shaky. By attaching it to a smaller tripod that could control the movement more you solved the problem. To improve, you could explain to the crew what you are filming more often and where it will be in the script, so it's easier for the cast and crew to follow and have context. You could also when setting up the shots explain to the actors what type of shot it is and rehearse more to make sure we understand what is being filmed and how you want us to be. I also feel the film was managed and supported well, by knowing the production dates and what scenes were being filmed each day.’

Having this feedback has taught me how to improve and informed me what went well on the film. In the next project, I intend to rehearse more with the actors and explain to them what types of shots will be filmed, so they understand clearly what is taking place before filming. I feel confident the production stage went well, as problems were solved on site and we filmed all the footage needed on each date.

Post-Production:

The final stage of the project was post-production. I feel this stage went very well. I used editing techniques that I had used on past projects and researched new editing transitions, including techniques like fade away and cut away, which I use frequently in the film. I began by creating a rough-cut draft of the film, using the techniques I had researched and presented it to an audience. Through this, I was able to see areas that needed improvement for my final edit, including cutting back on some of the footage, as some shots were being held for too long. The shots filmed in Frankie’s house had to be re-shot due to the posters in the background being a distraction to the audience preventing them from being able to focus on the character's dialogue. I also needed to recreate some of the foley due to the audio not being clear, the final step of the process was adding colour grading to the footage, in order to match the stylistic approach. I then set about editing down the clips using the rough cut I had and any new footage. This process involved trimming and matching the videos, using the software Primer Pro to make sure that the final edit ran smoothly. I was very happy with the final look of the film knitted together. Foley sound was then added to bring a three-dimensional feel to the film. I created this by recording various sounds - including footsteps and the noise of boxing pads being hit, which could be used for the training scenes and computer audio when Frankie is watching a science video. With the visuals and audio completed, I could finally move on to colour grading.

There were a few technical problems when putting together the final edit, due to matching the lighting of the various scenes to give the film continuity. The gym was too bright due to the window letting in a lot of daylight - when I tried to address this with a cover, it looked wrong, not in keeping with the tone I was trying to achieve. Stylistically, I wanted a naturalistic, darker colour grade so needed to reduce the amount of light, however, this created difficulties - as the amount of light being let in to the lens created reflections. To overcome this problem, I used blue & white tones together, which limited the amount of white lighting. This technique partly solved the problem by limiting the amount of light although it is still visible in the footage.

After overcoming the issues that arose, I am happy with the rest of the post-production stage as the edited footage flows well together. The dialogue between Frankie and Mia, when Frankie leaves the gym is one of my favourite moments, as I am happy with the various angles edited together. It allows the audience to see the actor's expressions and feelings whilst keeping to a rhythm, where the cuts seem less obvious. To improve, I will focus on colour grading and add a colour correction to the footage, so the lighting isn’t affecting the outcome, especially in the training scenes with the light coming through the door. I am happy with the final edit and kept to my planned time frame, giving me time to address any problems that arose and giving me confidence in the final product.

Final concept:

The final product follows the exact concept I had for the film, as it follows the narrative idea of a relationship between a boxer and her coach and fits the codes and conventions of the sports genre. This is demonstrated through the boxing training scenes and the character's dialogue. To improve on this concept and explore further, I would have filmed a boxing match, as well as the training scenes, to expand more on the sports genre.

What I have learnt:

Working on this project, I have developed skills in camera work, especially as a camera operator, learning angles, movements and when it is best to use them. I have planned and made call sheets, booked actors, scouted locations and further developed my skills in post-production and editing. Through experiencing problems and overcoming them throughout the project, ranging from camera shakes, copyright issues, locations and lighting, I feel that I have become a better filmmaker and learned ways to acknowledge and overcome difficulties for future projects.

Did I meet the brief:

Looking at the brief, I am happy that I have met the description of creating a final product, that showcases my ideas and incorporates all of the skills I have learned in the past two years of studying on the course. I have focused on my camera skills and am confident that I have developed this. I have presented to a high standard all of the skills shown on the skill sheet in my proposal, which includes editing, camera work, time management, script writing, foley sound, colour grading and cinematography in all of the production stages. By focusing on the camera, I have found that this is a skill that I am keen to develop further and perhaps work on in the future. I have gained knowledge in types of angles and movements, tracking mid shots, pan long shots, when they are best to use - how to create them. Looking at the work of professional cinematographers/ camera operators such as Roger Deakins. I have also met the brief on problem-solving, where I have anticipated difficulties within a shooting schedule and taught myself how to overcome them. Overall, looking at the final edit of the project, I feel I have met the brief and am proud of what I have worked on.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I feel my project has met the original concept idea and the brief given for the FMP. Research and practical filmmaking have given me the tools to take with me and improve on future projects. I am confident that I have achieved what I set out to do and when watching my film, I have explored the relationship between a young female boxer and her coach within the sports genre.