Final evaluation
I wanted to have a look at different uses for cameras than simply just filming something, and I thought the idea of a “Live” TV show that goes horribly wrong was an interesting use of the space in the TV studio. This is something I wanted for the film from the start of the project and to finally be in that room and working out the different ways I could use the cameras was really interesting.
Of course, with any production comes difficulties. The biggest one I faced was not being able to get into the TV Studio until the last week of filming. I definitely was very panicked and felt everything falling apart, however I was given the option to film in the LIFE Centre. I was 100% prepared to do this until I got told that I could get into the TV studio in Bradford College which was a wave of relief over my shoulders. I much preferred filming it within college mainly because of how the scenes were written for that exact set up in the TV Studio, so it only made sense. Also because of how accessible it was for me and Azan to get to.
I also struggled with not being able to get Ali in the TV Studio to record, which really changed a few big moments in the film which then had to be scrapped. For example, when Dexter begins to go off script Ali was supposed to burst in to the producers room and ask Azan if they should “cut the feed” which I think would’ve made the film not only feel more realistic but also added more content to the film which would’ve made it better to watch. To get around this, I simply just cut his lines from the film and had to cut some dialogue, which was a shame however at this point we were just relieved that we could film in the TV studio I wasn’t really too upset that I had to cut parts of film, I was more just relieved the film was happening.
When we began to film, we were under a little bit of a time frame that we could actually film for and with the length of the scenes we had to get a lot of it done as efficiently as possible. I think this strained the script and the performance itself as I felt I had to get it completed as quick as possible, but from feedback I’ve received it wasn’t as noticeable as I believe it was. I think both me and Azan were very focused and productive during filming, going through scenes in very few takes and really cracking through each piece of dialogue easily. We did also film our scenes separately, which I think did actually add quite a large bit of time on. However, I think this was definitely much easier, especially from my point of view as the director, as I could direct myself and the cameras from shooting my scenes and then when filming Azan’s scenes I was sat right next to him so I could give him different notes and ask him to repeat lines in different ways much easier.
I think in conclusion this whole experience of not only the filming aspect but the writing and making various graphics was really interesting to play around with and made me a lot more confident with my abilities as a film maker. The project as a whole from the research to the editing I believe really helped me improve my skills from a wide array of things, especially the writing aspect that I rather struggled with.
Peer Assessment
I feel like this feedback in general is very positive. The feedback is from Azan, Shumona and Hannah and doesn’t have anything in the “What could have been improved” which is slightly disappointing as I would love to have some criticism on the film, however I am still very happy with this feedback and that they enjoyed the film.
I confirm that the attached assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.