Evaluation

Final Film

Double Page Spread

Poster

The Process of Creation (Poster)

As with my double page spread, I did some research on things like lighting for the photoshoots. I used the same tutorials as shown previously.

I also created some flat plans, which are shown below:

As with the double page spread, I carried out a survey for the target audience to find out what they wanted to see on a poster, as well as comparing the flat plans. I found that they preferred the look of the last poster. I also found that they wanted a darker colour palette as they felt this was what best felt the genre.

Once I knew what the target audience wanted, and I had the photos and title, I began the construction of my poster.

The first thing I did was to take the main image, which took up nearly the whole page. I then converted the image into black and white, using this tool from Photoshop. I used this particular image as it is one that I, not only, found interesting, but it also helped convey the surreal theme found in the film. 

I then put an overlay image of Sarah, over the top of the image of Deluca. I did this so that the poster would show another character in the film. The size of the image, whilst being overlaid, gives the connotation that Sarah perhaps has more power over Deluca. The fact that Deulca appears within her face and head, also starts to give the suggestion of the psychological themes within the film. To make the image look as it does, I used the hard light setting which allowed it to show the image of Deluca below it in this style. 

The next thing I did was to place the gas mask eyes and mouth onto the balloon. This was cut out from another image. The edges were then blurred a little so that it mixed better and looked more like an actual part of the balloon than it would do otherwise. This was used since it also gives the suggestion of the surrealism theme. 

The next thing that I did was to add the title of the film, as well as the casting along the top. I put the cast at the top since it stands out, particularly because of contrasting colours. I also put it here since it is information consumers would want to see, but does not get in the way of the images. I also added the title, which was quite simple and was done in a white colour so that it would contrast with and stand out against the dark background. 

The final thing I did was to place the text below the title, which reads "An Alexander Prynne Film" which, like with the cast, gives the consumers information that they will want to know. In this case, it is the director. Along the bottom, I also added the credits, which features everyone who was involved in the main part of the production. It also includes institutions that I felt would be most likely to distribute the film, whose logos have also been added. This look of credits and the information included is something that I found was include in a lot of posters, particularly of this genre. I also added the release date information, which, like everything else on the poster, is essential information that the potential audience would want to know. It is also something that is a common conventions, found on most other poster, particularly theatrical ones, and so I followed these conventions. 

The Process of Creation (Double Page Spread)

To begin with, I first did some research before carrying out the photoshoot. This was done on things like lighting. These are a couple of the videos that I looked at.

Before starting to take the photos and to construct the actual page, I first made some flat plans of the ideas I had that could be used. These are here:

I then used a survey, which was answered by my target audience, on things like which flat plan they preferred and the type of article, colour scheme and other such things that needed including. I found that they were happy if the colour palette didn't exactly match up to everything else, since it was for a magazine. I also found they would prefer to read a review page, and that they wanted close up photos of the main stars.


From here, we carried out the photoshoot. Here are some of the orignal images that were used for both the post and double page spread:

These first four images are all from the first photoshoot we did. These were all close ups of our actors for Deluca and Sarah, which I had wanted to use for the double page spread, and possibly also the poster, though this was not yet something I had fully decided upon. This photshoot consisted entirely of  indoor photography, taken against a black background. Here we also used the lighting equipment to get the exact look we wanted.

These next four images are from the second photoshoot, carried out. These began with some indoor photography, using the same place as with the first shoot. These however, did not turn out as well since the background was too low to include the balloon. Whilst this could have been worked around, I felt that the outdoor photos worked better for what I had wanted. The next part of the photoshoot took place outside. This was much more experimental than the others, trying out things like the use of the umbrella and balloon, as well as neither. This is the shoot where the photo for my poster came from.

Once the article had been written and the images had been collected, I started the construction of the spread. This process is shown below:

The first thing that I did was to put together the simple, basic template, with the boxes where I wanted everything to go. Here I put a small box in the upper right hand corner with the word "Features" in. This was so that someone who may be quickly flicking through the magazine would be able to tell what sort of article they were reading and what they were about. I also put the title of the film in a red box, using the same typography as is used on the poster. I then had another red box on the right page where I would put facts about the film in, since this is something I found used to add more interesting information and substance to the page. Then, on the left page, there is the large black box where I knew I wanted to put the actual written article.

The next thing I did was to add the images. The image on the left page shows the character 'Sarah'. This is a smaller image since she is not the central or titular character, where as Deluca is, who gets a large photo taking up most of the left hand page. I used both these images as it helped the readers relate the article more easily to the film. The size also helps to draw people in as one of the first things they see will be these images. This is, again, why I used the photo of Deluca, as it is quite interesting, being him in a top hat. This does not directly relate to the film, though does give the readers and idea of the themes within the film. 

The next thing I did was to add the actual written article. I placed this on the black background, in a white colour, so that it would stand out. The text also uses a typography that I found is often used in most professional magazines. The article was placed where it is, since it does not require to be big or stand out too much, since this may make it more difficult to read. It is also the part of the page that does not really not to stand out, visually. Rather the page relies on other things like the black, red and white, colour scheme and images to pull in the readers. 

The next thing that I did was to fill the empty white space in the bottom. To do this I used a image that resembled film, where I filled in each cell with one of the illustrations that were featured in the film. I did this so that the would be another thing that could draw the reader in, as well as to so the exploration of religion and sin in my film. Whilst this is not explicitly showing and discussing these themes, like the central image to represent surrealism, it does give the suggestion of what will be found in the film. 

I then added the yellow bubble on the right had page. In it I added a quote that had been taken from the article. This was placed over an empty part of the photo, which helped make the page seem a little more filled and not leaving these empty spaces. It also works in drawing in the readers eyes, and so, their interest. To make it stand out even more, particularly against the image, I used the bevel and emboss tool, adjusting the levels as shown in the the screenshot. It also adjust the outer glow, to help in it standing out. 

I then, on the left page, added a rating for the film, which was 5 stars. This was, like the bubble, put over an empty space in the image. This was placed against the black background, so that it would stand out and draw in the reader's eye. This, again like the bubble, used the bevel and emboss tool so that it would stand out even more. 

The last thing I did was to fill in the facts, with things like the main crew and the cast, as well as some interesting facts concerning the sort of behind-the-scenes. I also added on the page numbers later, so the reader would easily know where they were in the magazine and could easily find it from a contents page, as was the common conventions of a magazine of this type.

Critical Reflections

Having completed the shooting on the film, I am now able to look back, critically, to the work I have already completed.

Firstly, looking at the camera shots, I feel this is something that did go quite well. I felt that my shot list and the storyboard were quite closely followed. Both of these documents were created and formed for two different reasons. One of these reasons was to make sure that I would have the range of different camera shots and movements that I needed in my film. The other reason as to why the shots were put together was to make sure it fitted the narrative I wanted to tell and the representation I wanted to show. When beginning the creation of this I followed Alexander Mackendrick's (On Filmmaking, 2004) ideas of shot-to-shot relationships that "each incoming image will have contains within it the impetus for a jump to the next angle." Because of this I created a shot list where the shots only really changed when I felt was appropriate to, or needed to, often decided by the dialogue or the actions of the characters. These shots were sometimes changed during the filming often due to the very short amounts of time we had to film, with sessions being only about half an hour long each, to film full scenes. This restricted the amount of setup and resetup time we had for rearragnig and setting up the camera multiple times in different places, and so meaning we have to refocus the image and redo the exposure and the audio levels. Were I to reshoot this film and go back to this part of the process, I would make sure that I am able to shoot for longer periods of time and perhaps do a camera rehearsal to find any problems we may have, even if not at the location, but in a similar sized space. I would also employ the use of multiple cameras.

When carrying out the editing of the film, I learnt that the mistakes that had been made during filming, like forgotten lines, had meant that the shots did not always work together, even when it is a single shot. This is because the actors had moved from different positions between the lines they had correctly read, and from where we picked up again. This adversely affected the visual quality of the film. To improve upon this in my future work, or if I were to do it again, I would either go through the entire scene or section shown in the shot again, without skipping to certain parts. Alternatively, I would change the shot to a new angle. This could have improved the phone call sequence, where this problem is particularly apparent.

As Steven D. Katz said in his book Shot By Shot (1991) "a moving shot... offers graphic and dramatic opportunities unique to film. Camera movement replaces a series of edited shots used to follow a subject, to make connections between ideas, to create graphic and rhythmic variation or to simulate the movement of a subject in a subjective sequence."

To follow what Katz said, the movement in the film, Deluca, was used for multiple different reasons, depending on where it was used, and which type was being used. All of this had carefully been decided upon before being shot, all of it being dependent, like the change in shots, on the dialogue or actions being shown. All lot of the film used a hand-held, shaky shot. This was a shot that had been carefully planned where to be used and how they would advantage the narrative of the film. These shots  I felt worked well to show the fear, anger and other similar emotions that are discussed or represented in that particular shot. This slight shake gave 'variation' to the film, which would not have been as interesting were it completely still. Looking back at these shots, I think most of them work in the context and look I wanted and also subtly represented the narrative I was trying to tell.

Other types of movement I used were things like pans and zooms. These were used mostly in the two 'surreal' sequences. These were used to do things like making 'connections between ideas' and to, again to give 'variation'  to the shots and images. These shots mostly showed inanimate objects, like a gravestone, which does not have any movement of its own. This is why I used the camera to give movement to the shot. I felt that these all worked well at conveying and suggesting the messages and meanings I had for them, and so would not change it were I to ever remake this film.

Although film is a very visual medium, audio and sound is often described as being the most important part. It is said that bad sound is more remembered than a bad picture. Katz describes sound and music as being important because "they elicit images". He also states that music is "an excellent way of communicating the rhythm and pace of the scene". The music I used in my film was the Egmont Overture by Beethoven. This is something I decided to use for multiple reasons. The entire piece of music fits well with the feelings I wanted in the film, which also often changes throughout it. I used select bits to fit in with the pace and style of each scene, for example slightly creepier sounding music for the scenes involving Deluca and Sarah, and a very dramatic, fast-paced, piece for when Deluca kills Hugo. This piece of the soundtrack I felt fit very well with the film as it subtly reinforced the emotions and narrative and drama I was trying to show visually. The reason the inspired me to use this particular style of music were films like A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Apocalypse Now. These were all films that used this style of music very well to add to the visual and dramatic beats of their respective film, particularly Kubrick's molding of Beethoven to violence in A Clockwork Orange. Whilst I do not think I did it as well as these other films, it is something I would not change.

The other main part of the soundtrack was a song called 'The White Rose'. This is a traditional Cornish folk song, with the verse I chose to use being sung in Cornish. I was very fortunate to get permission to use this song for my film as I felt it fit well with the themes, style and message I was trying to convey. It also, to some extent, follows Strauss' theory of Binary opposition, working as such against the themes, like deception and the more destructive love of Hugo and Deluca. This is something that I quite liked, and would not change.

There were some things about the sound that I was not particularly happy with, however. In particular, this is two of the voice overs. This is a problem where the audio has a lot of bass and peaks too much. This is a particular problem when listening to it through normal speakers or headphones. It was a problem I tried to fix, as it was caused by a mistake we made where the actors were too close to the microphone. I was not able to rerecord this for one particular reason that shall be discussed later. This is the main piece of sound that I was not happy with and would definitely learn from the mistake and redo it, were I able to.

The actors, whilst I felt there performances to be suitable for the characters, had posed a problem. This problem was that, one in particular, was often reluctant to film and would not turn up when we asked him to outside of school time. This is what caused the problem of having only short periods of time to shoot in, which caused a slight rush in production, having an unfortunate adverse quality on the visual side of the film. We also had the problem that one of the actors had received an injury from sport, meaning that he had to be replaced. Fortunately, however, we had not yet shot anything with him. The actor who replaced him as Hugo worked very well, particularly since he had not seen the script before the shoot. This same actor, after seeing the film in an event, did say that he did not feel comfortable portraying a homosexual character. This is something that I don't think seems particularly clear on his performance. It is also something that I feel is good, since I did not want the stereotypical 'screaming queen', and it is clear this has been avoided. The only problem we had for the actor of Sarah, was that she often had work or other things going on, and because we did not give her enough notice, she was unable to attend. However, we still had scenes to shoot without her, which was good. In the future, I would make sure that the actors know exactly who their characters are, and would try and make sure we have their full commitment.

At the beginning of the process, we had three members of the group, who would all work as crew members. Unfortunately, one of them dropped out, leaving only Ryan and I. Because I had the better knowledge and experience of the equipment being used, I was the one to shoot the film and direct the actors. Ryan assisted in the set up of the equipment, like the tripod, monopod and microphone and also doing the white balancing of the image. This was at the beginning of each shoot. He was also the one to often contact and gather the actors. When shooting, he worked as more of a script supervisor, checking where we were in the script and reminding me of the corresponding shots. When it was needed on one of the shoots, he worked as the boom operator, and on another he held the reflector. This was not used for reflecting, though. Instead, we used it to block out the sun, which was directly cast on the actors, causing much of their faces to be overexposed.

Over all, I am very happy with the film I produced and the process of filming it. I am particularity happy with many of the shots, which I feel all do what they are supposed to, in particular the shaky shots. The parts of the film that are supposed to be correctly exposed, I feel are. It is also all in focus. The music fits with the narrative and the actors I feel did a good job with the characters I gave them. This is a film that I am happy with at my current skill level.

Editing

When editing the film, I used Premier Pro since this is sometimes used in the industry and was the best available software. Most of the film was put into one timeline, however some of the more complex sequences were edited separately and then put on afterwards. This can be seen in this first screenshot.

This second screenshot shows my working of the audio. For the film there are multiple types of audio being used, such as the dialogue, sound effects and different music tracks. Because these are all different and I wanted them to do different things, I put them on different parts of the timeline where I could easily change the levels, which can clearly be seen in the screenshot, to get the sound that I wanted.

This last screenshot shows how for each of the clips I changed some of the visual levels, such as the colours, hue, brightness and contrast. This allowed me to get, not only the look that I wanted, but a unified look between each consecutive, related, shots. 

Equipment (& Costumes & Special Effects & Budget)

Equipment (for filming)
Canon cameras and lenses
Lighting equipment
Tripod
Monopod
Props (e.g Rock, can)
Fake blood
White Balance
Microphones


Equipment (for photoshoots)
Canon cameras and lenses
Lighting
Tripod
Black sheet background
Balloon

The budget for this film would have to include all of this equipment, and some other things, such as the mac to edit on.
Camera + Lenses- £2000
Lighting- £150
Tripod + Monopod- £300
Props- £0
Fake Blood- £5
Sound Equipment- £70
Mac-£1000
Total- £3525

Costume Sketches

For this film, right from the beginning,  I knew that it would heavily feature a homosexual relationship. However, I did not want to portray this with the stereotypical camp gay man, who would often wear bright and tight clothing. Instead I wanted to show them as normal people, and would not immediately be assumed to be homosexual.

For Sarah's costume, we had at one point considered it to be rather ghostly, when she reappears. She would wear white and consider using make-up to make her look pale and perhaps quite gothic. I decided against this as, like most of the film, I wanted it all to be a little more subtle.

Before the filming could be carried out, we needed to know what sort of costumes the characters would need so that we could either acquire them, or ask our actors to bring them. Here are some sketches we did:

Locations & Crew & Character Descriptions

When looking at my script, it is clear that the location is not actually something that is very important. Sometimes the entirety of a plot can revolve around the location, which becomes a very important ascpect, like the titular Island in Shutter Island, the hotel in The Shining, or even the dystopian environment of A Clockwork Orange. My film does not require a specific location, rather it can take place in any location at all, from an alleyway off a busy road, or in the middle of a desert. For this particular narrative, location is completely irrelevant.

In the script I have defined the location as a 'Street'. I looked at a range of different locations, most of which were very close to the College, for ease. I am also looking at Cotehele house, which I have got permission to film at. However, this may not be done as it is not particularly close and could cause logistical problems.


Here are the main locations we looked at:

These three images we took from Google maps, which is primarily what we used to easily and quickly look around the area.

The location we ultimately decided to use was a little further down the first image, in an area called Green Lane. We decided to use this small rural pathway the ran near the school. This was an easy location to get to, and the whole cast and crew knew where it was. At the times we were using it, we also knew that it was not very busy, which is another reason as to why we used it.












Crew Members

Because filmmaking is a collaborative effort, it means that to make the film, Deluca, there must be multiple people working on it. This is particularly helpful when they all, or mostly, work in creative positions.

Alexander Prynne (Myself): Director & Writer & Primary Camera operator

Ryan Clark: Producer, Boom Operator, Script Supervisor

These are the easiest ways to describe our roles, however, there was crossing over and additional roles we each took on.

Originally, we had an third crew member. Unfortunately, he dropped out.

Character Descriptions

When writing my script and talking to actors, I felt it important to know exactly who the characters are. These are the descriptions I wrote for this situation:

Peter Deluca/Edward Stevenson

A pained teenage boy with two lovers, Hugo and Sarah. He is the central character who, in his mind, forms many realities and shifts time through them. He is not particularly strong, nor is he weak. He is an average late teenage male, not really following any stereotypes related to his sexuality.

Hugo

Another teenage male, about the same age as his lover, Peter/Edward. He is the one to convince Edward to kill Sarah. In anger he is murdered by Edward. Although not shown in the narrative, he is a character formed in the mind of Edward, who does not exist in the true reality, of which there is no clear one.

Sarah Fitzwarin

About the same age as the two males. She is Peter/Edward’s true lover and does, in reality, exist, though not in any of the ‘realities’ we are shown. She is murdered by Edward/Peter and takes him to heaven. She does not really follow any stereotypes and is an average teenage girl. She does where a white dress in the ‘heaven’ sequence. 

Feature Article

When writing the article for my double page spread, I decided it would be best to do a review. I looked at other examples before writing my own. This is the first draft:

Deluca is a stylistic look at the dark side of a teenage mind. It delves into the confused world of Deluca, a character whose confusion is effectively brought out by the film’s star Ryan Hearn and the writer/director, Alexander Prynne. Although the film is only short, it manages to cram in a great deal of story, told with only three characters. The titular character is the only one who comes into contact with both, his two lovers, Hugo and Sarah, both of whom create just as much confusion for Deluca as the other.

The violence of Deluca would not be of the interest of many, though the brutality is mostly only shown in the eyes of Deluca. It is a film shot in such a way as to make this recurring theme of confusion clear, but to not put the audience in this same position. Narratively, the film hinges its success not on the characters, some of which are not quite given enough time to really be developed enough, but on its themes and their execution. The characters in the film, Deluca particularly, thrives in his mysterious state, in which nothing is ever really learned apart from what is given to us by Sarah and Hugo. These characters reliability of existence and information though casts more doubt and mystery over Deluca as a character.

The film’s stars are also great upcoming talent, all of whom add to the dramatic power of Deluca. Not only does Ryan Hearn give a quality performance as the titular character, but Rose Harris and Callum Starr, also give performances of equal power as Sarah and Hugo, respectively. 

The film is edited together it what could be described as a continuous piece, though it could also be described as being made up of scenes that flash back, and forwards, and possibly through realities.  This is not the only thing, however, that may not be warmly received by the wider audiences when the film is finally released. The creative decision was made to burn a bible. In our conversation with Alexander Prynne, he said that this decision was carefully made with ‘no intent of offending anyone’. He said that the decision was only made as it ‘fits perfectly with the story I wanted to tell’. We feel that, whilst this may very well anger many people, particularly a Christian audience, it is still an important aspect to this film that adds to its uniqueness as a story and a stylistic, creative piece.

Deluca is a brave film with its risk of controversy and its complexity in such a short runtime, though it shows some of the finest work of its writer/director Alexander Prynne. This is defiantly a short film that everyone should see at least once in their life, defiantly as it is only five minutes long it is pretty near essential in fact.

I then went back to it to write a second draft, this is it:

Deluca is a stylistic look at the dark side of a teenage mind. It delves into the confused world of Deluca, a character whose confusion is effectively brought out by the film’s star Ryan Hearn and the writer/director, Alexander Prynne. Although the film is only short, it manages to cram in a great deal of story, told with only three characters. The titular character is the only one who comes into contact with both, his two lovers, Hugo and Sarah, both of whom create just as much confusion for Deluca as the other. This confusion is really brought to life by the editing that is a clever weave of scenes that flash back, and forwards, and possibly through realities. 

The violence of Deluca would not be of the interest to many, though the brutality is mostly only shown in the eyes of Deluca meaning there is some strong drama in this psychological thriller for those in the audience who do not thrive on violence. The violence is not the only thing that may not be warmly received by wider audiences when the film is finally released… The creative decision was made to burn a bible. In our conversation with Alexander Prynne, he said that this decision was carefully made with; “No intent of offending anyone and when you see the film you will see that it fits perfectly with the story I wanted to tell.” We feel that, whilst this may very well anger many people, particularly a Christian audience, it is still an important aspect to this film that adds to its uniqueness as a story and a stylistic, creative piece.

Narratively, the film hinges its success not only on strong characterisation but on the performance of the actors who quite frankly at times I would have liked to have seen more of in order to really get to know their characters…but the restrictions of the genre meant this was no possible. This said, the young cast certainly brought to life their characters and made emotive the harrowing themes of the plot. The film’s up and coming stars all add to the dramatic power of Deluca, Ryan Hearn gives a quality performance as the titular character penetrating audiences with his mysterious stare while Rose Harris and Callum Starr give powerful supportive performances that take the viewer further into the world and torment of the protagonist as Sarah and Hugo, respectively. 

Overall, Deluca is a brave film with its risk of controversy and its complexity in such a short runtime, though it shows some of the finest work of its writer/director Alexander Prynne. This is defiantly a short film that everyone should see at least once in their life.