Post 11 - Targets

Overall the short film was a success, and we will probably work together in the main task seeing as we worked well together. However I feel that there is always room for improvement and so have set myself targets that I would like to reach within the main task, I will use the SMART principle to make myself targets for the next task.

S-Specific
I need to be specific in what I want to achieve in the next task. For example 'What exactly do I want to achieve in the next task?'. So in answer to that I want to be able to make the opening of an action film, complete with opening titles. I want to be able to continue to co-operate with my group mates, just as I did in the first task. I also want to develop an understanding about opening titles and the openings of films.

M-Measurable
I want to be at certain points in the course at certain times, for example 'What do I want to achieve in a week?' In reply to this I want to make as much progress as possible in a week, with my two week timetable I calculate that I have 5 lessons over 2 to work on my blog, whilst the other 4 are allocated to the exam preparation. And so I would like to make considerable progress in each of these, by this I mean do a practice exam question every week, as well as trying to do as much blog work in and outside of my lessons.

A-Achievable
I need to make achievable targets thats can be completed fairly easily, but not too easy because thats not much of a challenge. I would like to achieve a B grade overal in media, trying to get in the top two bands for both the exam and the coursework. Personally I do not think that achieving a B grade is out of the question, I think that it is achievable. To achieve this target I will need to remain focused throughout the main task and work to the best of my ability.

R-Realistic
I too need to be realistic about what I want to achieve in this main task, For example 'What would be seen as a 'sucess' in the main task?'. In reply to this I have already accepted that my opening sequence may not be the best as I have very little/no experience in making opening sequences, but I would like to make a fairly decent opening sequence with my group members.

T-Time-Bound
I need to think about 'How long it will take to do all of the pre-production, filming, and post-production?'. And so in answer to that I think that this should all be done by the start of May at the latest. This all needs to be done by them to allow time for preparation for the exam. We should start the filming segment of the main task by the end of January.

Post 10 - Evaluation of skills developed

Below is a link to our final preliminary film, I have linked it because the youtube video icon does not appear to be able to locate our film.

Click here to see our preliminary film 'Sugar Rush'!

I think that overall the preliminary task has been a success for our group, we have all developed  and enhanced various new skills during the preliminary task.

Technical skills
When it comes to filming, all of it is pretty much hands on. All of us in our group were fairly good with technology before the preliminary task began and that is probably why we found it rather easy. Charlie took charge of the camera as he had previously had experiences with handling cameras similar to the one used in the preliminary task. So he found it fairly easy to maneuver and navigate the camera as well as the tripod.

Creative skills
Before we began filming we all sat around and brainstormed our group ideas on some paper, with four minds at work who all get along together it is fairly easy to brainstorm good and efficient ideas. We all popped in with good ideas and we all had an equal input into what the short film would be like.

Personal skills
I have usually always been good at working in a team and so a task like this preliminary has merely improved my communication skills a little, I usually like to take the lead and give out orders without seeming too bossy, but the people in my group seemed to look at me for guidance because I did the subject as a GCSE and have always had a passion for Media studies.

My personal work
I feel over the course of the preliminary task I have worked well but could have worked a little faster and more efficiently, I usually have a good work ethic to get things done, but to be honest I feel I have slacked a little in the preliminary task. I will look to improve my work ethic for the main task.

Pre-production
I felt that pre-production went well, we all took on different roles to get pre-production finished. I took on mainly the script as I have had previous experiences of script writing in the past and I wanted to improve on my skills of creating a storyline and putting it onto a page.

Production
I felt that production went well, not great however. I felt our overall team communication was good and this helped up

Post 9 - Post-Production

This has been done on our domain computer at school.

Post 8 - Production Report

Report of  'Sugar Rush' production
How did the shoot go?
After our pre-production material was complete we set out with our filming equipment, shot lists, storyboard and our scripts. We took the items mentioned because they were essential for making a successful short film, the filming equipment was used because the camera was used to shoot the short film, the tripod was used to hold the camera in its designated place, and also the camera bag was used to carry spare tapes/batteries just in case they ran out whilst filming, the shot list and storyboard came in handy because we could get the most accurate shot sizes from our storyboard onto our camera by having them aside, and finally the script was needed because our two actors may have needed to quickly look over their lines/directions for the particular shot/scene. We were now ready to start, and after a second to set up we were able to film. Every time the shot changed we stopped filming so that we could edit them together later, and after every shot we captured our two actors would quickly look over their lines/Directions (if they had any) just to refresh themselves. Our two actors very rarely had to do this so it made the filming process much quicker than anticipated, it still took a while to film however because we had to do a few re-takes for a few shots because someone in the shot may have done something they were not supposed to do.

What problems do you encountered?

We had a fairly successful shoot, but on a few occasions we experienced a few problems, for example on a few occasions we would need to re-shoot a shot because something unexpected occurred, for example a person unexpectedly walking into our shot, or one of our actors messing up their lines slightly, or we just had to re-shoot a shot because we felt that we could do better than the last take. However a problem that did occur that we only realized after filming and during editing, once Danny answers his phone whilst filming the wind actually blocks the words that come out of his mouth at one point. 

How did you overcome the problems?

We overcame the problems mentioned by merely shooting the affected shot again. And in reply to the wind problem we did not realize this until editing, and so we just decided to leave it and make sure that this does not happen again.

How well did you work as a team?

I thought that we performed very well as a team. Before the task had started we got into groups and brainstormed, after this we assigned group roles. I was the script writer and director for the film, Charlie was the camera man and main editor (even though we all participated in editing our film), Ben was our actor and Danny was our other actor. Once it got to the actual filming stage we communicated well to create the short film, I took control of the storyboard and script and so I directed the two actors and told them what they should be doing and what they should be saying. 

Post 7 - Additional Pre-Production Information

Above are the technical and location recce for our group, we had to take pictures of our settings for the location recce and we had to consider some major points in the technical recce before filming, such as the lighting situation (we did not need any lights on due to the fact that we would be filming in daylight), we also had to consider whether the temporary classroom we intended to shoot in would be available to film in at our time of asking, the good thing for us was that we gave plenty of notice to the rooms main owner and so we were able to film as scheduled. We too had to consider the weather for the day of filming, we checked several weather forecasts before shooting and we made sure that there would be no cause for concern due to bad weather on the potential day of filming. I made the location and technical recce whilst the other group members performed various other pre-production roles.

Above is the Mise-en-scene description for our group, for this we had to consider the five main components of mise-en-scene before filming, just to see what components we had to consider. Ben made the mise-en-scene description for the group.

Above is the prop list and group roles, pretty much self explanatory it shows the props needed to film and what roles we all took up within the group. I made the prop list and group role document. 

Above is the shooting schedule, made by Danny and Charlie.