Self- reflection and evaluation:

Year 11 Film, Television and New Media Teaser Trailer Production – Term 01 Mr. Andrews

Teaser Trailer Task 11.1: Self-reflection and evaluation:

Please answer each question using complete sentences, including as much detail as possible.

Discuss your feelings about the production task: Please explain your responses:

·      Did you enjoy creating your Teaser Trailer?

I enjoyed creating the teaser trailer; at times it was hard to relay a story to an audience without showing the main character or dialogue but this also was also interesting, as I had to find other ways instead of using words. Other than that it was fun creating your own character and making them do whatever you wanted as you we had control over everything from the planning of the character to the final production.

·      Are you satisfied with the final result?

I am happy with the final result as most of it came out the way I wanted it to. It would have looked much better if I was able to use a moving image of parliament house as the still didn’t look very good which was why it didn’t make it into the final film, it would have probably looked better but wasn’t crucial as there was the news reporters at the beginning. The starting scenes of the news reports look good and they set the scene for the whole trailer because without them you would have no idea who the character is and what they’re doing.

·      Did your Trailer turn out as you had pictured it in your mind?

I had an idea of a trailer that maybe was a bit faster and intense but this was difficult as I didn’t need to include more shots and there wasn’t much more I could add that wasn’t just filler shots to make it faster. I couldn’t make them faster either because the trailer was already pushing the time limit.

·      Would like to change or improve any aspects of your final trailer (storyline, shots, editing etc.)?

I would love to change the shot of the flag, only because you can see the building and trees in the background, this could be because I am aware it’s there as I haven’t shown anyone that doesn’t know it’s there to see if my theory is correct. I believe it would look better if it was taken from a low angle and the flag in the sky was shown but this could potentially have been over exposed and ruined the shot completely.

·      If you could start the project again, what would you do differently?

If I could start again I would have been more organised at the beginning, not in terms of shot lists or planning but just organizing to borrow a camera and lighting earlier before I needed them. I had all of my character profile, shot list and storyboards finished quite early which allowed me time to work out exactly what I wanted to do. I left hiring out to the last minute and this meant I had to use a camera from last year and the yellow workshop lights which didn’t look very good because my shots needed to be bright, white with a blue tinge which the soft boxes allow. Even though you are able to edit the effects of the lighting afterwards in final cut pro it is easier and usually looks better if you do it the right way in the beginning.  If I was more prepared I would have been able to hand in a more satisfactory rough edit which would have been beneficial as I would have received more feedback as it would have been closer the final edit.

As this task focused on mise-en-scene and cinematography, describe:

·      How you used specific elements of mise-en-scene to depict your film’s genre and enhance the narrative?

I used lighting, style of acting and props and costumes. Lighting was the most important mise-en-scene element in the trailer as the use of cold and harsh lighting depicts that the character is cold or doing something wrong. Style of acting and props and costumes worked together as there was never a shot until the end where you saw the whole character so mainly you only saw the character in the jacket – showing importance or a business type person which worked well with the documents that were being signed. Without these elements the trailer would not have worked well and no one would be able to understand what it’s about or why they are doing it. 

·      How you used specific shot types to convey the storyline without dialogue?

The shots of the flag, singing documents and shaking hands shows that the character is important and is in a business field. I used dialogue at the beginning of the trailer as this set the whole scene and made the flag shot easier to understand. My storyline was a bit tricky to convey just through silent shots so I felt this few seconds at the beginning were necessary.

·      Whether the intended genre is depicted clearly, or if this could be improved?

The genre for the trailer is a mix of action/drama; this is conveyed by the use of fast shots, the fades to black and music that is used. If I was to do it again I could have possibly made it clearer in the shots by using shots of his potentially losing his job or something that concluded the storyline instead of it just being gender based with the result of the character being a woman.

Reflecting upon your completed task, respond to the following points:

·      How did other people respond to your rough-edit? Did you use their feedback to make changes to the film?

The feedback was extremely helpful as this allowed me to know that the music I was using was appropriate because everyone said they liked it, the storyline was clear enough but needed to be clearer for an audience as they weren’t entirely sure what I was trying to convey. This could have also been because I was missing several shots including the news reporters at the beginning.

·      Did you plan and prepare effectively? (i.e did you use storyboards, shot lists etc )

The shot lists and story boards were helpful because when I started filming I knew exactly what I was going to, after my feedback I decided that I needed to add them as I was going to need to add a few more shots to make the film more engaging. I found that by using the character profile it was a lot easier to understand my character, which also made it more fun to make as I was creating something and someone.

·      Did production require more or less time than you thought? Why?

Production was not an issue as I really enjoyed doing it so I didn’t find it tedious or tiring because I liked what I was doing. It didn’t’ take as long as I thought it would, this was probably because I was prepared with my shot lists and storyboards so this allowed me to work through it quite quickly. I only needed to use two 1-hour blocks after school to get all the shots of my main character and about 5-10 minutes for the two news reporters.

·      Were there any problems or difficulties during filming and how did this affect your project. (Difficulties may include; shooting, technical, time-management, teamwork, absences or editing etc.);

The only issues that I encountered during the assignment was the first time I tried to hire out the lights and the camera I wasn’t prepared because I didn’t email early enough which meant that I had to use a different camera and set of lights. This only affected my rough edit as I filmed majority of the shots again and they ended up looking much better because of the soft box.

·      Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection to support your work? (Review your blog and consider how frequently and detailed your posts were);

I wrote on my blog a lot throughout the process of the assignment, I discussed how I changed shots on the shot list and the reasoning behind that and majority of my feedback. I could’ve been more detailed with adding in my issues about how I needed to be more organised. Next practical assessment I will be able to include any troubles I experience along the way. Overall I enjoyed this assessment as it allowed me to create whatever character I wanted and make them come to life through a trailer.