Evaluation

This Evaluation will review four projects that I have developed and produced
over the year. I will discuss and analyse each project in turn by critically
evaluating and reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses as well as
opportunities to develop my skills in the future.

Oblivion was my first project, which was originally inspired by the Batman
phenomenon franchise. The idea was to use a few of the main Batman characters
such as The Joker, The Riddler, Harley Quinn and Victor Zsasz to portray their
personalities and erratic behaviours. Throughout the development I saw this
project gradually changing where the characters personalities eroded and
morphed into their own personas.

The concept became very strong once I had developed it further; this in my
opinion was because of the depth of the initial character research. Collaborating
with the scriptwriter really helped as the rhyme and rhythm and continuity of
the script became strong which improved the concept of this project.

My skills in directing and producing was great because in order to become more
confident in working with actors and directing in producing I needed to push
myself outside my comfort zone. Last year I lost my confidence in directing as my
project did not go so well, which made me question my abilities as a director.
However, since filming Into the Darkness my confidence has improved and the
whole filming process has helped me to adapt better on a film shoot.

Being involved in the edit it made it easier to come to a realisation that one of my
actors did not portray a good enough performance on the day so I had to make a
tough decision to cut her from the film. The ability to adapt to this problem has
shown me what I may have to do in the future. I also gained skills in colour
correction and the opacity special effect in the edit, which improved the final cut
of the film.

There are several weaknesses in the film such as not having enough actors
turning up to auditions, time management and actor not turning up on the day of
filming. In order to prevent things happening like this in the future I would try
and make the auditions more appealing through social media advertising, which
could have helped with better selection of actors for my film. I think the time
management could have been better on the first day of filming as it took a long
time to set up in the studio and one of my actors failed to turn up, meaning I had
to extend the shoot for a further day with a new actor.

In terms of improving the film I would redo the whole film and build a visual set
(interior of prison/institution) which would add more context to the narrative.
I do think that I should have started my production pack early so I would have
been able to work longer on the edit,. I feel this project has given me the
confidence to write scripts in the future and I enjoyed the process.

My second project was My Last Breath. The original concept was based on human
survival and the only way to breathe was to connect through the sense of touch
as a source of oxygen. Throughout the development of this project up to editing

Evaluation
the concept stayed consistent to the point of editing, which then gradually
changed into a completely different concept. On viewing the footage I realised
that the dancers interpretation suggested and represented an abusive
relationship through improvisational and choreographed dance. Interestingly
the female dancer seemed to portray the abuser, whereas the male dancer was
the victim.

The research I explored within contemporary dance was very useful as it helped
me choreograph this production. I directed a contemporary choreographed piece
that combined two genres of dance; Ballroom contemporary and quick paced
contemporary.

My skills in directing and co choreographing this film helped me to direct
differently than I have before, as one dancer was better at improvisation than the
other. I had to dance in front of the male dancer to help him improvise his dance
movements; this included talking to the dancer off camera whilst they were on
dancing and telling them what movements to do. I felt like I was more in my
comfort zone with choreographing this dance piece. My directing skills have
definitely improved and being involved more in the choreography side really
improved my skills of choreography, which will be great for the future.


Being involved in helping produce music with a musician was interesting
because it is a known fact that in order to produce music you are both present
however in this production this was not the case I gave my musician a brief of
what the song should represent and she would send me a version once a week
and I would critique it and tell her how I would like it to change. Eventually this
was finalised into a melody without lyrics, which really suited the piece and
blended well with the dance.

There are several weaknesses in this film such as time management, lack of crew
and cinematography issues, which arose on the day and in the edit, I think in the
future time management will be greatly improved so I can have more time for
pick up shots and more days to film. If I had a larger crew maybe things would
have moved faster and more efficiently. I felt that the cinematography could have
been better especially the hand held shots, as next time I will make sure I have
more control over what should be reshot especially seeing how the editor had
trouble editing these shots into a finalised piece, which perhaps I should have
met with the editor in the first place. Although the edit was not amazing I
decided to do an edit of my own , in which became very successful which helped
me learn from my mistakes.

In terms of improving this film if I were to reshoot I would have focused on more
the abuse concept, which would have made the production stronger. Overall I
actually preferred this assumption in my film to the original idea. In addition,
would make sure the costumes are thought out and planned better, and improve
the lighting. Overall, despite the struggles, I do think this project went well
considering the challenges that arose.

Evaluation

My third project D A N C E was very rushed , which I do not intend to do again.
The concept was mainly about a dancers personal experience and influence
towards dance.

My skills in cinematography developed throughout this production and it was an
interesting method especially filming with another cinematographer. Trying to
adjust the lighting with only two people as a crew and also editing this film by
myself was a challenge. The edit was particularly difficult in certain shots, which
is why I had to reshoot some clips.

Being involved in this film showed me a different side of filming, portraying what
it would be like if in the future I would have to shoot a low budget dance film. It
could be assumed that there is not much production process in this film with
limited lighting and effects. However I feel this film has been more thought out
thorough the choreography and has helped me understand how to work with a
Break-dancer including asking them questions about their personal experience
of dance.

The weaknesses of this film would definitely be time management and quality of
filming in such a limited time of shooting. In the future I would definitely make
sure this idea was thought up for a while instead of just a few weeks.
In terms of improving this film I think I would find a really interesting location to
film this dancer and be more prepared to this type of filming.

Finally my last project was a photography piece called Portraits and was inspired
originally by feminism, womens equality and Emmeline Pankhurst. I selected
one female model, who embodied these qualities. Looking back at these
photographs I realised they did not portray enough feminist qualities. However I
did use one aspect of feminism, which was the equal right for women to go out
into the world after a greater education.

Being involved in this project helped me to improve my photographic portrait
skills. Although I am most comfortable with photographing landscapes, I did
enjoy learning to compose this piece.

Directing the model at first was a challenge because I did not have much
experience with portraiture, however once I got the idea of how to direct the
model it went well. Using a backdrop really helped me to understand what
would be used in the future and how to balance out the light on the models face.

I think the one weakness was the backdrop as it was hard to keep up so I had to
find a way so it would not fall down. However the problem was resolved by
taping it to the ceiling and walls, which gave it a professional feel to the shoot.

In terms of improving this photographic piece I would have preferred to have
shot this in a photography studio, however their were no studios available, but I
do think it went well nevertheless.

Evaluation
In conclusion I have gained and developed many skills in script writing,
directing, producing, editing and choreographing. These productions taught me
how to improve my skills in script writing by working collaboratively with
another writer, which gave me confidence to later work more independently
with refining the script. In directing the four productions I learnt alternative
ways to direct because these projects were all different genres. This challenged
me to work with less qualified actors and it pushed me to find ways to bring the
best out of these actors. Producing helped me to understand how a production
works in the film industry. I really enjoyed every part of the production process
as I got to see how these productions developed and how they were finalised.
Although I did not have much experience in editing in my first project I worked
closely with the editor, which improved my knowledge on the technical side of
things such as colour correction, RGB colour correction, a ghosting overlay effect
and sound adjustment. I have improved greatly in my editing skills, which is why
I decided to put my knowledge to good use and edit my film D A N C E.

My previous experience in dance has allowed me to use my choreography skills
and therefore has played a significant role in my projects. This year I learnt
several new ways to choreograph less experienced dancers, and to help them
improve their improvisational skills, as I would help them by suggesting,
movements behind the camera. Overall I defiantly think that choreography
helped me to take the next step into dance videos, which I would like to carry on
in the future.

With regards to improvements in the future I would need to learn from my
mistakes. For example my time management definitely has improved, but next
time I produce a film the shoot I must take more control of time management on
the day. Delays in filming will mean I need additional studio time, which
additional means more cost in shooting. In the future I need to improve my skills
in advertising auditions in local areas as I had limited selection of actors in my
auditions. Moving forward I would like to have more experience of developing
other scripts than just one concept idea. This would have given me a greater
range of scripts to put on my cv.

Overall I have really enjoyed the year as it has pushed me to do roles I never
knew I could do in the film industry. I have definitely become more enthusiastic
towards directing, producing and choreographing actors and dancers. I hope to
accomplish much more in the future as I would like to work in film and dance
productions.