Evaluation - Pre-Production

My initial planning 

Location Scouting - for this part of pre-production, we had to find places to shoot for our short films and get any permissions we needed to be allowed to film on the site. I decided to ask my dad if I could film on the second floor of his office building.

The reason we had to find external locations to film so we weren't just filming on college premises as we would be gaining experience and knowledge of what working in the media industry is like for filming in multiple places. I chose my dads office building because I knew that there was an empty room on the second floor tat was big enough for my filming and had a look that I was going for.

I would say that my location was about 50/50 because I had to get the permission to be allowed to film in the room but, one of the minor problems with the room we filmed in, was the echoing because the room was quite big which made the sound echo. If given another chance, I would try and soundproof a large room to prevent echoes which would allow the sound quality to be massively improved.

Script - my script was one of the longest parts of my pre-production because I had to think of an entire story, as well as characters and to try and write it in a way so that each scene ran smoothly and transitioned smoothly into the next scene. This was one of the hardest parts because I spent a while actually trying to think of a basic story line and how to expand on it and add more detail.

I had to write a script for this project, because without a script this project would not work as the script is one of the most crucial parts of pre-production because without a script, there is no story and without a story the project cannot work because then the entire finished project, would be a mess and a bunch of shots and dialogue that make no sense.

Personally, I would say that my script was quite successful because it gave me a basic story to expand on and create all of these characters with some kind of backstory and with the story coming together I feel like the script runs quite smoothly in each scene and the transitions between the scenes. In the future I would potentially change certain parts of the story and try and be a bit more creative with certain area's of the film to try and make it a bit more enjoyable.

Risk Assessment - for the risk assessment, we had to locate and decide all of the risks that could occur on and off camera in our filming environment, for example if we were filming near a road, the risk is someone falling onto the road and possibly being ran over.

We had to do this to make sure that everybody involved in our short films were working in a safe environment and were working safely so that they did not hurt themselves or others involved. The hoped outcome, was to be able to identify all possible risks both in front and behind the camera to prevent everyone involved in my short film was working in a safe environment. This is important because if the risks are not identified, then everyone involved could have been at risk of hurting themselves or others around them.

My risk assessment was very successful because, nobody was injured in the production process because I alerted everyone involved of potential risks and where all of the fire escapes are etc. This led to everyone working safely to help complete my short film shooting.

Contract - the point of the contract was to provide evidence that we were allowed to film at a certain location on an agreed time, this had to be agreed upon by the employer and myself to say that we both agree to the terms on the contract. We had to do this as provides real life experience for what it's like in the media industry to get permissions to film in locations and times. This also increased our confidence because we had to get in contact with the employers ourselves and arrange to meet them to get the contracts signed.

The outcome for this was show evidence that we could get permissions off companies and any other organizations for our short films on our own and to prove that we could reach out beyond our comfort zones to do this. It was important to do this so that we were not just filming in or around college and that we tried to branch ourselves out to show that we could show that we could get in contact with different companies etc.

My contract was very successful because I was able to get in contact with an employer from my dads company and was able to arrange for me to film in the available space they had on the second floor of their office building. As far as I am aware, there were no problems with the contract because I was successful in getting the permission I needed to film my short movie.

Music Reference - the music reference was a sheet we had to fill in about the songs we used in our movies and we had to put the hyperlink to the music that we got either from YouTube or another source of music. This was also done so that the specific video by using the hyperlinks that I provided on my music sheet, it can also be used to prevent copyright as people who see the sheet can see that I have given some form of credit to the video publisher.

We were tasked with doing this to show that we could find music for our films and present credit to the original video owner to prevent any copyright. This is also to gain some real experience because if we weren't using copyright free music this will show that we can give credit. This was important because it can show that we could find our own sources of music.

I would say that my music referencing was successful as I did not get my video flagged for using copyrighted music because I did not just give the hyperlink to the music video, I also linked the channel in the description which also prevented my music from being a problem for my short film.

Storyboard - the purpose of the storyboard, was to plan how we wanted each scene to be set up before we began filming, it also helps with deciding on where each person involved in each frame should be positioned and it also helps with deciding on what type of shot each frame should be and where to position the camera for each frame. The hoped outcome, was to make sure that every shot in my film was set up to make my final product look as professional and organised as we can make it. It is important to have a storyboard because without a storyboard, then during filming you would not be very organised and the cast and camera location could go wrong and ruin the overall product.

My storyboard was successful because during the days of my filming, we did not have to waste time arguing about where to place the camera and where each character needed to stand because I knew where each character was supposed to be so I told everyone where to stand to save a lot of time.

Budgeting - if we were using a lot of props, we had to find a low end budget for props that we could potentially afford. We did this to see if we could manage to finish our film on a low budget and with low end props of our choosing, the budgeting also included any equipment that we decided to use for the production phase of our project. My goal was to be able to film my entire project without spending any money and using mostly my own equipment, the only piece of equipment I did not have was a camera which I borrowed from college. It was important because because it provided evidence to see if we could work on a limited budget to complete our film and work with what we had to be able to complete our film.

I would say that my short film was quite successful with not having a budget because it saved time as I did not have to wait for anything to be delivered or pick stuff up, the only part I had to do was acquire a camera from the college technicians so overall I would say that I manged very well with not having an actual budget to use.

Equipment - for the equipment, we had to plan out what equipment we were planning on using from a camera to any props that we were planning on using. We had to do this so that we could plan and decide on what equipment we needed to use and take with us to complete the production phase of this project. This was important because we had to know what equipment and props we wanted to use before we began to film and planning our equipment made this easier.

This was successful for my short film, because while I was writing the script I had an idea of what equipment and props I wanted to use to make my film as professional as I could and the props and equipment also helped when it came to the filming phase of this project.


Codes and Conventions - for this part of my pre-production, I had research into the genres that I am aiming to make my film fall into, in this case Sci-Fi and Thriller so I had to see what makes these genres the way that they are. E.g. pace, colours, lighting camera shots etc. We had to do this so that we knew exactly what had to be a part of the films too make sure that we knew what specifically goes into these genres and that we can bring them into our own films to make them more professional.

I feel like in the future I could do further research into the genres I am doing so that I could make more decisions about what traits from the genres I want to bring into my film to make them even more professional and add a bit more of a challenge for myself, which includes filming shots and even in my editing.

Cast and Crew -  For this, we had to decide upon who we wanted to play the characters in our films as well as if we needed any extras and people to help with filming and setting up each scene and shot to help make the filming process even easier for everyone involved in the project on the day of filming. We had to do this so that so that we could decide on who we think would be the best choice to portray any character in our films and if our films were too big, we might have needed help with filming and directing etc. so this was helpful because it also got everyone out of their comfort zone as they might have been asked to be in front of the camera even if they aren't a fan of being in front of the camera, it was a good way to build confidence with everyone involved.

I think this went quite well, as everyone involved in my film are good friends and I even agreed that with everyone who helped with my film, I would help them with their films either in front or behind the camera ti help them complete their films for this project. I also tried to make each character based off of the people who played them personality wise because it would take them just outside of their comfort zone but not enough to not feel like themselves or feel uncomfortable with what they were doing.