Unit 1.3 Short Film Evaluation

'SHOVEL PRODUCTIONS'

Introduction:

I'am going to evaluate my short film which goes by the name of Shovel which was created by me and my crew/team. In the making of the film I was given the role as the director in which i had to be multi-talented as we agreed that i should be responsible for the creative vision making visual come to life, i had to write and study the script and decide what is the best way to interpret it to audiences so that it draws them and engages them, lastly i had to talk life/spirit into all my production workers to motivate them and guide them on difficulties they might face. In this project there were many things that i learned by me experiencing them and going through these outcomes. The three things that really stuck out to me while participating in this project of managing and organising a short film is that firstly time is very crucial; because this actually evolved around us managing our time right in order to meet our deadline as deadlines in the media world are crucial and are not something you mess with, as a lot of money will be lost as a lot of money has been put out for specific dates (if they are not met to the set date then you probably be in the job centre the next morning). Secondly, i learnt that pre-production work has to be done and dusted in order for the production stage to excel properly for example getting props ready during pre-production stages is important as it will save a lot of time and problems rather then leaving it to the last minute and wasting time on shooting because you have to props/equipment to use to produce a capturing film. The third thing i learnt is that everyone was assigned a part to do within the pre-production implying that everybody does their job  they are responsible for, for example if one of the responsibilities that one of the team member didn't do it will all fall to the producer as he makes sure everyone does their job correctly and on time because if not he has the choice to decide if that member gets booted of the team (fired) or have the whole production stages ruined while in the process loosing a large sum of money on top of that as deadlines are not going to be met on time.

When it came to solving the issues occurred me and my production team were very good as we all put our minds together to see what went wrong and try and tackle and solve the problem at hand and then proceeding to the next task/stage for example when we were shooting in the woods a location were granted permission to use from the council in the pre production stage, the problem we faced was waiting for the general public to clear in order for us to carry on shooting, it was a problem because as time went by we lost day light making us rush through certain shots however we then noticed after seeing the footage we had shot that it didn't look professional as we lost light (artificial lighting) meaning we had to re-shoot footage from that specific location again, this was a major problem to be solved, this was because it was hard to take in that we were on track and that we spent hours on set setting up and end up not being able to use any of the footage shot that day. The reason we were not able to use the shots from the shoot is that most of the shots were either unclear or they lacked focus dis configuring the creativeness of the short film.this was a huge problem as this affected our shooting scheduled arrangement in which we lost a whole days of work, which meant we were set back one of shooting, however, we did a retake of the wood scene because it was the most significant scene in telling the story. In the retake of the woods scene we made sure that each shot was clear and that the lighting was perfect in order for us to incorporate the 'Day for Night' effect (in the editing process to make the footage relate to the genre hence a horror) , we also made sure that we kept the rule of thirds in tact and good clear focus. we learnt that we should check all the potential issues in advance so we can address them as soon as possible so we don't waste crucial shooting and editing time but we learnt from does mistakes and improved on our other footage.

Main body:

1) Shooting Schedule:

The shooting schedule for our short film shovel was detailed, as it helped us as a group know when we are scheduled to meet up on scenes (locations) on the other hand the schedule also helped as a guide letting us know how long we are meant to stay on set shooting as it managed are time carefully so we could have breaks and go over any difficulties and retakes (allowing us to choose from a variety of shots). what we forgot to note on the shooting schedule is that transport will cause delays to our set location which we were not ready for, because on some days when shooting some of us were delayed in traffic for a good 10-15 minutes portraying that shooting and editing time is going to be reduced.the equipment was also featured on the schedule, this allowed us to focus more on the important things such as the shooting the short film instead of worrying at the last minute the church only gave us 2 hours to film the scene that was needed in the church and outside the church. On the shooting schedule we also stated how many shots would be used for each scene, this was not accurate due to us adding a few touches and incorporating some new ideas that appealed to us, we filmed between 40-100 shots in each location, especially for the church and the woods scene. In those two locations that we filmed in there were more than what were implied on the shooting schedule, however this was not a big issue that we needed to make a fuss about as we just took the shots we needed to get in which we followed the shot list and at times the storyboard.


2) Story-Boarding:

The storyboard was detailed and thorough, it had a total some of 5 pages worth of shots and shot types showing what will be going on in each scene in great detail allowed us to know and understand how each individual scene would look like and how it will take place (bringing it to life), however, we did not always refer to the storyboard because on shoot, we sometimes added new ideas to a scene that we thought would make are short film more engaging and effective for viewers. To be honest, i think the the story board was substantial enough to fully cover the short film as all the scene shown on the sheet were brought to life and we had a variety of shots and shot types to choose from.


3) Shot List:


The shot list contained information such as the shot types and the shot list which was also implemented on the shooting script which made it easy for us as we knew what shot to use. The shot list was written in the correct order of how we would film the shots and what locations would be shot first due to the amount of filming that will be needed, so we decided that we will shoot the church scene first as a date and timed was fixed and then we thought we would do the woods scene next because they were considered to be the most time consuming and difficult scenes. on the other hand, we didn't at always stick to the shooting script as we added minor details to a scene to make it more creative overall the shot list was organised and detailed enough for us to work with. 

4) Locations Recce's:

As there were three people in our group, we each took responsibility for doing a location Recce each as we were all based in different areas so we thought to make things easier we can do a split/team effort, this was because there was a lot of work to do and we all knew certain location quite well that was suitable for the short film we created. The location Recce of the church showed a lot of potential to us as we thought it was a great idea to use for a horror as it was big and well lit (it showed the conventions for a horror), It was a echoey which added to the horror genre theme we were going for but we didn't think of it as a problem but we thought of it as a effect, although when we were shooting, we noticed that because it a big room sound will echo so we had to limit the amount of sound made as this could effect the sound in the film making us have to book for a retake, We were given permission to use the church by the Vicar, this allowed us to film for two hours without any distractions. we were also granted permission by the local council to use the woods however the woods was harder because the public was walking by so we had to wait then shoot.

5) Actors:

Our actors were rehearsed as one of them (me- Director) was also apart of the production team meaning that I was already familiar with the script allowing me to be able to get into the mind set of the character Im playing. This was good because it saves time as i already know what to do meaning i don't need to get told what to do which will take up time. however the second actor was not apart of the production team but it wasn't a problem because his role was not difficult except that he had to be wrapped up and put in the ground but we should of planned it out properly as he was in the ground for like a hour but he had regular breaks. I thought both actors played there role well and were greatly suited to there role. Actors were asked before hand not later on during the pre production stages so we can handle the harder stuff and get the easy stuff out of the way quick.

6) Crew Roles:

 Each person in our team had an allocated job to do, but it didn't start off like that because in the beginning we were all confused on what roles we were doing however later on we all pulled are weight and decide to get organised and when we all chose are specific roles to focus on we were then able to concentrate on our jobs at hand that needed attention.

• Director - Kenny
• Producer - Ashley
• Camera Operator - James
• Production assistant - Ashley

yes, everyone in my team knew what they had to bring to the table for this team to strive as well as the production as we all knew what to do it allowed us to carry out are responsibilities quicker and to a good standard in which we knew it will help the production stages if we all knew are production roles thoroughly. we even decide to by the props in time so we are not running around at the last minute looking for something to use in the short film this was helpful because it wouldn't slow us down when we reached the production stages when we are shooting as everything was purchased before hand.


7)Equipment Checks:

The equipment was checked before hand and then was booked out from our college, we decided to collect the camera after college as we wanted it to be fully charged before we use it to go and shoot. We also booked out a tripod and a lighting kit because are short film had to be a static film expressing that it has to be still implying that no zooms and fidgeting as we have a tripod at our disposal and a lighting kit to show expressions and add a horror feel to a scene for example a man in a dark room is scared you could use the lighting kit on his face to show what that character is feeling.

8)Call Sheet:

I would say that the call sheets were accurately done and they turned out to be effective, as we all knew how to get in touch with each other (through the means of modern technology) if we needed to ask certain questions before and after and between each shoot or even to brain storm ideas when we are not all present. This turned out to be relevant for us as this made it possible for us to find out were any in the production team was if they were running a little bit late or if something unfortunate had happened. The call sheets allowed us to gather the necessary resources there on time such as costume and props, this was because we had to take them along with us on transport, the props used were objects such as, a shovel, fake blood, a plastic knife and a bed sheet and costumes used for the actors 'mysterious man' - were a black jacket, black jeans, a white t-shirt and black huaraches while the 'dead man' used - a long coat, smart trousers, and smart shoes. We even made a Group Chat on Whats App in order for us to be able to co-operate effectively as a team.


Conclusion:

In Conclusion, I conclude that the overall outcome of our short film was a successful as we were able to meet are set deadline implying that we didn't do too bad in the pre-production stages as we were able to reach our set deadline as we learnt that time is money and that being late will not be tolerated.
Next time i will improve the pre-production and the time devised to do things making everything be suited to time even if something goes wrong that we will still have time to access and improve the situation and also that we fully follow the story board and shooting script on set.

This screen shot expresses what people thought about my short film horror.