DepicT! Evaluation

What was the task:

The task we were set was to make a 90 second long short film, with no restrictions on genre or setting, only the set time or under. This gave us creative freedom to choose our own direction and we planned it out from a simple idea on paper to a full on story-boarded and budgeted production.

What was the idea:

The idea of our production was originally a party drug bust by a patrolling police officer,before evolving into the idea of a party policeman answering the call to a party set-up involving out of date food which needed to be contained, and ended with a punch line merging guac (as in guacamole, a party snack) and glock (a standard issue firearm for certain military branches, including police) into Glockamole.

What documentation we completed and my input:

For the documentation we had to complete: Shot list - a shot by shot explanation of the story along with camera angles and shot types; Storyboard - a more detailed shot list with illustrations and dialogue; Budgeting sheet - totals up all costs including travel, props and costumes; Location recces - a sheet outlining a locations suitability for a production as well as basic contact information for the owners; Location release - signed by the head of photography and the location owner to show the production has use of the facilities among other permissions and liability issues; Talent releases - a form signed by an actor ('talent') and the head of photography to show the actor has given permission to be filmed on set; Production schedule - shows what needs to be completed on what day, where its shot and when it needs to be finished by.

Did the finished work reflect the planning?

With a few minor adjustments to locations and certain scenes being changed it was close to the original plans for the production. Our production was delayed because of equipment malfunctions and issues with room availability. these resulted in a few changes, but the work was most definitely in line with what we had originally planned in terms of direction and how it was shot.

What changes we made from the planning:

Due to the aforementioned location changes because of the scheduling issues with the original location, we shot the majority of the first draft in our final location, with some original scenes that needed a reshoot for the final cut of the movie. Another change was that we removed diegetic sound and used post-production to add in subtitles in place of dialogue and background music to convey the tone of some scenes, while acting as an in-scene sound for others. This change was made as we couldn't get the sound equipment working on multiple occasions so opted for a simpler approach.

What was the most successful aspect of the production?

I think the most successful aspect of the production was the shots we took for the film. We used a variety of shot types, with the best ones being a pan shot and a few slider shots. These shots added to their respective scenes quite well, such as the opening of the film following the cop walking towards his destination. The pan shot was also timed quite well so the flow of the film isn't broken.