My Unit 13 was about coming up with an idea using the information that I learnt in previous Units 1-12 such as research techniques, experiments, receiving feedback, finding actors, using adobe premiere pro and other skills that I have acquired. This information would be used so that I could produce an outcome that I could be proud of as well as understand more about the hard work that is putting into film-making. There are some positive and negative occasions and aspects that I have encountered throughout.
Using pieces of primary and secondary information to develop my ideas for example, when doing primary research for both revenge and infatuation, I had asked individuals who were either inside and outside the college for their opinion on the two topics that I had combined. I did this so that I could have a detailed understanding of the subject matter along with getting feedback from people who may have the same mentally as my intended audience.
Primary Research
From the start of this project, I was using pieces of primary and secondary information to develop my ideas, for example; when doing primary research for both revenge and infatuation, I had asked individuals who were studying elsewhere or attending my college for their opinions on the two topics that I had combined. I did this so that I could have a detailed understanding of how the audience would look at the subject matter as well as getting feedback from people to see if their view may be the same as my intended audience.
Secondary Research
Doing secondary research from my project was very insightful because there were similar pieces of information from different sources on the internet, for example; when I was searching for the definition of infatuation, the information that I collected made me look into my own perception on the definition and situations that displayed infatuation. I came to a conclusion that there were some certain aspects that I agreed and disagreed with.
There were many films that I found as I was looking up relevant information, I found out that there are many pieces of information that were based on infatuation which was useful for me because it allowed me to self-reflect on what I wanted and had not wanted for my film. This also allowed me to think about what would make me feel engaged but more importantly, what would make the audience engaged in my project. In addition to that, I looked at student films and established definite ideas that I would not want to use for my own film and what I wanted to use as well. I watched ‘Infatuation – A Silent Film’ to see how other students would portray such a theme and it made me confident towards certain aspects that I thought of as a mistake whilst watching. So that I shouldn’t repeat such as some of the unnecessary shots that were included which, in my opinion, prolonged the film and made me lose interest as well as also making a mental note to myself that I should be careful in not to include that.
Furthermore, when looking at music based on infatuation, I listened to the lyrics of a few selected songs such as ‘Infatuation’ by Maroon 5 that included lyrics like:
Not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me
It’s such a shame that you shot me down
It would have been nice to be around
I’m touching your skin
If it’s only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?
I guess this must be infatuation (I want it…).
These lyrics spoke to me about the feelings that a man might have for a woman is probably more than love as it could be a sort of obsession which is linked to infatuation. I also watched the music video of ‘Infatuation’ by Lipstick Gypsy, I also listened to the lyrics in a way as Infatuation by Maroon 5. The music video shots for this song were used very well as it was able to portray the story since it seemed like it had an intimate atmosphere throughout. This gave me the initiative to incorporate some similar shots into my film when I started the filming process. I had a vision of how I wanted it to go therefore watching that music video was beneficial to my project because it made me build up on my vision and it also helped me decipher their lyrics because it helped with broadening my mindset as to the whole meaning infatuation and what it is all about.
Literature is another source that I used to research infatuation. I looked at plays to expand my understanding of infatuation. I have found that Shakespeare often used infatuation in his plays and we can see that in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as well as ‘Love Labours Lost’. They both portrayed infatuation in two different and interesting ways as they showed how powerful love is while also showing that they were feeling more than love which the other feelings could be classified as an obsession towards one another or/and pain because they weren’t with the companion. I have learnt that reading plays that are written in books can be a good resource to use in my research and analysis because it provided me with more information.
My research on infatuation through poetry and quotes were very intriguing for me and also insightful because it included statements that I agreed with and it clarified the meaning of infatuation even more. An example could be the quote by Alex Garland that said ‘When you develop an infatuation for someone you always find a reason to believe that this is exactly the person for you’. This quote helped me with my film’s dialogue, especially where Kelly confesses her love for Aaron.
I think that such pieces of research were valuable to the progression of my understanding towards Infatuation; however, I also had to find different content to research on revenge. I wanted to learn more about the definition of revenge so that it would help me in the development of my final major project idea. I searched for revenge on the internet and I received many definitions that were all a bit similar to each other from different websites such as the Webster dictionary and the Urban dictionary. An example could be of how I learnt about people’s ways to seek revenge which could be by inflicting harm on someone because of various reasons, possibly being that they were insulted by them and this helped me with producing my ideas and developing my final major project. In my final project, Aaron seeks revenge because he gets rejected so I think the information I acquired whilst researching on revenge was valuable.
Another positive aspect of the process is revenge in films. I have learnt more about how personal and revolutionary revenge works, for example, I have learnt that personal revenge in a film allows the audience to view the depth someone will go through when the feel that they have been wronged and what actions they are willing to take on behalf of correcting that wrong. From watching Batman: The Dark Knight rises the villain portrays emotions such as sadness, anger and obsession. It shows that were willing to go just to see their revenge served no matter the danger to the life of themselves or those around them. I found this information to be very useful towards my project because my creative media project outcome has elements to do with that type of revenge so it was beneficial. I found that revenge can be deadly which helped me create a more dark and scary atmosphere in my film.
Another positive aspect of the process that I researched was of revenge in films. I have learnt more about how personal and revolutionary revenge works, for example; personal revenge in a film allows the audience to view the depth someone will go through when they feel that they have been wronged and what actions they are willing to take on behalf of correcting that wrong. From watching ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Rises’ the villain portrays emotions such as sadness, anger and obsession. It shows that the villain was willing to just maker their revenge and get it served no matter what the dangers of life cause to him or those around him. I found this information to be very useful for my project because my creative media project outcome has elements to do with that type of revenge so it was beneficial. I found that revenge can be deadly which helped me create a more dark and scary atmosphere in my film.
Music conveys emotion and in the songs that I had researched, revenge is the main topic. I had researched a few songs based on revenge. I listened to the lyrics whilst trying to analyse what revenge means to the artists, what it means to me and what it might mean to other listeners. Also, look at some music videos that may help.
Revenge in drama (plays) that I found were produced by Shakespeare, therefore, I think Shakespeare has been quite a big influence on my research of plays to understand both themes. I looked at Othello and learnt that manipulation was one of the key factors of revenge because he applies manipulation on Othello, making him kill his own wife. I learnt a few points due to this and so I added it to one of my characters because it was one of my main themes so I incorporated it.
The bible had quite a few stories based on revenge that I learnt from the websites that I found. I think that stories from the bible are useful because the revenge-themed stories that are included are quite similar to the present than stories in the past. Also, researching revenge in biblical stories helped me in figuring out what plot I wanted to produce as well as figuring out what characteristic would my characters have so it was very helpful.
Researching quotes that imply revenge was an interesting task. I already had written quotes that I knew and I analysed them to clarify and understand their meaning which linked to revenge such as ‘how the table has turned’, that could be used in a situation where for example; someone has seen a person fall and starts laughing instead of helping them up but later on, the person who laughed then falls and another individual laughed at them and also doesn’t help them up. This piece of research had helped me in understanding more about revenge and it benefited my filmmaking.
Doing the theme essay was the most difficult aspect of the project because of the amount of writing that I had to do, however, I feel that I was able to overcome that obstacle by using my research skills from unit 4 to complete it, t it has been a learning experience for me since I learned more about how to structure an essay correctly as well as what type of material I should add. I have also grasped the way to use criteria to guide me through it; I believe that my performance was slightly more than satisfactory in this task. The mentioned elements that I have learnt will be beneficial for me in the future as it will help me when I’ll be doing film production in university considering the fact that there will be times in which I will be writing essays, therefore, this sort of practice is a good start for me.
Researching before filming has helped me develop ideas and understand the topic more so that my film is as accurate as possible. I learnt that throughout all of the units from unit 9 – unit 13 and this helped me generate ideas that I developed and progressed with. Coming up with many ideas that I may use for my film was a refreshing chapter during my work because I felt like I was exploring exciting ideas and all that I needed was to simply receive feedback from the public to find out any preferences in ideas for me to use in my final major project.
The feedback that I have received were quite positive towards each idea, for example; Kevin thought it would be a funny idea to film and watch whilst he also gave me advice. In the end, I used my decision-making skills to decide in what idea to go with. I looked back on all of the feedback that I have received on the ideas generated, especially the one I had chosen (my fifth idea) I felt more positive about my decision. I used the feedback to reassure myself about the idea I had chosen. In my opinion, my chosen idea was the right one to develop and distribute. Throughout the project, I have also used the feedback I have collected to progress in the time frame given.
I also created a page called ‘my idea’ so that I could write my initial idea followed by the updated versions of my storyline to show progression. I think that it was beneficial because typing it out made me understand and memorise the story better before and after writing the script and developing the story fully.
Pre-production was a great experience because pre-production went smoothly. Writing the script for my film took a while to complete because there were quite a few faults such as the spelling, clarity of each scene and a few more other aspects that I had to improve. These mistakes were pointed out through group discussions and feedback from people however once I had enhanced them, I felt that the script was satisfying and ready to be used. I have mastered the usage of constructive criticism to benefit my project and I consider it a good trait to have and to develop on.
Location scouting was great, I established think that I am superb at it due to results of my previous projects. For this project, the majority of the locations that I had chosen were in close range to where everyone involved in the project lived, so we didn’t have to travel far. Also, the locations were all familiar to me which helped me have a vision of what specific parts of the location to film in. The only location that I would not have used was the picnic location (my main location) because it was near a busy road and looking back at it, it looked unappealing compared to my alternative picnic locations. That is the only location that I would have changed if I could have done it differently, however, the filming still it came out decent but I will still use this experience as a future reference for improvement.
Creating the character descriptions had helped me clarify and understand what I was looking for in each character so that I could cast individuals that could make an effort to suit the description so that they would play their characters well. This also helped me describe the characters to the actors in a more confident manner. I used this method from my previous project (unit 8) because I found it useful and easier.
When doing the casting for my film, I decided to do some casting research, even though I have done it before I thought it would be good to refresh my memory and maybe I would come across new information that I could use which I did for example, how to make a casting notice. I didn’t do any auditions for my film, however, learning how to make a casting notice will help me in the future because it looks more professional and I feel will attract people really well.
Casting for my film, I decided to do some casting research even though I have done it before because I thought it would be better to refresh my memory and come across new data that I could use which I did manage to use in some situations like when I need to make a casting notice. I didn’t do any auditions for my film, however, the learnt about making a casting notice that will help me in the future since it looks more professional and I feel as if it will attract the public well.
Another positive factor was that the filming process of my project went smoothly because the weather was appropriate for filming, the locations were empty and the actors were punctual and acted exceptionally well. I had help from friends and family who were reliable and put in the effort to help me with my project on the allocated day whilst making sure that we had clear audio etc. They also listened to my instructions. The camera was fully charged, my memory card was inserted and available to use and I also had all of the equipment necessary for each filming day which means that I was being organised as I planned this out all beforehand. My actors were introduced to each other on the day and they got along divinely which made it a fun process. This made me feel more confident in directing the actors to redo a shot if it something how I planned because I also felt that everyone respected my direction and feedback.
I had all of the footage that I needed in different folders to make sure that it was organised before I begun editing, also, it was quite easy to check the footage and choosing the right ones. I had shots to work with so it went smoother and I think that my doing previous projects has made an impact on my current editing skills in a positive way. I thought that the colour grading went really well, I tried to make it look as natural as possible while also making it look a cinematic look to it. I used Adobe Premiere Pro and I have gained more knowledge about the software along with Illustrator and Photoshop.
Another positive factor included in the filming process was using the microphone sound because the audio was clear and the wind got blocked. It was useful throughout the editing process because my sound operators (my two female actresses and my brother) were supportive with helping with the microphone and they did a great job in completing it. I think that the sound is just as important as the visual aspect of any film so therefore, this motivated me to improve the sound for it to be better than the previous projects that I have completed.
Once I had established my final major project story, my next duty was to find out what age group my film would appeal and relate to. After collecting the public’s thoughts on about my idea’s age group, I found that it should be aimed at 15 year olds and over to which I agree with. I used the knowledge from unit 8 to complete this page.
To distribute my film ‘Kelly’, I shared it through the Word of Mouth technique or anything that is similar such as Instagram. I decided to make a poster and distribute my film through YouTube. I believe I understand the distribution purposes due to my unit 8’s final major project research. I used the information that I gained to do the distribution for this project. I also gained some distribution techniques from unit 10 such as using social media as a resource for example; Instagram and Twitter. This skill has improved my distribution abilities and it will also be useful in the future. I had social media websites for this unit to create more publicity for me and for my project.
I did a production schedule for this project so that I could record how long it takes to record as well as making sure that I made safety precautions before shooting. This was very beneficial to the filming process because then I was able to evaluate the danger that was around the filming locations that may harm the actors, myself/the crew or the public such as wires. As I removed dangers, this made me think that this method is very useful in the future to ensure that I’m taking precaution while making sure all is set for my final project.
All of planning and preparation is towards my final product ‘Kelly’, I received feedback on the final outcome and the majority of it was positive. I did two edits, I rough edit and a final edit as well as recording some of the editing processes and presenting a screenshot of the sound process. I had learnt to record my progression from previous projects such as unit 6,8, and 9 when creating my final outcome. From this final product, I have learnt a lot about what it takes to make a film which is beneficial because I have learnt from situations, research methods etc that I will use in future projects.
Throughout this project, there have been negative aspects and they have taught me what actions I should not make next time and what may be expected in the film industry and therefore I am prepared for such issues to enrol in the future. For example, one negative issue that has occurred a lot for me was the unreliability and the unprofessional manner of my former actors that I had first cast for my project.
To prepare for my film ‘Kelly’, I contacted two drama students who I thought would provide their time to star in my film one or two weeks before the actual filming so that they could come prepared in the actual filming for the production to run smoothly. On the first day of filming, I arranged an appointment for these individuals and they arrived as planned and when this was completed, I then organized a time to continue filming for the next day but this schedule, however, was failed to be met when on the on the appointed day, I had approached these actors and was disrespected by them as they ignored me and their duties. This made me have to make an executive decision into replacing them for the sake of my film, that needed to be filmed as soon as possible. The male actor also wasn’t dedicated enough since he has let me down on two accounts and this made me make the decision to also replace him.
Time is money in the film industry and even though they weren’t getting paid and I wasn’t paying for any venues, they would make a big loss of money from production companies and so on and therefore, this is unacceptable and so I had to make drastic measures for them as a lesson to conduct themselves as responsible aspiring actors in the future for new projects and connections gaining and also for myself and my final project to a new starter. It was unfortunate but it had benefited me since I have learnt from that experience.
Fortunately, although they’re not interested in the acting field, I had volunteers who were reliable and that wanted to see all the progress taken place in this project. With these actresses help, I was able to complete the film since they; gave their best, they were punctual, the acting was great and they also tried their best to memorise their lines which made the production go smoother and become more presentable. It was a pleasure working with them. Due to my uncertainty involving the former male actor, I was able to get an aspiring actor as a backup male lead that worked hard on this project. One of the things that I would have done differently if I had the chance was picking the actors because it would have wasted less time and effort if I had asked the actors that I successfully worked with for my final project.
Another negative aspect of this film was the memory card that I have been using. The memory card was full which delayed the film production but thankfully there were an Argos nearby so I had to ask my mother to buy a 32GB SD card whilst I filmed the actors using the space that was left on the existing SD Card. She came back with the SD card and once the existing SD card was full, I swapped them around and continued filming. Now I have 3 SD cards with a large amount of space so that this incident will never happen again. This problem affected the filming process but it also turned to be a second filming lesson for me alongside the actor’s issues that I have mentioned above.
The editing was a fun process. I would spend hours on editing for my film to become as perfect as it could be but I enjoyed it although there were some difficulties that I had faced and had to overcome. Unfortunately, one of the issues was that my hard drive had erased the adobe premiere pro file, which was really worrying at first, however, the day before that, I have finished a rough edit of my final film so I wasn’t feeling as panicked as before because I had a finished version even though it was a rough edit. However, I really wanted the original premiere pro file instead of creating a new one but on the other hand; the new project that I had created turned out better. From this experience, I have learnt to remember to have a backup of files because any uncalled events may turn up and affect any files or a hard drive’s items. If I could change how I started this process, I would have backed up all the necessary so that no delays in the editing process would take place.
Furthermore, finding the sound to replace the original audio was the most challenging part of the editing process simply because there were a lot of audio files that didn’t amount to anything so I had to search through each wav file to find the one that synced up with the video. However, I managed to sync up the majority of the audio which was superb and then I found a couple of free music to utilise after searching for some time on YouTube. I also did a bibliography so that none of the content on my blog gets classified under plagiarism which I learnt from unit 8.
From the start of Unit 8, I have been trying to be more assertive when it comes to speaking my mind to people but unfortunately, I still find it hard to be assertive towards friends. I felt that I was taking a gentler approach to situations when I should have been more tough and assertive, separating the soft emotion that I have with a business mindset so I that I could have completed shots and scenes quicker and how they should be. On the other hand, it was fun to work with the actors that starred in my final project because they all helped me by working to a very high standard. I think that assertiveness is something I need to improve a little bit more so that I can be more assertive with certain types of individuals because I have learnt that certain individuals either take kindness for granted or they need someone who is firmer. Furthermore, I think that I could have improved my props, for example; I wanted one of the actresses playing Lilly, to be gushing out blood from her stomach but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time and money to make the rig. But even though I had that wish, I thought that it came out better than I expected, therefore, the rig might not have been necessary but it would have done a better experience to build and keep.
I have learnt a lot of new information about the process used for filmmaking and how I could use all of this information to my advantage by making the best movie possible as well as to figure out what I want to convey to my target audience. One example of what I have developed more was my quick thinking skills because I have learnt more about thinking on my feet and I believe that my quick thinking abilities have improved since the start of the project. It will also help my in the future after I leave college.
Another aspect that I have reflected on is my directing skills. I think that my directing skills have improved because I feel more confident in giving instructions to people what they need to do and how I want it to be like. This is beneficial because the film that I had created my vision will be as accurate as I have imagined. It also made me satisfied to see the result. In addition to that, I can still direct other people even if I have to be in the movie as well, for example; in the film ‘Kelly’ I was in one of the shots where I had to bump into one of the main actresses on the street so I had to direct the main female lead for that specific shot along with the one after that where the male actor picks up the keys. So I told the main female lead how I desired the shot and gave her clear directions and because of this the shots turned out great.
In my opinion, my editing skills have improved because I had more shots to work compared to my last work. I have learnt some things whilst editing for unit 12 such as creating the text messages and inserting them into premiere pro correctly.
Throughout the filming and editing of this project, I have learnt how to replace and record specific sounds as well as instructing and directing a sound operator to receive the clearest sound possible for my project. Furthermore, one of my objectives regarding the audio techniques for this project was to ensure that my film had clear sound since when I was providing sound for unit 8, I had to use the internal microphone on my camera and the tones of the recording was insufficient. As I have learnt my previous lesson, I wanted to have great sounds and seeing how bad or good that the sounds could affect the project, I have learnt that when are producing a film, the creator must obtain the necessary equipment at the earliest opportunity and be very competent with its usage.
I feel that I am coming up with more original and creative ideas, which is good because I can show people something that they haven’t seen before or have seen but in an original way. I have become even more open-minded about thinking outside the box and I think this will be useful to me in the future because people notice originality and different styles, which may get me recognised more. Hopefully, I develop and find my style as I progress after college; I have more of an idea of what that style is, however, I am still unsure.
In the film industry, people skills are very important so I think that this unit has prepared me for situations in the future such as difficult individuals, receiving feedback from people to improve on my project and my understanding of my theme. I think that these aspects will help me in the future because I can use constructive criticism to my advantage and I now know how to work with people who want to be difficult and unreliable using my quick thinking and having a backup plan. Additionally, I think that people skills are crucial because they build connections, strong connection that will assist me and that person in the future for instance, I feel that I created a new bond with the male actor because although I know what he is like and we have had a good connection before, I feel like our connection becomes stronger and I hope to collaborate with him again.
Ultimately, I found this project quite challenging and at a high standard, however, I have put in a lot of effort from the start to finish in order to make the project successful.
Throughout this project I have been able to process a lot of information through primary and secondary research methods and these methods have contributed immensely to my decision-making throughout the filmmaking process. I think that doing the primary and secondary research was much it was more straight forward due to the skills and techniques that I have learnt in previous units, also, I feel that it has built up my confidence and I am assured to talk to people and ask questions regarding this project than I did at the start of unit 9. During primary research, I had received feedback that had assisted me in understanding the themes that I had chosen as well as coming up with an idea that could use to complete the unit. My secondary research method gave me an insightful into the different websites that provided me with new information that helped me at varies stages of the unit. I was able to explore in detail information that primary research couldn’t provide, such as the definition of infatuation and revenge, looking at other people’s working through literature such as Shakespeare and The Bible, film and music.
During the pre-production stage of this project, casting and character description, wasn’t a problem because I knew what I was looking for such as the people, the number of cast members and what they should look and act like. Location and, was simple to do because they were situated in familiar areas that I had identified earlier on. When writing the script was a positive process because I used each piece of feedback productively, making changes and being open minded about the decisions I made to progress. I created a film with a script I was satisfied with and have learnt from. Pre-production also involved a production schedule which involved safety precautions that I had taken before the filming commenced. I understood that doing safety precaution would benefit me and my crew and reducing the risk of injury. These are part of the requirement that I had to address during my decision-making because I learnt that it’s required by health and safety laws.
Even though there were some difficulties that occurred during filming, I was able to turn a negative situation into a positive by using my quick thinking such as having a plan B in place. My decision-making by getting rid of the actors and using the strong connections that I have, for example, friends and family’s support to finish the film successfully. During the editing I encountered a problem, for example, the file got lost, however, I was able to rectify this issue because I had the rough edit of the film on my hard drive to use as a backup rather than start from scratch. I had an issue with sound in the middle of the film such as the wind which was fixed to the best of my ability using the tools installed onto premiere pro, I feel that I had developed a new skill using the software and I am happy with it.
Overall, undertaking this final unit has been very satisfying considering the amount of work that I have put into its production from beginning to end. It has been a highly educational and practical experience for me and will benefit me in the future. In addition, the units that I have done in the college have been immensely useful and has given me so much knowledge, skill and confidence to be able to undertake any similar project in the future with less or no fear.
Stephanie Corr-Amajor 