3FT152 Fiction Production Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 Criteria and Context Exercise This exercise is to help you prepare

your evaluation of your film, and feed into your considerations for you vivas and your Report. In looking at another film from an objective perspective, judging it against the criteria and context for which you made your film, it should give an insight into how your Tutors may consider the merits of your film. Remember that the criteria statements relate to one another. In the same way that we consider all the aesthetic elements of a film creating meaning, the film, and indeed our overall appraisal and arriving at a mark is in considering all the component parts together. Watch the film Signs via the link http://www.filmsshort.com/genre/Romantic-Short-Films1.html#Signs (assume the filmmakers have had the same brief and resources). You might also want to look at Post-it Love as a contrasting film. Fill in the following sections, explaining why and how youve come to certain judgements: Short Description of the Film type (genre), potential audience appeal and initial impression Initial mark: Structure: is it logical to the premise of the story/concept, does the motivation make sense in terms of how one moment leads on to another? The structure underlines the protagonists motivations, we used devices like nonlinear flashbacks to provide meaning for the whiskey bottle and the father son's relationship. This was reinforced through recurring iconography of blood on the hands and the washing away of the substance. the juxtaposition we used in the structure helps communicate the influences the father had on Desmond, allowing the audience to understand the subjective nature of the film. Style and Tone: are aesthetics consistent to the style, is the style consistent with the tone, is the style appropriate to the story/concept. The content of the film is gritty but we didn't want to go down the conventional realist film route, in terms of the aesthetic style. We wanted the film to be cinematic to fit the module critirea and to allow us to be creatively ambitious in terms of our production roles. Albeit, we wanted the film to be stylistically dark and hyper dramatic to fit the tone and context of the film. The style was continually consistent with the tone through the music, editing and pacing of the film, this was especially relevant for the auction sequence. Collaboration: has the film utilised all the areas of the medium to full and appropriate advantage, have the different aesthetic areas worked creatively together, is it evident that all areas of production have participated and worked together, across the module it is seen there is full attendance and engagement (active development and contribution, initiative taken). We fully attended production meetings and developed an understanding of the hierarchy of roles. The producer maintained the organisation of the crew, whilst the films tone was initially a collaborative effort. The director re-drafted the script and conceived a vision, he then aided the crew visual material and helpful referential templates. This communicated ideas and intention toward the creative process, the rest of the crew then went their separate ways and developed their own ideas for the film, in terms of their personal job roles, through research. Throughout the pre production process, we would regularly have group meetings to bring these ideas together in order for the rest of the crew to have an input to ensure all of the aesthetic aspects would all be communicating the same ideas.

Ambition: is the scope of the project challenging e.g. in its subject matter, its exploration of form, the complexities of delivering a particular genre, stretching the boundaries of style, technical aptitude etc. From the early pre-production and screenplay conception, the ideas and confirmed scenes for our film such as the original element of a heist/stick up, the setting of two periods including modern day mid to low level crime and the 80s Yorkshire countryside, and highly stylised violence and unsettling imagery enabled us to identify that this project was ambitious from the start. A lot of consideration was put on cinematography and sound design to compliment some of the higher concept scenes within the narrative, exasperating all possible lighting kit and gels to achieve an aesthetic and grade within the shoot so that our untouched footage was as close to possible visually as our final graded cut. Days were spent capturing the appropriate foley and weeks were scheduled to focus on the various pieces of musical score that went back and forth between our three composers and director.

Economy: has the film expressed ideas effectively, efficiently, imaginatively and resourcefully according to the scope of the project i.e. time to film and edit, length of film, numbers of crew, genre, budget, locations, actors etc. in relation to the aspects outlined in the Project Proposals. We originally planned on having the film centred around the heist scene and making this the main subject matter of the film in terms of structure. Because of our restrictions in terms of time and budget we made the decision to simplify the story and focus more on the character development and the relationship between father and son. This in turn allowed us to be much more cinematic in an effective way and therefore comply with the modules expectations. There are some elements that in reflection we feel have not come across as we intended for example the fact that the name Desmond wasn't mentioned during the film can take meaning away from the title and it wasn't clear to some audience members what the relevance of the name Desmond was. The story didn't come across as we first intended, another reason being that Desmond's intentions are not clear and the underlying elements triggering him to commit these crimes are not expressed as effectively as we would have liked. We also feel that it is unclear why Desmond only takes his anger out on Archie and not Lennie. We filmed more footage than we needed which meant a lot had to be cut in the edit, ultimately changing the reception of the story. Presentation and Delivery: meets deadlines professionally, clear with appropriate timing and execution, demonstrates technical expertise, shows attention to detail, exhibits insight of the medium We organised our shooting schedule giving us enough time for contingency dates, this however was made difficult with our actors personal schedules changing at the last minute and forcing us to cancel shoots. There was some evident miscommunication between the crew in charge of collecting and returning the equipment and the producer who handled to dates and times of rentals, causing us to return some important pieces of equipment later than scheduled and also contributed to us not gaining access to some of the kit we would have intended to utilise including the polecam and more days with the steadicam.

Reception: mode of delivery is appreciative of the potential audiences, research and understanding of medium, We structured the story to fit a short film time limit of ten minutes. We recognised that audiences expect an experimental approach to style and content when regarding short film as there is a lesser amount of time to deal with. This meant we involved in depth character developments, so as throughout the time the audience could daily decipher characteristics; We took lots of inspiration from 70s Brit grit cinema and some more experimental European cinema, this marginalised our audience to people who would appreciate high concepts and nostalgia. However, we understood the purpose of the cinematic fiction module was to create something cinematic so we made a conscious effort to not become too indulgent and experimental during the post-production. Ethics: sensitive to issues of representation, evident in the process and delivery of safe and inclusive working practices, with understanding of how these may affect all participants (crew and other contributors i.e. actors), and in turn how they influence the execution of the film. The films focus's heavily on the subject matter of slaughter and violence, it is sensitive with the issues of abuse and hunting hegonomy. We considered these issues responsibly by using effecting meaning behind the cruelty on screen. Also, for the scene in which a child tears a pheasants head off, we used a scale double so that our young child actor did not have to endure this experience. We took into consideration that this would be unethical and inappropriate to expect from an actor of his age. In reflection we should have had a disclaimer on this film just to make audiences aware that there may be scenes that they may find uncomfortable. Originality: is the approach or subject matter challenging i.e. has it stretched the boundaries of the medium, is it experimental either in narrative, form or technical execution, are ideas developed enough to avoid clich and stereotypes, if conventions are used are they subverted? The film is post modern in terms of the idea of the exhaustion of art, because the director wanted the film to be referential to severals films like 'Bullhead' (2011), 'Trance' (2013) and 'A Field In England' (2013) ect. The crew members recreated similar aesthetic approaches but developed their own creative ideas , therefore making the film intertextual. The films avoids conventions by delving into the psychology of the often overlooked muscle type henchman character the crime film genre, taking a more subjective approach that communicates deeper values of the human condition, i.e matriarche, masculinity and redemption. Having now judged it against the criteria and your knowledge of the constraints of filmmaking: What final mark would you award this film? Final Mark: Has the mark changed? Sum up why you have come to that decision about the film? Ahead of the vivas and in preparation for the Report, repeat this exercise again, but this time with your own film.