Depict Evaluation

The task was to create a concept and film for a 90 second short film within a group of 4 people which was based upon the Depict short film competition where a individual or group of people can create a short film within the maximum of 90 seconds.

Originally with my independent concept (which we all made before getting into groups), I made a few concepts that would involve a more animated genre/theme to the short films with one concept being about an object being mischievous to a concept about a mythical creature looking up at constellations and playing about with that idea. The overall concept we decided to go with was a mixture of a few concepts from all of us in the group to create a normal guy is inspired from a professional super to become a superhero themselves but then messes up with every single task he is determined to achieve as a superhero. 

The planning documentation and processes we had to complete was talent releases, for the people appearing in the short film along with the forms varied due to age as if you where 18 or over then you didn't need the permission of a parent or guardian. Risk Assessment for writing down any hazards/risks that could occur to any of the talent during film on which you would understand what to do if it did occur and how to avoid that risk (e.g changing location to a safer, less risky one to changing the prop). Location recces to suggest locations for each of the on-screen locations within the short along with additional info about times we'd be filming at the location to contact information on the location's owner. Location releases are when locations is decided and the owner's/supervisor's of the location have to sign if its suitable to film in. Production schedule was also filled out so the filming process could be planned for what locations at what time of the day to who would be used for those times in order to be organised about the entire production stage of the project. A shot list was made to write down the various shots that would be possibly filmed for the short film, this gave a small concept on timing, the amount of locations, talent and shots and type of shots needed for different scenes. We also done storyboards to draw down a rough concept based from the shot list on how the scene would look like during filming. A prop and equipment list was also made to keep track on what props where going to be used for the project along with who was providing the props/equipment. The amount of input I had was a few as I done the storyboards, the location recces and releases, some of the risk assessment and input within the props and equipment list. 

The finished film overall had some of the planning that we had completed before filming, with some areas such as location changes taking place due to the time of shooting, talent being unavailable, equipment (majority of it being the filming equipment) being inaccessible or the location not having the permission to use due to a location not being suitable for filming.

The changes we made for the project where mainly location choices and some prop changes as due to health and safety as the scene where the superhero jumps off the wall to the floor, the original plan was to throw a dummy off the wall but due to the hazard of shooting the shot of the superhero looking over and standing as the risk of being the talent actually falling off and also with throwing the dummy could hit someone down below. The location was then changed to the front of the college as then we tried to go for a perspective shot where it looked like he was on a wall high up but really he's on a small wall. The location for hospital scene was changed as the medical room was unsuitable to use for a few reason being that it had actual medical equipment inside and if it had to be used for someone else during the time of filming then it wouldn't be good. A few shots where either cut or changed through filming due to timing restrictions, an example of a scene that was cut was the hospital scene as it was originally going to be slightly longer with his sister visiting the unconscious superhero and then punching the doctor and then her walking out for the doctor to then reveal his true identity as Mellow Man within the patient's room.

The most successful aspect of the project was timing of each scene to create a comedic short film within the restricted 90 seconds timing and also the layout of some scenes within shots throughout the short because of the timing of each shot in each scene correlated well for the 90 second goal which overall created the correctly timed comedic tone to the film. The layout of the shots worked nicely to fit with the theme for the short along with type of actions performed in each scene for example, with the can scene, the exaggerated expression of the superhero's face along with the position of the can in front and added music creates the comedic tone of the short which fits the other scenes involving interactions involving the superhero and his hero tasks. Another scene that fits is the practice fighting with the punching bag as the timing of the music and sound effects create the tone fitting to the short.

The thing that I would change is one of the last shots involving the superhero on top of a wall since it had to be re-shot due to the blurriness of the shot and since the re-shoot was on a different day and the scene being outside, the original lighting then changed causing some slight inconsistently with the shot involving the look down shot in the scene however we tried to adjust the hues within the re-shot during editing but due to the brightness of the shot, it didn't fully effect the lighting in the shot after editing. If I had to undertake the task again, then I would've also re-shot the look down shot to therefore match up with the shot before and after the current shot to make it consistent. The original scene was more warm with it's lighting/hue while the re-shoot involved more whiter hues/lighting.

Look down Shot (with original shot lighting)

Re-shoot (with new lighting)

 What I enjoyed most about the project was creating the overall concept for the short film, the shooting some of the shots and editing the short because since the concept for the short was made from different concepts which made it a fun concept to work with the create the finished product. With shooting some of the shots, it was fun to do just because you could see the scenes happening and with editing the short, it was enjoyable to watch/play through each of the filmed shots to see what worked and not for the short (shots being chosen or rejected for either the comedic value of the scene to camera focus being off or overall timings of shots to fit into the 90 second maximum).