REFLECTION LOGS
12/11/2021
This week I started researching media stimuli to help garner inspiration for my project. To do this, I created a media log listing all the media I consumed that week, listed the themes it explored and analysed how it connected to the YMTU theme. Along with that, I also listed media that I have watched or read in the past and explored how I could link them to the theme of YMTU. After my research, I analysed the target audiences of each media outlet and found that young adult/adult is the audience that was mostly interested in those pieces of media. This research really helped me develop a final idea for my project and has made me think about what I should be ready to include in my media to appeal to a specific target audience. It has made me more confident in what I should aim to achieve to make a successful media piece on family. If I were to do this again, I would do more research on types of audiences to have a clearer idea of who I am aiming to target my work towards. research psychographics and use more theorists to understand my audience better so that I can appeal to a specific audience successfully. Next week, I will work on starting my pitch and including as much information and details about the finalised idea I have to persuade the panel that I have thoroughly researched and thought about my short film and that I am ready to continue with my idea.
19/11/2021
This week I worked on making my pitch deck. I watched videos to make sure I included essential information to persuade my teachers that I have thoroughly developed and researched my idea and that I know what I want to achieve from my short film. I also researched and explained the steps I would go through in order to appeal to my target audience. To be successful my pitch deck had to include the artistic direction I was going for and the synopsis/outline of my short film. I also had to justify my decisions (such as my choice of distribution) to prove that they would help deliver my intended message, appeal to my target audience and that they would guarantee access. If I were to do this again, I would include slides explaining my cast and the locations I would hope to film at to prove that I have thought about every aspect of my production process. Next week, I will be presenting my finished pitch deck to my teachers to share my concept and research with them.
26/11/2021
This week I finished my pitch deck and presented my idea. To present successfully, I needed to keep eye contact with the audience, have a clear voice, have good pacing and be confident in what I was saying. I used my skills of public speaking to deliver my pitch deck the best that I could, although there are many aspects of my delivery that I could have improved on. If I were to do this again, I would be louder in my speech and project my voice to show my confidence. I would also keep eye contact with who I am presenting to instead of looking at the screen to show my preparation and confidence. To improve on these skills, I will ask for detailed feedback on what areas to improve on and research helpful advice to improve on my public speaking.
I have begun making my pre-production documents and will work on finishing them this week to begin filming next week. The documents that I am hoping to complete are a shot list, a location recce and a risk assessment document as they are relevant to my project and needed to make a successful short film.
03/12/2021
This week I completed my pre-production documents to get ready for filming. I completed a shot list, talent release agreements, a location recce and a risk assessment. I outlined every scene I plan on shooting next week and noted the risks that may come with filming in my location.
Before I started filming, I researched the conventions of a short film to make sure I successfully fulfil every convention. I watched over the short film I analysed for my media stimuli to see what made it different to a mainstream film and I also used a diagram I found to help highlight the conventions to know specifically what needed to be fulfilled.
Later this week, I also began filming. With some of my shots being outside, a challenge I faced when filming was the sky getting darker earlier. Because of this, I aimed to film in the morning when possible to take advantage of the good lighting. Another challenge I will face is getting my actors to translate my shot list to real life. As a director, I had to be very careful with the details and orders I gave for every shot to bring my vision to life.
10/12/2021
This week I began my post production process. I watched over my footage and sorted what footage would be viable to use in my movie from the footage I didn’t need because it didn't add to the short film or didn’t look good. During my editing process I also realised that some of the shots didn’t look good or weren’t in focus. I may look into reshooting some scenes so that I get the best looking and consistent scenes. Another problem I encountered was continuity. The lighting in some scenes were different and the costume sometimes wasn't consistent which made it difficult to keep continuity but by adding certain lighting effects and editing efficiently I was able to ensure continuity in the scenes.
I had to learn how to do many new things with premiere pro such as adding text, editing audio and adding effects. To learn more about premiere pro I watched tutorials and asked for help to learn things such as keyboard shortcuts to ensure my editing process went smoothly.
17/12/2021 - 14/01/2022 (Holidays)
This week I continued editing my short film. I had completed the first couple of minutes and sent it to a small sample audience for feedback to know how I should continue and what I could improve on moving forward. During the holidays, I wrote the scripts for the voice overs and I sent the script to the actors. I received more recordings of the voiceovers I needed which allowed me to continue my editing process.
I will continue to edit my short film for the next couple of weeks and will be searching for suitable background music to set the mood and control what I want the audience to feel. I will need to source the music and make sure it is copyright free. Once I have my rough draft, I will send it to the same sample audience and ask for feedback to see how I can improve on my final cut.
21/01/2022
This week I sent my rough cut to my teachers for feedback on how to improve and how to continue for a successful product. The feedback I received for my editing was to make it tighter and engaging so as to not bore the audience with long, uninteresting shots. To make them interesting, I should aim to include different shots of the same activity from different angles to make something as mundane as driving engaging and interesting. I will use this feedback to improve what I already have and I will keep the feedback in mind as I go forward with the rest of my editing process.
By the end of the week I aim to have the final product finished and sent out to my target audience for more feedback so I can begin to write my evaluation. Along with the short film, I will send out a feedback questionnaire to guide my audience into giving the necessary feedback I need to write a reflective, thorough evaluation.
