Evaluation of my film

A Cheeky Peacock production.

Contents:

1) Introduction:
What did I set out to achieve? What will I be looking at in the evaluation? Page(s) 2

2) Initial planning and research for the film:

Where did I start? Where did I get my idea from? Page(s) 3-4 How did I decide on a genre? How did I present this idea to the class? Was my idea original? What did I use/develop/challenge in my film? What representations of people are there in my film?

3) Problems and Improvements:

What problems did I encounter? How did I realise they were problems? How did I tackle them? Did this alter my final product? Why? Page(s) 5-6

4) Final Product:
Am I happy with the final result? What went well? Page(s) 6-7 What could have been better? What have I learnt throughout this project? What would I do differently? Which kind of institutions do I think would want to distribute my product?

1) Introduction:
What did I set out to achieve? What will I be looking at in the evaluation?

My film Operation: Overslept began with the simple idea of creating an action comedy. What developed after this was based around the pre-production work I completed, which ultimately came from the preliminary work I also completed. This work eventually came together to create my final piece of work, a piece that has been adapted, re-written and changed purely in the interest of improving the final product.

The action-comedy genre was a concept which is very strict to its codes and conventions. When I set out to make my film, I decided on 3 main things I wanted to accomplish:

1. To both challenge and develop the conventions of the action-comedy genre 2. To create an original film idea and to develop it into a final product 3. To successfully engage the audience into my film within the first minute of my film

This evaluation will highlight both the successes and failures of my film, as well as display the key reasons I made any changes to my product at any one time and whether this was based on my or somebody elses opinion. It will also display how I overcome any problems with my product, and whether this was a major issue, or whether it was an easy obstacle to face.

2) Initial planning and research for the film:

Where did I start? Where did I get my idea from? How did I decide on a genre?

When first given the brief, which was to create the first 1-2 minutes of a film, I tried to think about which film genres I generally enjoyed, as I decided it would be easier to work with a genre Im comfortable with than one which I have no interest in. My first idea was Sci-fi, and I began looking into the Star Wars Battle Star franchises for inspiration. After researching the production process briefly (web browsing) I realised that this genre is heavily dependent on the editing processes, a skill which I felt I was not adequately adapted to complete. I also looked at perhaps making a super hero film, recent films like Iron man 2 and Thor being large inspirations for this idea. I again decided this would largely need to be edited, and I was concerned I could not do this. With big companies like Marvel and DC Comics already established, it seemed that most of the idea would have already been taken.

I then began looking at the Die Hard franchise for inspiration. This made me decide I was interested in the action genre, but I felt as though something was missing. This also led me to look at films like Kick Ass and Observe & Report. These films inspired me to look into the action-comedy genre.

How did I present this idea to the class? Was my idea original? What representations of people are there in my film? I started by looking into the genre as a whole, highlighting the typical conventions of the genre, and noting concepts which I would be interested in following and developing. I then completed an audience appeal, looking at the main features of an action-comedy. I looked at a few typical questions: What did the audience enjoy about action comedies? What made them successful? What consistent themes were there in the genre that the audience liked?

What could I develop and/or challenge about the genre which would still appeal to the audience?

Once I felt I had sufficient research to answer these questions, I began writing my script. I brainstormed many ideas for titles, plot lines and even character names. My idea began to take shape after I had the title in place, Operation: Delta. I then began basing my ideas around this; my main character was initially designed to be a BadAss F.B.I agent and my villain a Twisted ex-F.B.I agent bent on revenge. In truth, I began to reflect on these ideas more carefully, eventually reaching the conclusion that whilst my film ticked the criteria for the action genre, it was lacking the aspects of a comedy. I then thought about some of the films Id researched, and selected a few to look at in more depth, which I did through 6 textual analyses. The films I looked at (The other guys, Hot Fuzz etc.) all appeared to have an underdog hero, somebody whom despite having the odds stacked against him surprisingly prevails. Whilst I had been deeply thinking about my films character perhaps challenging this idea, I decided that it was better to keep this a constant convention of the action-comedy genre. This is because I wanted my character to be relatable to. I also wanted my villain to be more sinister, and decided that showing him killing an innocent man in the begging of the film would have this effect, and wrote this into the script. My villain now challenges the norms of society, and my protagonist now suits them, and so this makes him more relatable. This also reinforces the contrast in their moral values, something which was important to establish for plot development later. It also represents two sides to the white, middle class male, a strong side and a weak side. It also shows representations of the male nature, and the typical power quest many males behold. The lack of representations of women in the film also highlights this. Although the only people we see in the film are British, the actual film is supposed to be set in America, and so the representation of a foreign threat is also displayed. Another key change I made was to the title of my film. It didnt seem to feel very comedic, and seen as how one of the main characters flaws was being undependable, I wrote it into the script that he would have overslept for work, hence creating Operation: Overslept. Once my films scripting, storyboarding and actors had been decided, I began planning for the filming process. I produced a sheet displaying all the areas I planned to film in, and a timetable to tell me where I needed to be, at which scene, which actors I would need per scene and which props would be used.

My next step was to present my idea to potential investors. I created a power point, as well as a booklet with information on each slide and the script, storyboard, filming schedule and any other necessary information. I then decided to name my company Cheeky Peacock it suited the comedic atmosphere I wanted to establish for my film and for potential future films. It was then time for me to begin filming everything, which is where I ran into a lot of problems

3) Problems and Improvements:

What problems did I encounter? How did I realise they were problems? How did I tackle them?

The first major problem I had with my product was finding actors which could make the dates I needed. Most of the actors I initially planned to use (from the Valle Performing Arts Academy) never got back to me, and I was left stranded with no actors what so ever. I then spoke to 2 close friends of mine, one of them being Liam Amner, who both starred in the film and helped me with previous projects, and the other being Harvey Bladon-Kitchener, both an experienced film maker and film editor, they were both more than happy to both act and help find actors for my film, which resolved a big problem for me. It was then, after many other failed attempts to find actors that my 22 year old cousin, Ryan Higgins, also an experienced film maker who offered to play the role of the villain in the film. He suited the role perfectly, and with my actors in place, I proceeded to film everything. However, it was whilst filming that I experienced another problem. The filming location (The HYMB: Herts Youth Mariners Base) who had originally agreed to give me as much time as I needed, only gave me one hour to film everything. Feeling pressured and slightly annoyed with this, I tried to prioritise all the footage I needed to get, and managed to get 90% of the required footage successfully in this shorter time frame. This however created another problem.

I had managed to successfully get a group of actors together, managed to film nearly everything in a pressured time frame, and by the time it came to the editing process, I wasnt surprised to find that some of the footage had not come out as well as Id wanted. The tri-pod I had picked up turned out to be a broken one, meaning that some of the camera angles were slanted, and the framing upset due to this. But I had a solution. I had learnt how to rotate clips in Adobe After Effects from my previous film, and with this I managed to edit the clips, rotate them to be at the correct angle and zoomed them in/out to make the framing better (see technical trouble with my product section on Weebly). My next problem with the editing process was finding a suitable sound track to accompany the film. This didnt prove too problematic, as Harvey pointed out to me a creative commons artist named Kevin Macleod. After browsing through his music, one of his tracks The chase seemed to suit the feel I was going for with the film, as it created tension, and seemed to represent the twisted mind of the villain.

Did this alter my final product? Why? Once I was content with my film, I decided it was time to see what people thought of my product so far, and held a test screening. This was conducted by asking my audience a series of questions based on things I was worried about with my product (please refer to appropriate sheet). The only major changes which I made were to my titles and their positioning, and I added a few more walking scenes in to make the film more dramatic. All the changes that I made altered my final product evidently, but this made my product better for this. It was important for me to adapt my product based on the results I got, and in theory, my film was made all the better based on these changes. Also, all of the technical troubles I had also allowed me to develop my skills, mostly in editing. So the problems I had were temporary barriers, it made my film a lot better because of it, as I also began to notice more than one problem as I tackled the first few.

What did I use/develop/challenge in my film?

Typical character profiles: Underdog protagonist, Mad man antagonist. Use of both dialogue and audio: to develop both plot and tension simultaneously. Typical sinister introduction without comedy aspects to develop plot Low angles on main villain to display power/status and high angles on hacker to show lack of power/status

Few establishing shots: to create mystery as to location. Gun fire camera angled at audience to make them feel included in events. Ground shots which hide characters face to add suspense. General, non-evil looking setting to amplify character profiles.

A bouncy institutional tag to amplify sinister atmosphere. Lack of gore to add more mystery to the plot. Text is a red colour (instead of seeing the gore) to reinforce sinister effect. This was taken from a horror film and put into an action genre to create a sense of inevitability.

5) Final Product:
Am I happy with the final result? What went well? What could have been better? What have I learnt throughout this project? What would I do differently?

Overall, I am very happy with the final result of my film. I think the film is engaging, both due to the plot and music working in sync to create a dramatic effect. Whilst I was worried the comedy would not show, my research confirmed that in most action comedy films there is often very little comedy to begin with. I also feel that my story has been developed to an original plot idea, with the villains persona becoming an immediate ploy in developing the story, and engaging the audience straight away.

I think my film was unique in its plot. The way the story unfolds and ends are both dramatic and far-fetched, which isnt necessarily negative, as this is what I was aiming for. Another thing I am happy with is how I have developed my skills with the editing software. It has allowed me to not only overcome frequent issues with the film, but also make further adjustments to it once I felt confident to do so. I think (due to the unique nature of my plot and the way I have constructed this) that my film has developed and challenged the conventions of the action comedy genre successfully, with my camera angles and framing generally being off scale (if not by accident) then to show that the villain is mad. Also, the music spikes at key scenes for dramatic effect, to represent the importance of what is occurring. I would say out of 10, I am about 8 out of 10 happy with my product, this being because I think I answered all the questions I wanted to (page 2), but did not necessarily do every scene I wanted to.

If I were to do this again, I would try and make sure my equipment was all fully functional before taking it away to use, as this would avoid the problems I had with poor camera angles. I would also make sure that I ensured my actors could all do a certain date from the start, as I would then not have the hassle of chasing people up to act in my film. I would also like to have filmed a bit more, incorporating the hero into the first scenes, maybe show a transition between them, and perhaps have included more comedy this way, although I was content with my justifications as to why I didnt do so initially.

Which kind of institutions do I think would want to distribute my product? As already stated, I analysed an observed other similar products to find out the key conventions of the action-comedy genre. Whilst doing this, I also had to consider which institutions would be interested in my product, and it was whilst completing my textual analyses that I realised that companies like: 20th century fox (distributers of the Die Hard franchise, Percy Jackson and the lightning thief etc.) or Paramount films (48 hours, Top Gun) would both be adequate distributors for my product, as they have experience with the genre and are both extremely successful institutions. Due to the similarity in the films that these institutions distribute, I feel they will most likely enjoy my product. This is not to say that I feel the actual content is anything like previous films they have distributed, as I personally feel the concepts I have developed/challenged set my film apart from the typical genre. This is mostly why I feel would want to distribute my product, as the originality would attract people to watch it at the cinema and furthermore attract huge cinema companies like Cineworld and Imax to want to buy my product too.