Evaluation
This evaluation will examine the process of the making of the short film ‘Megan’, tracing the development of the project. As the only person in the third year cohort of the Moving Image Production Degree at the University Centre, Doncaster, I therefore had to manage every stage of production. This involved utilizing a number of contacts that were not intimately involved in studying film production, militating against a collaborative approach to the production of the film. This was militated to some extent by the advice my tutors could give which was well received and helped shape the project. However, sourcing and coordinating a diverse ‘work’ force who were not enrolled in the course did place restrictions on the process, due to time constraints imposed by their other commitments, as well as placing a burden, both physically and financial on myself as Producer. Having another permanent member of a production team on board from start to finish, somebody who was as invested as I was and wanted to make the best film possible would have ameliorated this. This individual responsibility for originating a story, developing a screenplay and identifying locations was time consuming; sourcing and directing actors and supervising technical processes such as sound recording and filming added a further dimension to the tasks imposed upon me. Given these issues, the aim in making this film was to make a professional looking film and this was generally successful, although the production process did involve some compromises and given more time and resources, it would have been useful to revisit parts of the process to adapt the project in the light of this evaluation. However, this exercise has given me an insight to the process of completing work in the professional business of film making; a process of balancing resources against aspirations, making decisions which will ensure the completion of the project even if it entails compromises that moves the finished film from the ideal.
As stated previously, ‘Megan’ was designed to be an ambitious project; the scripting process reflected this aim. The main challenge was to do things in a different way and essentially reworking genre conventions. The ideas I developed were from the: superhero, dystopian and post apocalypse genres. Out of the three, I settled on the post apocalypse idea, but I feel the selection process could have been quicker. The other two ideas were also feasible as they would only be set in one or two locations, although there were potential problems narratively and logistically. The superhero idea for example would have need an iconic looking superhero outfit, which would have been hard to source or create without professional input. The idea could have eventually worked however if it was adapted slightly, i.e. the main protagonist wasn’t a superhero, rather something more feasible. Additionally, setting the short almost entirely in an office space or other restricted location may have dramatically decreased the film’s visual interest.
The same can be said for the dystopia idea, setting it entirely in one room could in turn create visual boredom. As well as this, finding a suitable looking room would be difficult and may have required extensive dressing of the set. If a room wasn’t found the film would have had extensive green screen shots in it. Without the skills pre existing with green screen and compositing this would have placed an untenable burden on time constraints and it is likely the film’s overall look would have deteriorated.
The process of examining the feasibility of these ideas and settling with the post apocalypse idea took two months. These months could have been used to develop the screenplay; this restricted the amount of time the project was in pre production. If I had settled on the idea in the first few weeks of September in turn I would have had more time in which to attract people to act or to be crew in this film. However, given the initial aim, which was to challenge my abilities, it could not be said that this time was wasted. The shortage of additional crew restricted how ‘big’ the film was. With costume designers and set dressers and makeup artists for example, a more believable film world could have been created. Instead, I was able to utilise the skills of those involved in the production (including myself), even if those people had not had access to formal training.
The writing of the screenplay for Megan was completed in January, leaving only several weeks until the shoot had to take place. This meant things had to progress at an accelerated pace. The casting process for example could have lasted for several more months. If that had occurred there would have time to select from a larger range of actors, have multiple auditions and have additional rehearsals before the shoot took place. These time constraints meant that the filming process involved active direction from myself at a fairly fundamental level. More time on costume, especially those used for the post apocalypse sections would have also helped tremendously. Making them look more old and torn would have made the transition from pre to post apocalypse more noticeable for the audience. The costume the lead actor wears for example looks too clean especially because he has meant to have worn it for five years. Aging the costumes was constrained by the filming schedule which was dictated by the availability of filming locations; shooting out of sequence mirrored industry practice but having a costume crewmember on board would have helped with the transitions between the phases and helped with continuity.
It could be argued that the script itself was too ambitious, requiring several locations, many more than the other options examined that centred around one or two. This film would be hard to complete with a normal crew, but on my own, this would take both more energy and time to pull off successfully. Managing all aspects of the film making process, the review process was inevitably restricted opening up the prospect that, mistakes would undoubtedly be made. Perhaps, if I had reduced the script to two of three locations this would have improved the logistics, but would it have decreased the visual impact of the film? One such location was only used briefly in the film for example had an overgrown bunker in it. This could have taken out and shooting at the site involved an inordinate amount of effort, but on screen this looks very unique and, it helps make the film visually distinctive.
The casting process could have been improved. As well as casting over a long period of time, I could also have advertised my film through more casting websites (I only put the film on two casting websites) and other means, i.e. through local theatres, University Centre Doncaster and acting groups. This would have meant I had a greater range of actors to choose from for each role. In the end the actors who applied for roles on the casting call pro didn’t turn up to the audition so they did not actively want the parts offered, but still, it would have left options open to me. Dean Sills is a local actor who proved invaluable at sourcing a range of actors to be involved in the filming process. Dean is an actor I have worked with before who last worked with me on my short film The Railway Carriage (successfully accepted into five film festivals to date). He enjoyed working on the film and obtained paid work as a result (they often ask him to have the ‘Railway Carriage’ look!). He was keen to work with me again and recruited a number of other actors who had both seen the film and heard of its success. Dean was instrumental in getting other actors on board for Megan and also helped me in a logistical way as well. As already stated however this reliance on Dean could have been costly to the whole production of the film. Had he fallen ill, or hadn’t been able to commit to the film I probably would not have been able to get the necessary actors in time for the first shoot. The cast was diverse and recruited from a wide-ranging geographical area, including Bradford and Buxton as well as across South Yorkshire. There was also a greater ethnic, gender and age balance than might have been the case. Perhaps I should have placed multiple counter measures in place in case these actors had not been available, including alternate actors or less ambitious versions of the Megan screenplay. It does demonstrate the industry norm of prior success attracting support, with The Railway Carriage encouraging this diverse involvement from a wide range of people.
The same can be said in the crew selection process. I put the film on several crew websites and liaised with people I have worked with before. Despite the numerous people I talked to, only one person could be relied upon on a regular basis. A former student, with whom I had worked with on a previous film in my first year film ‘Guardians’, took on the role of location sound recordist. He did a good job and I was able to rely on him to record decent sound on this project. He also helped in the postproduction stage of that film as well. I managed to get two other people for the shooting stage of the production, each only there for one day. The first had little experience being on a crew, and frequently questioned my methods. Explaining my rationale for decisions meant that in effect, I was acting as a mentor to this individual, which slowed the project down. Although a worthwhile activity, this mentoring was difficult to fit into the shooting schedule. The other crewmember had a great deal of experience and had shot several short films, and even feature length films. The footage he filmed that day was very unsteady, almost unusable; indeed this is the most difficult part of the film to integrate into the finished product. Since on this day I was focusing on other aspects of the production process, I made an assumption that the cameraman would produce what I had explained was necessary. Throughout the filming he shot everything handheld, although assuring me of the quality of the filming process. Ensuring that he shot everything on tripod, as the rest of the film is shot this important scene could have been filmed better. However, this ‘cinema verite’ hand held filming could have worked. Unfortunately, restrictions on the use of the location and actors commitments meant it could not be reshot and therefore had to be integrated into the film. Having one consistent crewmember is not easy when completing so large a project in which there were several locations and shooting days. I therefore had to focus hard on getting good dependable crew members who could complete non-specialist tasks who were available on an ad hoc basis.
Having described the problems with staffing that occurred during the shooting process, it is important to remember the positive aspects of filming with what was in effect, a skeleton crew. We managed to film on eight shoots at several locations and at times I filmed shoots by myself. In this situation problems and mistakes may undoubtedly occur but it undoubtedly developed my directorial and logistical skills. In my last film for example I had barely any knowledge of recording sound. Now on one of the shoots of Megan I recorded the sound. Perhaps with more time in which to shoot the film it may have been even more of a personal project.
The first shoot was meant to be shot in a house, a car and a club. An unavoidable delay meant that we couldn’t shoot the club scene. This was a problem because the main character had to look the same for all the scenes we were meant to shoot that day. He had to have stubble for the rest of the shoots; this meant we would have to wait until the other shoots had occurred before filming the club scene. Continuity was thus a major issue.
The second shoot was at Bawtry Paintball and Laser Fields. Like the first shoot this shoot ran into problems because we ran out of time, this meant we only shot three scenes out of the six we had planned to shoot that day. This is because the owners of the site had taken a commercial booking at the last moment. We could therefore only start shooting at 1pm and when the site closed at 4:30pm, it meant we were behind schedule.
The third shoot at Norton Lightwood Under 17’s driving area went well. However there was nobody from the organization on the site to welcome us. They did know we were filming that day and frequent emails were sent before and after the shoot, adding to an already overburdened workload.
Problems arose with the fourth shoot at Milton Mausoleum, because the sound recordist on my crew (the only other major crew member) could not make the shoot that day. I managed to get somebody to help, but the footage shot that day was a little too shaky.
Again the sound crewmember could not make the fifth shoot at Burringham, and I could not get anybody else on site, which meant I had to shoot and record everything myself.
The sixth at the Tickhill Institute Allotments shoot went well to begin with, the sound crewmember could make the shoot and we had shot the majority of what we had to shoot that day. One scene was meant to be set beside a fire. A thunderstorm intervened which meant we had to wait for over two hours until we could start filming again. At one point I even considered calling the shoot off. This meant the shoot lasted from 11 until 6:30, instead of a few hours it was meant to take.
The next shoot, wasn’t really a shoot, rather it was a recording session for the voice-overs that was going to be used in the film. The actor got so lost trying to get to the recording studio that we had to cancel the session, resulting in the production of the film taking longer. This reduced the time available for editing the film.
The seventh shoot was back at the same site as the second shoot, filming the rest of the scenes we missed that day. The sound crewmember could not make that shoot, but the site owners had a laser tag group on the area we were filming in which made a lot of noise. This means we had to scout around them, and more importantly the majority of the scenes we shot that day would have to have its sound re done in post. This highlights the problems of filming without the financial resources to hire exclusive access to a location.
Finally the last shoot took place at Tickhill Institute. Problems arose because the actors required that day were late, having had problems with transport issues, so much so we only had forty minutes in which shoot the necessary scenes. Close up shots were thus out of the question.
A lot of the problems that arose from these shoots were difficult to anticipate and out of my control. The most obvious one would be the thunderstorm that delayed a shoot by several hours; some however could have been picked up by me prior to the shoot. The first two shoots for example were planned with shooting twelve scenes in mind, which are half the scenes of the complete film. This is a little ambitious to do in two days, and that is why it was impossible to reach that mark due to lack of time. If I had spread out these scenes, into blocks of four scenes each day, we could have managed to shoot in a less frantic pace. In the end this is what we had to do anyway, the initial six shooting days increased to eight, but if I had planned this shooting model before the shooting stage started, I would have had peace of mind because I would not have felt I had to rush things to try and fit six scenes in on the first and second shooting days. As already stated, some of the shoot crewmembers slowed down the shooting process. If I had done some research on them before the shoot they helped on, I would have had a better understanding of their professionalism and skills set. I would have been able to understand the level of directorial management I would have to use when working with them.
The sound aspect of the crew, those who were involved in the production after the shoots, were very reliable; their roles were based solely at University Centre Doncaster. Colin Bradley helped at the recording session in which we recorded the sections of the film in which the voiced public announcer would be present. The session went very well; despite that it took several attempts for the actor to deliver her lines the way I required.
The sound designing aspect should have been put into place quicker. This is because a designer needs a great deal of time add another dimension to the film, i.e. adding a greater sense of atmosphere to film through the layering of sound. My last short film ‘The Railway Carriage’ for example became or memorable due to the use of sound design. After several weeks searching for one, I settled on the designer who had worked on my last film. This decision was made a month before the hand in date. This is a tricky schedule because the sound designer has to work within the same work frame as ‘The Railway Carriage’, but do twice the work because of the new films length. I did have the confidence that the designer would be able to do it as he had done such a great job on ‘The Railway Carriage’, but I should have given him more time, at least two months instead of one to do the work. This is not just because of the length of Megan, but also due to the other elements included in the sound mix which were not present in ‘The Railway Carriage’. There are several score elements for example and a great deal of locations that need individual room tones associated with them.
The composer who scored the pieces for the film was a very positive aspect to the film. I had used Paul Hynes work before on several projects and he had always been reliable and delivered cinematic sounding work. This factor was something I didn’t have to worry about. As well as this, I managed to get back in contact with the composer who had worked on my first year film ‘Guardians’, Alistair J Pearson. He couldn’t actually score anything new for the film, but he said I could use his pre-existing work for Megan. This is good because I kept up a good relationship with a composer who might do work for me in the future. It also adds a contrast to the score developed by Hynes (originally Pearson’s work was intended for the post apocalypse sections to add a musical contrast to the pre scenes in the film). In the end the sound designer did not use any of Pearson’s work in his mix, but the fact that I was able to get in contact and persuade the musician to use his work illustrates how my collaborative relationship with Pearson could continue with future projects. This factor of the production was thus very positive and productive. However it might have been better for the sound designer if the two composers had been on board earlier than they actually did. If this had occurred the designer would have started work with the score already in place. The composer was creating work in the middle of the sound design process and thus this probably created more work for the designer who had to somehow work these newly created score pieces into the sound mix.
In conclusion, the main challenges presented by this project derive from the narrow time window I had to make this film, coupled with the fact that I had to manage the majority of the production on my own. The problems that occurred could have been solved if counter measures had been put in place prior to the main shoot, but even if this had occurred the majority of the problems on shoot derived from unforeseen factors; the thunderstorm for example. As well as this it should be stated that on some shoots I worked completely in a solo manner; this had an impact on quality control. Perhaps if I had extended the number of shoots, instead of trying to get as much filmed as possible in a short amount of hours, the film could have turned out differently, I could have concentrated on varying the shots for example.
That said I was able to get crew and actors outside of University Centre Doncaster and film at a wide range of locations for free. This film was more ambitious than my film last year in terms of the number of locations even though I only had the same amount of people to help me as last year. I therefore have developed the skills to be able to shoot over a longer period, directed numerous actors and film at a larger amount of locations than I have ever done previously. This can be shown by the fact that people who have seen the film have been very positive about it and believe it is very professional looking. Finally, they are surprised by the locations we were able to film in, justifying the energy and time that this entailed.
