Depict Evaluation

What was the task?

The task was to create a ninety second movie for the Depict.org short film competition, held annually. Depict is an organization that has been uncovering and showcasing filmmaking for over twenty years. Watching some Depict winning short films briskly wetted our filmmaking appetites. With Depict as a driving force behind the project at hand, we got to work, the £2500 first place prize money seemed very handsome, and more importantly, the valuable industry exposure. But every film, ninety seconds or three hours long, needs pre production, thus we immediately got to work on our roles within the team (who's doing what?) . With all this taken into consideration, we needed an idea, or at least some groundwork for our movie.

What was the idea?

Watching the first prize movies of the Depict competition made us wonder and question the sheer magnitude of ideas we could go with. Around the time of our entry in the competition, spooky season was upon us, thus it only seemed appropriate  to do a Halloween themed short film. When you think of All Hallows Eve blockbusters, blood splatter slashers and creepy cabin in the woods suspense films no doubt pop into your mind, however we took a different route. The massively successful 'Scary movie' franchise seemed like a perfectly fitting, light hearted solution to a short horror flick. So that was the bare bones, a scary movie like horror parody flick, now for pre production.

What planning documentation / processes did you have to complete and how much input did you have? did you 'pull your weight?'

Planning and documentation seemed like a chore in my head, however on this occasion I was wrong. The pre production documents were a joy to fill out, this is mainly fuelled by the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow (Production). In any case, each document was a step forward, and thus made them all the more rewarding to fill out. The minutes was by far the most important document, as it helped us keep track of changes and progressions within the production, we all contributed to minutes thus making it a vital document to refer back to. Budgeting is something that in reality sounds like a nasty piece of work, but in reality fairly straight forward to work out, this is helped by the fact that our movie required one prop, a Dominos Pizza. Microsoft Publisher was a program I never would have touched, however pre production made me friendly with the program, and also learn how to use it. We all contributed to budgeting by adding our own thoughts on what props should be bought, this made us grow closer as a team as we all could agree on how our movie would look financially. Our production schedule was also a vital part of our pre production documentation, as it kept us in order and ensured we always knew when our next filming date was, which helped us keep organised and aware. The production schedule had no drawbacks and was a major help. Risk assessments sound majorly boring, but in reality they helped us allot and ensured everyone on set were safe, trip hazards dealt with and the crew feeling comfortable to proceed. I had allot of input to the risk assessment as i wanted to ensure everyone around me were happy and in sae hands.

Did your finished work reflect the planning you had completed?

In my opinion yes, the movie thoroughly exceeded our expectations. In the planning stage, we wanted to aim for a comedic fast paced flick, full of action and never a dull moment, and i think we one hundred percent did that, especially highlighting the fact that all three of us edited the film, so we could all contribute some of our magic into it, this is something i would not change next time around, as it worked very well and gave us each a break to concentrate on other aspects of post production. The filming and shot by shot sequences also went exactly as planned, this is where having a storyboard certainly helped us follow through with every scene and execute is as planned in pre production.  Every word in the script was said, and i think that is merit to our amazing skills when it came to execution of the project.

What changes did you make from your planning and why?

Improvisation and editing are two things that really affected our movie, in a good way of course. In post production we found sound effects that superbly complimented the style we were going for in our flick, for example the "wazzaaap" sound effect, we did not have the vocal skills to replicate it, and even tho it was in the script, we used a sound effect on the internet. This change was a change that ultimately improved the quality o our film. Another change that we made was to put a title card at the beginning of our film, this was something never in the original script, however we added it due to the sense it made in relation to context of our film. Ultimately any changes we made were not detrimental to the overall quality and outcome of our film.

What did you think was the most successful aspect of your project?

I think that my project was ultimately successful in many ways, however I think that this shot is a prime example of why i think the project was successful

The crack in the mask elucidates that the man behind the mask is just a normal clumsy killer, just like the killer in the film 'scream', which our movie was based upon. The fact you can see the killer's skin indicates that his identity is something taken not as seriously as most horror films, which perfectly encapsulates what we were going for.

This shot again encapsulates what I think was successful about our project. The stereotypical shot of a victim being killed, with the comedy overlay adds to the sense of comedy which we were going for.

What would you change or do differently if you undertook the project again?

Although I think my project was successful I do believe that there were a couple things I would change upon a second attempt, for example

 Although I really liked this shot, I think that the fact we could see the killer opposed to the movie 'scream' where the killer was originally anonymous kills the tension immediately when we wanted some kind of tension to keep the audience engaged.

Aside from the fact that this film was intended to be a comedy, a good base level of acting is always a good thing to have in any production, unfortunately our actor was not feeling her best on the day and therefore the production suffered.

What did you enjoy most about the project?

The thing I enjoyed most about the project was how our original idea and pre production came to fruition, everything we planned and brain stormed we made a reality, which is a really satisfying feeling and a clear indication that we were on task and efficient with our pre production. If things did not go to plan, it would suggest that our head and heart were not in it when making this movie.