Evaluation - Zachary Cook

 choosing the final film

when we were put into groups, we all looked at each others screenplays to decide which one we should use to  turn into our short film for the final film. there were 6 of us so we had 6 options to choose from. there were 2 clear screenplays that would be the best option to choose and we decided to go with lewis's screenplay titled "Stained".  we decided to go with this screenplay as it featured an interesting dynamic and challenges but still allowed us to accomplish the goal in the time given as we wouldn't need to out source for actors to play specific roles or find time in other people's schedules when they were free to film.

Stained

the screenplay is about a cleaner who is being bullied by a company owners rich son and one night she takes a stand and accidentally kills him. we chose to do the segment from the screenplay in which she accidentally kills the son as it was set at night and is in a parking lot. this gave some interesting challlenges as it meant filming at night and we had to experiment with lighting equipment which is something we hadn't done before on a shoot. we also had to film in a car park which would mean we had to reach out to places for permission. we managed to get a car park to use for free in oprington thanks to Lewis .

filming

we filmed on the 17th of November from 17:30PM to 20:30PM. some main issues we had to deal with on the shoot was that while it was a private car park we had managed to get, it was still in use and the time in which we started filming meant that people were leaving work and it was rush hour causing us to have to position the camera in a lot of different angles to make sure we didn't get any cars leaving on film. since it was rush hour, it also became a bit of a problem for me as well on sound since we would constantly get cars driving past really loudly or there was a car reversing in the car park. there were a few shots i had to stop the film because of a loud noise that some cars were making.

edit

in the edit i had to wanted to have a close up of one of the characters face but we didn't shoot any close ups, so i had to try and crop and zoom in to one of the clips to make a close up. this didn't really work well as it made the clip a bit fuzzy and lose quality, but i kept it in as i think the close up was a good addition.

final product

i am proud of the final work we have created as what we have filmed and captured is very much what was intended in the script we started out with. the sound is good quality and you can hear what everyone is saying and the footage from the camera is great with clear pictures and great performances from the actors that we had to film with.

script development

first thoughts 

my script went through a variety of changes throughout the writing process. my first idea was to write a comedy featuring a mime and a clown fighting in a high street for a performance space. this would have been a silent comedy as neither the mime or clown would talk and everything would happen through their actions. i changed this idea quite early on though as comedy is considered one of the hardest genres to write as comedy is very subjective but also because since there is no talking, it would be very hard to have a very long and continous action sequence written on a script.

first draft

i changed my idea to one of my ideas i had drafted but chose not to write orignially. i chose a fantasy piece to write as i enjoy writing fantasy and it is an easier genre to write and hit key notes of the genre. this made the writing process a lot easier for me as evertyhing flowed and i couod write about what i love to write and the final product came together really well as it is about a meeting in an inn between a character and someone who would be considered 'the big bad'. i was inspired by the short film "Laura Hasn't Slept" which is a short horror film that was turned into a big budget film called "Smile". my inspiration was that i created my story and it was left open towards the end as it led to the possibility of more happening in the future affecting the world and characters we met in the screenplay.

feedback

the feedback that i recieved from Jane was that i made the film seem like it came form a feature film and that i needed to give the piece some more emotional resonance and make the story seem more closed. i was also told to cut down on some actions as i wrote some hefty paragraphs of description and not enough emotion or character movement  as well as not describing the characters appearance.

second draft

in my second draft i started with the feedback about emotional resonance and it seeming like a feature film. i tried to add a few lines of dialogue in to correct these ties but in the end, it wasn't the angle that i wanted to go for for the story that i wanted to tell. my vision was it to be a short film with an open end such as that of a tv pilot or as previously mentioned a lead on to a bigger thing in the future. i tried to correct to the feedback accordingly but decided to not fully embrace an closed ending. next i started trimming down on some unecessary actions or descriptions that i had put into the script. there was a decent amount i was able to remove as in some parts it was more like i was writing a novel than a screenplay. in place of these long sections i removed, i added in shorter sections of the same events, just not as detailed whilst also adding in descriptions of things i was told i needed to have more of. for example, i gave a description to Benamarth and what he looked like broadly so it would give the reader an idea of what the character would look like so they know who to look for for casting. i also added in some more emotions for the scenes that are tense so the characters know how to say their lines and how they are physically reacting to things around them.

sound equipment workshop and chatham docks exercise

 sound workshop

we had a sound workshop in which we covered the basic of sound gear that would be used on a typical film/tv show shoot. we were given descriptions of what everything is and details about what they are used for during filming. the equipment we were shown included:  a boom pole, a blimp, a dead cat, a shotgun micorphone and a tascam. once we were debriefed about how they worked and what they did we were told and trained how to use them accordingly and did a small excercise in using them so we could get used to the techniques. the tascam took a bit of getting used to as it was a bit difficult at first to be able to press the buttons and dials on it whilst holding the boom pole up but after a while it got a bit better but i still need more practice.

chatham docks

a couple of days after the sound workshop we went to chatham docks where we allowed to film a short piece of media on the historic dockyard. my group decided to film on one of the boats and filmed a short pirate piece called "a pirates life for me". i was operating the boom pole and tascam so the sound workshop we did a couple of days earlier was a big help as it made me familiar with all the equipment and how i should use it on a proper shoot in a different environment. the hardest part of filming outside was the fact that the wind is always blowing and making noise so you have to position the boom pole and microphone in a way that prevents too much wind getting caught in the audio track and muffling the actors talking and line delivery. another problem we faced was that across the river there was construction happening and every 10 minutes or so there would be a massive banging noise that went on for about 2-5 minutes each time. since this was a variable out of our control, the only thing we could do was wait for the noise to end and then continue filming once we had silence back. overall, the final result of the film weas quite good, the sound i recorded was very audible and you could easily hear what the characters were saying with no unwanted noises such as wind or construction.

pilot script review

 community pilot script - Zachary Cook

the pilot episode features on the character of Jeff Crocker (name Changed to Jeff Winger in actual pilot episode), and his attempt at trying to get the character Britta to go on a date with him which he does in creating a fake study group of misfit students across campus in his spanish class. the plot of the show sees Jeff being sent to Community college after being found out with a fake law degree. in the early pages of the pilot we can see Jeff trying to bargain his way through an easy college life by bribing an old client who is a porfessor at the school. this is a personal goal and shows Jeff if a character who will say and do anyhting he needs to to get what he wants.

the main conflict in the script starts when Professor Duncan (Jeff's old client)  agrees to give him the test answers and Jeff returns to Britta and Abed who have invited more people from their spanish class into the fake study group Jeff created causing tension between all the characters who all have some little arguments with each other due to previous unseen interactions with each other.

the conflict is resolved when Jeff is forced to leave the study group and it is revealed the answers are fake and he sits on a bench defeated. this is when the rest of the study group come out of the library and sees him on the bench dejected. they walk over and eventually, with britta begrudingly doing so, inviting him back into the study group so he doesn't flunk his classes. this resolves the episode conflict of jeff starting a study group to get into Britta's pants but sets up the show arc and storyline and conflict of passing spanish class and graduating community college so Jeff can be a lawyer again.

overall the pilot episode of community sets up the series really well setting up the relationships between the characters and creating a lasting conflict throughout that everyone is working against. it suggests Jeff won't have an easy journey ahead but as long as he learns to be more human and connect with his study group he will conquer his challenges.

short film review 2 - love on the wing

 Love on the wing (Norman Mclaren, 1939)

Love on the Wing (1939 BFI - free to watch)

description

love on the wing is a 1939 short film that was made as an advertisement for the post office but was denied to be used after the postmaster general sees the advert as he claimed it to heavily feature what he called "Freduian imagery". the film appears to be about someone writing a letter to confess his love for someone and then we see inside of his head and the thoughts or the visions of the future after he posts his letter. in the visions we see the couple marry, get heartbroken and get divorced before the man seemingly chases back the letter and wins back the woman before we go back out to the letter the man was writing at the beginning addressed to someone and then the film fades to black.

analysis

the narrative follows through a mans perspective as we start the film with the letter he was writing turning into a man and engaging with flirtatious talk to a woman figure. this aligns us with the man as the main character we follow through the short. the film symbolises the power of one letter sent by someone and shows the aftereffects of what could follow if he goes through with the decision of sending the letter. one of the shots depicts the couple arguing and the man being beaten with a large letter whilst the woman turns into a phallic image of a penis. this links it back to the "freudian imagery" it was criticised of using as this relates to his theory of castration and the topic of penis envy in which girls are envious they don't have a penis and so will want to hurt the man. this may explain why she turns into phallic imagery in the scene.

reflection

love on the wings is a short experimental film that follows through as an early advert for the royal mail conveying the message of that if you use the royal mail it will be with you throughout your life no matter what happens as throughout the film, letters are featured prominently and used as plot devices such as when the man is being beaten or when the couple get marries they turn into two letters and the final shot ends the film right back at the beginning with a letter being finished and addressed to whoever the man is sending the letter to. overall it is an artsy film that was rejected to be aired to the public for violent themes, phallic imagery and freudian thoughts and theory but tells the story of a couple going through the stages of love and divorce and the journey they take in life.

Bibliography

BFI - love on the wings

Short Film Review 1 - He Dies At The End (Damian McCarthy, 2008)

He Dies At The End (HDATE) is a short 4 and a half minute horror film about the silent fear of being alone and someone is watching you, ready to pounce at any given moment.

the film follows a man working in an office alone and suddenly he recieves a link which he clicks and it takes him to a quiz which starts asking him questions such as "is it quiet there?" and "if you screamed would somebody hear you". this causes the man to keep checking around him and start to fear the quiz and the questions he is being asked. this shows the conflict he feels in continuing the quiz since he begins to doubt and worry that there is someone watching him in the shadows. 

the end of the film culminates in a reveal of how the man will die and completes the mans journey in the film revealing his fears to be true and his inner conflict of someone watching. the film plays with the emotion of fear throughout and keeps the spectator on edge and in the mindset of the character since we don't know whether he is alone or not either.

in conclusion HDATE is a film that knows how to keep the spectator on edge and aligns you well with the main characters conflicts and fears.

He Dies At The End (Youtube)