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.