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DECISIONS

https://vimeo.com/211307189

We were assigned to make a fiction scene from a provided script. We had to follow all the instructions on the script. We also could not add anymore dialogue. In this portfolio, I will be taking through the fictional production process taken by my team and I while making the fictional short film ‘Decisions’. The portfolio will be highlighting the research process which was taken including influences, professional working practices of production work, an analysis of the fictional project we worked on and an analysis and evaluation of the group working practices.

 The Production Process (Entry 1)

It is imperative for me to analyse and evaluate the production process and how knowledge on my first year course contributed to the creative and technical process. The short scene we put together was based around suicide. The scene was of a character who was eager to end his own live when the other character comes alone and is also very eager to save him from making such a mistake. We chose to base the scene around this concept because research shows that 6,639 suicide have been recorded across the UK and Ireland for 2017. (Samaritans Suicide Statistics Report 2017, Samaritans. Read More at: http://www.samaritans.org/about-us/our-research/facts-and-figures-about-suicide) A very alarming statistic which if not addressed, can be increase catastrophically. I remember Alison Cross, a very knowledgeable lecturer of mine say in a lecture that filmmakers have the power to manipulate the feelings of their target audience with the shots they take and the angles they use when shooting a film. As the production manager, my job was to make sure that every aspect of the production was geared towards the success of the production and also aimed to achieve the production’s main purpose which is to let our target audience (Males and females of ages 18 – 25 who are dealing with depression and have suicidal thoughts) release that there might be more to live and someone out cares for them. When making this scene, it was very perceptible that we needed to first think of locations that will suit our concept so as a team, we brainstormed on the method of the suicide attempt for our character and we concluded that we wanted a riverside.

It was my job to find the exact location for the production whiles the producer liaises with the authorities in charge of permitting us to use the site. Luckily for the team and I, I live right beside the Woolwich Arsenal Pier so that aspect wasn’t a problem. One major challenge for us however was the time the Woolwich centre (the authorities in charge of the location) took to reply to our email. According to them, we had to pay some amount of money to be able to film but that was not an issues because the whole team contributed. The location was of major importance to the success of the production and in my opinion worked perfectly for the scene. The knowledge learnt from our Principles of Film and Television course taught us to implement the ‘show. Don’t tell’ proposition to our scene which suggests that actions speak louder than words and rather than a lot of dialogue to tell a story, the film maker should use visual storytelling to deliver his film. The script made by one of the group members was very interesting to read. I think that for the amount of words we were given within the script, our script writer did a good job adjusting. The script was very detailed and included everything a script should have like the sound effects, blocking, etc. 

When it came to the shots used, I think that we could have had even better shots than the ones we had. Although the shots in the scene were good and it varied, I think that the scene could have been made even more professional if we changed a couple shots to more dynamic ones like a close up dolly zoom for when Tanisha realised Joseph was about to jump the first time and a Dutch tilt for when Joseph was about to jump the second time. 

However, the shots used did work and was edited perfectly to make the scene look appealing. The sound was also very good and fitted well for the concept we used. The soft music in the background brought some serenity to the scene and it almost felt as if nothing was going to happen and that Joseph was just staring at the river. We had two shooting days for the production. We could have shot everything in one day but unfortunately there was a problem with the sound hence the second day. This hindered our production a little bit because the actor originally used as Thomas was not available for the second day hence the character Tanisha.

Looking back at the whole production, I would say one of our strong areas in terms of the technical and creative process was the editing. Our editor brought the whole production to life and even though the shots used were just about good, the combination of shots she used and the colour gradient she added made the scene look interesting to watch. Another strength was my creative ability to pick the location to use and clothes the actors should wear. The clothes worn would relate to the target audience and attract them. Also, the location was also very quintessential for the concept we had and made the shots in the scene look good. The only weakness I would say was present was the ability to direct the actors well. Although the actor hadn’t been in a major production and had little or no experience, we could have done a better job instructing them on how we wanted them to be in terms of facial expression and body language. Next time, we would be well educated so that we can let the actors know exactly want we want from them. Looking back at previous Craft and Technology lectures we had, I can confidently say that certain transitions like the cross dissolve and fade to black used in the editing of the scene helped it to be successful. We also learnt how to reduce the white noise from a dialogue which we also used during the dialogue. This also made the scene quite lovely to watch without too much diegetic sound interrupting. Finally, our seminars from our production portfolio course helped me to structure this portfolio perfectly and gave us an insight to what goes into making a good scene without dialogue.

Analysis and Evaluating of Group Working Practices including my Own Communication Skills, and Those of the Group, as well as How Effectively the Team Worked to Produce the Documentary (Entry 2)

Working with this team to produce the scene was very successful and was very interesting. At the beginning of the production, the group had a meeting together which I was present to brainstorm on what concept we wanted to go for and to finalize the ideas. This was done very effectively. Everyone’s creative ideas were put together so that everyone in the group would feel strongly to bring their ideas to life in the production. In this same meeting, we delegated and assigned roles for the production. I was given the role of the production designer. As a production designer, I needed some very key skills. 

was given the role of the production designer. As a production designer, I needed some very key skills. I exhibited these skills throughout the production and by this, the production run smoothly. One of these skills were good communication skills. I needed this in order to talk to the producer and the other team members about areas within my role that they like, areas that could use improvement and other details. For example, when I needed to know which location the team would like, I made a mood board and a list of locations and pitched it to them to ensure that they have different options when choosing. This is a perfect example of how good communication skills was displayed.

Another skill that I needed was attention to visual detail. I needed this because as a production designer, you need to know what looks good on camera and will attract the audience in terms on everything from the location to the colour gradient to the clothes and make-up. I showed this skill during production when I had to make it clear to the producer which different clothes I think the actor should wear, where I think the scene should be set and even what kind of weather will be perfect for filming. The team was also showed some good working practices like good communication skills by having a group chat via Facebook where we discussed the ideas we had and also things we needed to do. I think this was a brilliant idea because we all have different schedules and have a solid platform for communication is ideal.

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This portfolio will be talking about the factual production process taken by my team and I while making the Maritime documentary. It will be highlighting the research process taken including influences, professional working practices of production work, an analysis of the factual project we worked on and an analysis and evaluation of the group working practices.

Analysis and Evaluation of the Production and How Knowledge from my First Year Courses Contributed to my Creative and Technical Process (Entry 1)

I will start off by analysing the factual project we worked on as a whole and how knowledge from this course has contributed to my creative and technical process.

Due to Greenwich being the home of time, we made the documentary to track how 24 hours in Greenwich is spent by a few members of its population and their views on the concept of time. We did this to give an insight into the lives of the community that makes up the royal borough of Greenwich and initiate the audience to reflect on the value of time and how they spend it. When we were making this documentary, it was evident that we needed to interview some people. Although we originally looked to interview three people (a tattoo artist, a magician and a dancer), we ended up just using the dancer for our documentary because of disappointments and the duration of the video. My voice was used as the voice over for the documentary. Whiles recording the voice over, I remembered from one of my lectures where the lecturer said that the actors tone of voice and speech affects how the audience will feel about a scene. This made me realise that if I could tweak my voice a little bit to match the kind of feeling we want to give the audience, we will have a professional looking documentary. So I did and I must say, it completely works with the theme music used as well. 

During the documentary, the shots used in the documentary were basic shots but it fit perfectly to the documentary. One strength of the production is that the shots used were very good. We had establishing shots which made the audience know where the documentary was set. We also had the time lapse shot of the sun setting and one of the sun rising which I thought was very good. It was one of the best ways to show the audience the movement of time since the documentary is about time. Another thing that caught my attention was the editing of the video. Although the editor was part of the team and was just an amateur editor, her editing skills for this documentary was quite professional. She put certain shots in the right places and the timing of the shots incorporated with the transitions and effects used was perfect. Overall, the editing of the video was definitely one of the strengths. One weakness however was the number of interviewees we had, which was just one. This was due to the fact that, some interviewees cancelled last minute and others were not contacted in time. We can turn this weakness to a strength simply by making sure that potential interviewees are contacted in time for the documentary. If this is done, it gives the group time to find another person for the documentary. It will also help if we had a well-structured contingency plan for the documentary. The contingency plan will let us know what to do in case anything when wrong, and in this case it did. It will also help if we reached out to more potential interviewees because then, we will have the opportunity to pick and choose who we would like to include in the documentary.

 Looking back at previous Craft and Technology lectures we had, I can confidently say that we learnt certain transitions like the cross dissolve and fade to black which was used in the documentary. We also learnt how to reduce the white noise from a dialogue which we also used a bit of whiles editing the footage of the interviewee talking. Certain lectures we had from ‘Principle of Film and Television’ helped us to understand and create a narrative for the documentary using the voice over and the theme music. It also helped our creative skills in terms of shot selection and gave us a good practice in the technical aspects of filming-to-edit and editing. And finally, our teachings from ‘production portfolio’ helped me to structure this portfolio perfectly and gave us an insight to what goes into making a good documentary (the people/characters, the story/journey, the tension/intrigue, and the resolution)

Analysis and Evaluating of Group Working Practices including my Own Communication Skills, and Those of the Group, as well as How Effectively the Team Worked to Produce the Documentary (Entry 2)

Working as part of a team to produce the documentary was very successful. When the production started and the idea was finalized, we chose the role which suited us. Since I was added to the group at a later stage, I was given the role of a research which worked perfectly. During pre-production, everyone was given a job to do to make the production successful.

Everyone complied with what they were given so pre-production was run quite smoothly. The group listened to each other when it came to planning and finalising ideas and the producer effectively gave one tasks to the group which were done.

Some members of the group came along to speak to potential clients which I thought was very handy. Although I was doing most of the talking to the potential interviewees, the group helped out by suggesting places to go and people to speak to which improved the communication between us. The Maritime production team had about five meeting. Although I didn’t attend one or two of the meetings, I alerted the team and producer beforehand so the group were made aware. Although communication was quite awkward at first seeing that we weren’t familiar with one another, the communication within the group grew stronger, the producer felt more comfortable to give us task and the group also felt comfortable carrying that task without issues. We made a group chat on the social media “WhatsApp” so communication with each other was quite easy. I think that was the group’s biggest strength: our ability to talk to one another and talk about ideas and carry out tasks as quickly as possible. Our time management skills was not the best but it was not the worst also. It was alright however there is always room for improvement. There were times where some group members weren’t punctual to meetings. This however could be because some meetings clashed with other group meetings within our course. During meeting, everything which was meant to be said was said and if a group member didn’t turn up, the minutes were posted to the WhatsApp group chat and also sent via e-mail so there was no way anyone could have missed anything. During the shoot, the significant people who were needed went. The producer only needed a couple group members for the shoot. I was not part of the people so I wasn’t there during the shooting day. It is evident that the group’s organization skills were exemplary. Every document needed for production were organized properly and stored in an online folder. The producer made sure that all the documents were made clear so that none of the group members were confused.

When we were recording the voice over, the groups improvisation skills came into play. We all made sure that the words in the script weren’t tongue twisted by changing some of the text in the script. In my overall opinion, I think the group worked very effectively together to produce a very exceptional documentary. Just as my seminar tutor Lee Jane has taught me, the group did not allow any personality clashes come in the way of successfully completing the production.

My Research Process Including Influences Framed Around My Creative and Technical Considerations + Concentrating on My Job Roles Within My Team Highlighting My Technical Development Process, Planning and Production Management. (Entry 3)

In order to understand the documentary in depth, we need to understand what influenced certain elements within it. The name of the documentary “Maritime” was instantly chosen when it was pitched by me. Apart from the fact that the name is quite catchy and will attract our target audience, the name was chosen because it relates to the Greenwich Maritime Museum which is a very popular and historical landmark found in Greenwich. The target audience for the production is documentary lovers between the ages of 16 – 25. We chose this target audience because they will most likely watch documentaries for educational or informational purposes. The documentary is going to be an observational documentary with a voice over used. A voice over is used to guide the audience through the documentary. Because the audience is quite young, it was wise to use the voice over because they tend to get quite bored after a period of time. The locations used in the documentary was entirely in Greenwich. It would not make sense to make a documentary about Greenwich and shoot it somewhere totally different. 

During production, I was given the role of a researcher and Voice-Over. During pre-production, I took on the role of the researcher but during post-production, I did the voice-over. During pre-production, I had to find potential clients and speak to them to find out if they were willing to feature in the documentary. This required me and some group members to go to places in person, or contact them via e-mail. We paid a visit to a church very close to the university. We spoke to the secretary and we were told to get our tutor to e-mail her about the documentary to confirm that we are actually from Greenwich university and also for the church to authorize the shoot. After, we visited the tattoo parlour. We met one of the tattoo artists but unfortunately, he was not available on the shooting day. He recommended his colleague he said was willing to be in the documentary, however when we contacted her, she did not reply.  The dancer and magician were then contacted and they agreed to be in the documentary. However, when filming day approached, the magician did not turn up. So the dancer was used for the documentary. I also had to contact authorities in order to get a permit for shooting at Greenwich park. As mentioned before, I did not get any reply from the e-mail I sent. The voice over was quite basic and easy. I simply had to turn up to the studio for recording and read the script. One of my biggest strengths was the way I spoke to potential interviewees. According to other group members, I spoke confidently, formally and articulately. Which influenced the decision to use my voice for the voice over. Another strength I had was my communication skills. I was able to communicate effectively with the group. When I could not get through to some interviewees, I instantly contacted the producer and the rest of the group so they knew what was going on. A weakness I had however, was my inability to attend some of the group meetings. This was due to the fact that some meetings which were arranged clashed with other group meetings I had. I can turn this weakness into a strength by giving the producer my weekly schedule beforehand so that she knows my availability.

Professional Working Practices of Production Work; Design, Planning and Management and Compliance with Legal and Ethical Requirements (Entry 4)

When working on a production like this, it is important that you focus on the professional practices in production work. Professional practices in this production will include the legal and ethical things we need to take into consideration in all aspects of production i.e. design, planning and production management. When it came to the design aspect of this documentary, we had to make sure the documentary was not copying any other film maker’s work in terms of its name. We had to research to be certain that the name ‘Maritime” was not already copyrighted. If it was, we would need to ask for permission from the owners of the name. If this isn’t done, we would be breaking the copyright, designs and patent Act of 1988 which states that “The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the ways in which their material may be used.” (The UK Copyright service. Available at:https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law) Failure to comply to this Act will result in Copyright infringement and the penalty for this could be a fine of up to £50,000 or jail time of up to 6 months in the UK. (Anglia Ruskin University. Available at:http://libanswers.anglia.ac.uk/copyright/faq/78776)

We also had to take into consideration the watershed. The watershed is a well-established policy by the BBC which states that 9pm is the pivotal point of the evening’s television. “Watershed before which, except in exceptional circumstances, all programmes on our domestic channels should be suitable for a general audience including children.” (BBC. Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1738_respect/page9.shtml) Although our documentary didn’t have anything which wasn’t suitable for children, we still had to take this into consideration during the design stage of the documentary when we were brainstorming. There were not ethical issues during production. The documentary was not breaking any legal laws and ethical ones. The documentary was made very impartially and accurate and in some instances, subjective. They were no issues like objectivity and being bias. It was purely informative and based of the interviewees opinion. The During the planning stage or the pre-production stage of the documentary, the only legal issue we faced was getting the authorities in charge of Greenwich park to talk to us. Although the production did not require a permit (It was a non-profitable/non-commercial based documentary), we still needed to contact whoever was in charge to make sure. Failure to contact them could lead to a ban or a fine. Unfortunately, we could not get through to them. They never replied to their e-mails or  answered phone calls from the team.

We ended up using a different location for the shots we needed and that work as effectively as it would have at Greenwich park. During the planning and production stage, we had to print out a briefing sheet to potential interviewees to let them know what the documentary was going to be about, the purpose of the documentary, what will be doing and what we will want them to do, the dates for filming and where the documentary will be published.

When we could not get through to a potential interviewee, we simply asked for their E-mail and sent them an email instead. We used this method for the tattoo artist, however, she did not reply to my e-mail. The team ended up contacting a different potential interviewee since she was unavailable.

In conclusion, I believe that I have discussed my influenced research process framed around my creative and technical considerations, concentrating on my job role and highlighting my technical development process, planning and production management. I have also successfully discussed the professional working practices of production work in terms of design, planning and management with adequate evidence that I have understood how my product has complied with legal and ethical requirements specific to the product I have made. I have analysed and evaluated the documentary focusing on how knowledge from my first year courses has contributed to my creative and technical process. Finally, I have analysed and evaluated the group working practices including my own communication skills and those of the group as well as how effectively my team worked to produce the product.