Narrative in Production: Media Unit 2

Evaluation:

The film that was created was a short film of an arguably experimental nature, which borrowed heavily from the
conventions of the thriller genre. It aimed to present an abstract representation of an unfortunate reality that
many have to deal with (even if the experience exists on a spectrum and is relatively different between the
sufferers). In this case specifically the anxieties that oft accompany untameable and intrusive thought, which can
relate to many a different thing.

On an aesthetic note, I think the film delivered quite well, with the somewhat surreal noting caused by the
placement of character and stillness of shot melding quite well into the idea that the film is attempting to
present. It creates a very non-natural air in perhaps the best sense, given the context.

Taking into note the borrowed conventions from some genres, most notably ‘Thriller’ with the inclusion of the
darker and more gloomy greyish-blue wash (which is quite typical of the genre, given the sombre mood it
creates) as well as droning sound effects used to create a building sense of unease and even dread, it would seem
reasonable to affirm that the film succeeds relatively well in living up to the aesthetic and genreish expectations.

The development process for the creation of this film was relatively filled out, especially in regards to the later
stages.
The Development stage began simply as a modicum of ideas twisted and randomly presented themselves as
plausible pursuings, which in this case was several flitting of shots that rather sparked the imagination. Some of
which even made their way to the final product, in some form or another. These “shots” were also accompanied
with the thoughts of what ideas and they could accompany, including the symbol and motif of the stickynote and
door (though these came slightly later, as more brainstorming towards these ideas was done). Once more or less
fleshed out, the ideas moved on to the finalisation of literal planning, for it was to become a ‘film’ (in theory, by
this stage).

The process of Pre-production was pretty straightforward, mostly just transferring the modicum of ideas into a
more presentable sense, those being in this case relatively in-depth storyboards, which included decent text
descriptions of each shot along with the sometimes questionable images.

The process taken during the Production stage was also rather simple; a couple shoots were done with a basic
photographic Nikon camera switched to its limited video function (shot in the standard 20-frames per second),
using a still photography tripod. Most of the shots had a still-camera, and so involved no movement and could
be easily done using just the tripod. The single dolly-zoom shot however, the one of the ominous door becoming
ever-closer as the camera travels down the hallway, could not easily be done with just the tripod. And given the
lack of other equipment at the time, filming the shot proved quite the dilemma.
In order to recreate the effect that a dolly or similar device would create, the camera was left on the tripod,
which itself was placed upon old, loose clothing, and subsequently dragged down the hallway. This proved
surprisingly effective, and so the shots made by the strategy found their way into the final edit of the film
(instead of the backup, which was just a foreboding still taken from the back of the hallway which was planned
to have a zoom-edit (known as a “ken-burn” to some applications) applied to it.)

The editing stage acted mostly normal in terms of process – just the usual sifting through footage for preferred
form of shot (in case of variation, even if minor), then cutting that down into the general piece required, then
stacking and rearranging, and then of course the wonderful minor edits and cuts of miniscule nature (even by
just frames) in search of that “perfection” (and that’s not including the arduous work of matching audio)– except
for the rather large obstacle that occurred due to the software that was being used (Premiere Pro, in this case)
encountered an “error”, which rendered it quite difficult to use for a time. It also prevented export of the
footage, so all the progress could not be moved elsewhere in order to be completed.
Which was quite the hiccup in the process, to be honest.

[At time of writing, this is yet to be solved. Though much troubleshooting has been done, and worst comes to
worst, the stage of Editing can be redone]
Despite some… difficulties, in the ending portion of the creation process, the film appeared quite the relative
success, even if slightly altered from the pre-planned product. The removal of a couple shots (the shots
preceding the locking of the door, which followed the feet of the character as they rushed to the terrifying door
and the source of their undeniable concern) due to timing constraints in the shooting sessions are a shame, as
they added a decent narrative tell to the film, though actually not terribly destructive to the final product. They
would add certainly, but their absence is not utterly destroying.

‘Tis quite satisfactory.