Film 6: Director's Reflection

NAME: Josh Allen

DATE: November 29, 2016

FILM: Master w/Coverage

DP: Howie Burbidge

TMA 285 DIRECTOR’S REFLECTION

Reflect on how your film turned out. Have the courage to evaluate your work not only with a self-congratulatory eye, but also with a critical eye. Step back; pretend the film wasn't made by you. Be exacting. Be demanding. Don't let yourself off the hook. Be completely honest about your performance.

- Turn in a hard copy of this statement the next class session after your film screens

- Upload the statement to Learning Suite the day after your film screens

- Post this to your blog with your film the day after your film screens

Overall response (2-3 paragraphs):

In 2-3 paragraphs, write an overall response to your film: Were you successful at achieving what you set out to achieve? What are you proud of? What would you do differently if you could remake this piece? What did you learn? 

            This was a fun film to make.  I don’t think I was completely successful with what I set out to achieve because a lot of things went wrong.  I didn’t really achieve the look I wanted with the location or the actors.  However, I am very happy with the way the scene turned out considering all of the problems that I had.  I think it looks nice (Howie did a great job!).  I’m proud of the way the shots are set up.

           If I could remake this piece, I probably would have filmed it somewhere else.  Also, maybe I would try different actors to get a different look for the scene, even though they did a good job.  I learned that it is really hard to make a short film over a holiday break.  I also learned that you have to improvise the shooting schedule when your actors aren’t memorized!

Briefly answer the following:

What, specifically, did you want to communicate? Were you successful? Why? Why not?  I wanted to communicate the difficulty of a relationship.  Honesty is a difficult thing, and I wanted to show that.  I personally think I was successful because I showed Melanie fidgeting when she admitted that she had lied.

How, specifically, did you try to say this? What visual elements, techniques, etc. did you use? I tried to use lines to create some tension.  I also tried to have my actors show some discomfort in the situation.

What did you learn about storytelling: I learned that you can find really unique ways to tell a story!  You can set up some really cool shots that help tell stories in fun ways.

Working with actors and getting performance:  Working with actors is really fun!  There are ways to get around when an actor is not memorized, so that was cool.

Blocking — camera and actors: Cheating is such a wonderful thing.  In order to get the blocking I wanted, I had to cheat a few things, and I think it worked well.

Visuals — composition, framing, visual elements: One of my favorite shots in this is when the camera is down the stairs looking up at Melanie and Mitch.  This shot had so many cool lines.  Lines can do a lot for a piece.

Design & Art Direction: Actors will not always wear the colors that you told them to.  So that’s a difficult thing.  Also, sometimes it is hard to control a location.  I didn’t like the fire extinguishers, and I wish they weren’t there.

The Production Process — collaboration with crew, the logistics of making this piece: Working with Howie was really great.  He takes direction really well.  It was too bad that Spencer wasn’t able to make it, but I was able to get some good sound (I think)!

                  

What was it like to watch your film with an audience? Did they understand it? Miss the point? Why did they respond the way they did?  I enjoyed watching this film with the rest of the class.  I think that they did understand that point behind it: sometimes misunderstandings can create unhappy feelings in a relationship. 

Other observations: