Directions: Critical Evaluation

Directions: Critical Evaluation:

As the final part of my Directions unit i am tasked with writing an overall critical evaluation of my proect. Assessing each area of the unit, what worked, what didn't and wjhat I would change in future. 

I will start with the planning and prep for my project. Before embarking on this project I went through a large amount of research and planning. I first had to pick a director, I knew from the start that I wanted to pick a film director over television, I initially looked at the work of Lars Von Trier, and although I eventually secided against his work as it's unique style would just be too hard to emulate, he still proved a valubal influence on my project. 

I soon decided on Alfread Hitchcock's "Vertigo". having watched the film multiple times throughout the project (to gain the greatest understanding possible) I can say that I am happy with the film I chose. There were a great deal of options when it came to picking my scene and I was initially adised against the first scene, which was a step in the right direction since my new scenes allowed for equal if not greater balance of dialouge (performance) and action (blcoking). 

Translating the scene in to a screenplay was easy enough although I still encountered a few formatting issues (which is something I need to refine for future projects). I then began the planning stage, I put togetehr a detailed shot list of where all my equipment would be when and it also detailed the blocking that would happen on screen. This proved to be very useful and successful in blocking my scene, however in future I would also compile a prop list so that I know what I would need to dress a scene with before hand as I found myself having to improvise on the day of the shoot. 

Casting and location proved to be the most stressful part of the project. Although I put my add out quite early I think in future i should put it out at the very start of the project so that it has enough time to gain atention. Also I would have contacted even more local actors directly and compiled a short list as this would have saved a lot of time and stress. Finding a location was also something I needed to do much earlier as I found it dificult to get a location in time for my shoot (since many had already booked events on my shooting days which i could have prevented had I put in an aplication earlier). I would also have contacted the Kent Film Office Directly to help them find me a location that looked the part. Since one of my locations was suitible however the other required more dressing than I anticipated and I should have been more prepared.

However I made sure to maintain constant contact with my actors helping them build an authentic costume and character profile. I also made sure to scout out my locations before I started shooting so that I already had an idea of how I could block around the space available, which came in handy and allowed me toi film quicker and more efficiently.

When it came to teh actual filming I was quite successful. Thanks to my detailed shot list and planning, foward thinking and pre scouting the location, I was able to make the most use of my filming space. I stuck to my shot list but alos found myself getting bursts of inspiration from something my crew or actor suggested. I was able to film ahead of schedual, i did end up using all three days due to some trouble my actors had with lines (but apart from that I worked very successfully with my actors). The one thing I would change is I would have used my third day more productivley. instead of just finishing my scene I would have re filmed other parts to make absoloutly certain I had enough coveradge as I found myself missing a few reverse shots and close ups.

I put in a great deal of resaerch in to directing styles. I was able to bring out the most in my equipment experimenting with different lighting and camera angles. I took influence from other directors like Lars Von Trier as well as taking tips from shows like "Inside No.9" which make the most of a location space. I was able to create a successful emulation of Alfread Hitchcock with some of my own stlye thrown in (perhaps a little too much in some areas).

The editing proccess was where I felt the most at home and had a great deal of success in temrs of visual and audible style. Thanks to my shotlist I was able to put most of my shots together with excelet continuity and most of the problems I encountered I was able to overcome through manipulating my shots and applying visual effects. I was able to acheive much better sound design than my previouse unit thanks to my close focus on Hitchcocks work and taking inspiration from some of the TV shows I studdied. Following Steeve Finns advice closely I made sure to have a buzztrack palying at all times in the background so that an atmosphere is always present. this also helped when I had to cut out, over dubb or add in other bits of pholey sound. I made sure to enhance backgound noise and ound effects using the volume mixers and adding in aditional sound effects (which i put filters on in audacity before hand to ensure they would fit with the film) and always made sure my scene was correctly framed occasionally adjustments had to be made. Going hand held meant I had a few shots that were shakey and raw, which although fits the style of the Hitchcock period, distracts audiences slightly and there was only so much I was technically capable of when it came to stableizing theese shots (however I did have some success).

One problem I encountered however after i had finished filming, highlighted a slight flaw in my directing. In my bursts of inspiration I found myslef missing a few shots on my shotlist, and I ended up not quite having as much coverage as i thought I did. Meaning some reverse shots or close up's were missing and I am forced to cut in to a wide shot or a pan (which although is great for re establishing the space doesn't quite fit Hitchcocks vission). I also found myself breaking the 180 degree rule on ocasion, however I was able to work around this with the blocking of my scene directing the actors to walk across the camera and establishing a new spce which is more bending the rules than breaking them (which is something Hitchcock is renowned for). Similarly I found that I sometimes had continuity issues when a coat bag or chair would get caught in the edge of a shot, but thanks to some clever re framing I was mistly able to eliminate this. Thanks to my long traul to find a successful soundtrack I was able to use rhythmic editing techniques that matched the pace and atmosphere of my scene and fitted with actors actions. I was able to create a truly mysteriouse scene that generated suspense (especially with what I chose to show in frame, and what I chose to hide) and matched Hitchcocks stlye with my own twists thrown in.

Overall I was quite successful with my palnning, and editing. But certain parts in the middle could be improved. For example I needed to pay mre attention to dressing my scene as certain wide shots reveal to much of the spcae and slighltly lessen the emmersion. I need to work on set design and dressing for my next unit. I also had one or two issues with mising reverse shots so I need to schedual my time slightly more effectively next time in order to get the most coverage possible, so that i dont't run in to problems in the edit.