Task 4 Post-production: Self-reflection and evaluation:

Discuss your feelings about the post-production and editing task:

• Are you satisfied with the final result?

I am satisfied with my final result, I really tried to improve it as much as possible from the rough edit and I think I achieved that. 

• Did the editing require more/less time than you originally thought?

After the rough edit I thought it required more time but when doing the final edit on final cut, I knew what was going where and when so it didn't take as long as I thought. The soundtrack on the other hand took much longer than I realised. 

• Would like to change any aspects of your final film (scene editing, music, dialogue etc)?

I don’t think so, I feel that is different to my other group members films and the only thing that I may change is the amount of dialogue we had - there were gaps where there could definitely have filled with extra dialogue. 

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

Some angles of the camera could have been better in respect to the rule of thirds and camera stability, other than that I think for our first film I think we did very well. 

Respond to each of the following dot points (using complete sentences or paragraphs). You should include as much detail as possible in your responses.

• Discuss whether your film has turned out the way you pictured it?

It didn't exactly the way I pictured it but I think it is better than the original idea and turned out really well. 

• Describe whether your film clearly depicts the intended style and list some specific editing techniques you have used to achieve this;

We made use of the staircase in the boardroom angling the light through the bannister and also having Tilly’s shadows on the walls with the banister. The use of voiceovers, black and white, flashbacks - over saturated, slow motion when necessary and the background music, I believe was fitting in most areas - maybe not the first flashback.

• Did you have all of the necessary shots to complete your film? 

We didn't originally but we then filmed them and had extra shots as fillers when needed. 

• Would additional footage or reshooting have helped during the editing process?

I don’t think so, I personally didn't need anymore footage, but I'm not sure about the rest of my group. 

• Describe whether your group worked effectively or whether most of the work was left to one or two people;

I feel we all shared the work evenly - at the begging of the assignment we had Katie and she didn't contribute very much but she ended up not being with us anymore.

• Explain whether you used Final Cut Pro X to effectively organise your project (through the use of appropriate clip names, events and projects) and what you could improve for future projects;

I used Final Cut as well as I could, I watched the videos on how to use it so I had a pretty good understanding, I named and organised everything except the shots because I didn't think that was necessary but I previously sorted my shots into folders of good and bad shots and only imported the good shots which made it much easier. 

• Describe any problems or difficulties you encountered during post-production and editing. These may include; technical difficulties, corrupt or missing files, difficulty using the editing software, problems exporting sound or video etc;

Technically I didn't really have any problems, obviously the normal annoyances and being impatient but other than that the only problem I had was one missing voice-over.

• Clarify how you made use of storyboards, shot-lists and the rough-edit during the editing process;

I followed the updated shot list as the storyboard was very basic, it really helped me and I got it done much faster than I thought it would. 

• Discuss whether you made effective use of the EDL and Sound Design templates to support the editing and decision making process;

I didn't use them, as bad as it sounds, I felt like I knew what I wanted to do so I didn't think I needed them.

• Clarify any time-management issues you or your group encountered during the editing process and describe the steps you took to improve in this area;

The only time management problems was we needed one outside of school session to film but it was okay because we used the after school compulsory workshop to finish filming.

Day 12

The last 3 lessons were all spent editing and doing voice overs, it should be finished soon but I'm going to take a laptop home on the weekend just in case.

Day 11

Today was the afternoon session and we finished our filming altogether. We did some editing and wrote our script for the voice overs, we got a lot done.

Day 10

Today we filmed another new scene, this was of the main character (me) say what I did on voice over at the time of the murder but on the screen will be me walking to the murder and leaving it. We didn't get it all in one day and its our last day of filming but we get an afternoon to film so we'll finish it then.

Day 9

We filmed the new opening scene to the film today in sister, theres a room there that was used as the detective (Tilly's) room. We managed to film the whole scene in the lesson and it is looking rely good. It was difficult to film in such a small space and with 5 people in the room, but we managed ok.

Day 8

We started the filming of the new scenes today starting in the board room, its of Tilly as the detective walking down a staircase. We used a lot of lights to go through the stairs banister to create an affective shadow on the walls. We did many different shots so we have many different angles to choose from.

Day 7

Today we watched everyones films and for our first proper film noir film they weren't as bed as Mr Andrews made them out to be. We did get an extension to work on it further and we planed some extra scenes which we will start filming first thing next lesson.

Day 6

We continued editing today and finished, it is just in the time limit. We know we are going to need to film some more but we don't have time as they are due today and we are watching them next lesson.

Filming Day 5

Today we were just filming extra shots that may come in handy and start some editing. Everything is looking good for now the only thing is that we may not be able to meet the time limit. We are reducing the colours so the colour is almost black and white, hopefully it will work.

Filming Day 4

Today we filmed the opening scene to the film, this includes the front door closed then opening to fine Tilly, Ruby and I. We got a lot of filming done today but we also realised that in one of the shots I had my hair up so we had to incorporate a shot of me putting my hair up. We've only had tiny minor problems like that so I'm really happy with how everyone is working together.

Filming Day 3

Today we started filming the first interrogation scene with the main character in it and the detective so it was Tilly and I being filmed. Allie was filming and Ruby was doing the lights, we all work well together as a team and it feels like this is going to be a really good film.

Filming Day 2

We continued with the filming of the previous scene today, it was easy to work with my group because everyone was organised and interested in the filming. As we were filming we were getting lots of shots and we spent the whole lesson finishing that scene, I think we spent to much time on it and we didn't use many of the shots.

Filming Day 1

We decided that the best lighting for us to use was a boom light and a red head, as we were doing a lot of close ups. Today we filmed the scene of the flash back, this made me the main character of what we were filming. We all had our props and costumes ready so we started filming straight away, it was hard to get into it straight away but once we got the hang of it we were able to get a considerable amount of shots done.