Project Evaluation

Our production process began on 23rd February when we agreed upon our roles and selected the group we would like to work in, Initially I wanted to direct my own project, but reconsidered due to the importance of the role, I did not feel I had the capacity to do this at this time;  instead I opted to edit, as editing is one of my strongest skills. After hearing each of the directors short film pitches I volunteered to edit for 'Call me by your name' which was being directed by Stella and produced by Ella. I really liked the vision had for the project and felt it was something I could fulfil.

Due to the nature of my role, my biggest contribution to the project would come after production concludes, however I also took on the role of lighting, as I thought this would aid my crew in production and also allow me to challenge myself with another area of production. 

After pitching our idea with our treatment, the planning for production began, Stella was very clear with the vision she wanted to deliver so from the beginning we planned how we would shoot and edit the film. 

Unfortunately we had some issues with casting, after not much response from our Mandy ad and no traction from my post on Kent film makers, Stella made the decision to act alongside our actor in the production, I do think this set back her ability to direct the production but she did well despite this and assisted to the best of her capacity, but in hindsight I think I should have volunteered to act in order for her to focus solely on directing. 

The director and producer had got permission for us to film in Mote Park in Maidstone from 9am to 5pm, I did initially think that having only this one day to film and within that time window may cause obstacles but thought that we could try and pull it off. I arrived to the location just before 9, on arrival of where was originally meant to be our shoot location, we were met with a man driving a miniature boat on the water, after asking the man when he would be done in this area, he responded not until 12pm, this was our first obstacle as a group as this meant we had to find a new location within Mote Park to film; one that would fit the directors vision for the production, but most importantly, not cause interference with sound like the boat issue was. Whilst looking for a new location I spotted this tree that curved over, it appeared to be in a more secluded spot, I proposed the idea of filming there as the tree would further symbolise this feeling of entrapment wanted by the director, along with the aspect ratio in post production. 

After setting up the first location we were ready to shoot, as editor I was very aware of the importance of scene takes needed for post production so I vocalised this to the director and producer that I would like the scene takes to be clear, unfortunately we were also unable to obtain a clapper for our shoot so I knew that I would be very dependant on the scene takes in post. This started effectively,  but after several scene takes and a long day unfortunately this became inconsistent which caused difficulties for me down the line. 

The first half of the day went well, I feel like as a group we took our time making sure we had enough good takes and angles of each shot, I feel like at this point of the shoot we were collaborating and communicating well, Ella and I assisted Lilli with shot choices, Ty helped Jo with the sound and focused on production design.  

After lunch is when we started to face some issues within the production;  Firstly, we were racing against time with the light, it was getting colder as the sun was going down and so shots taken towards the end of the day therefore were darker, and the LED panels we booked were not assisting this, also the park began to get busier as children finished school so we faced further issues with sound and we also had the issue of needing to wrap filming before 5pm within our conditions from Mote Park, this left the final scenes to be rushed, therefore we did not get enough takes needed. 

After wrapping filming Lilli and I took the equiptment back to the base room, I imported the video and audio files, after briefly sifting through these I noticed that there was no camera audio on any of the files, this instantly made me feel deflated and overwhelmed because I knew the task I had ahead of me. Going through these files is also when I discovered the inconsistency with scene takes, it started off well with visuals I could match the boom audio to, but as the takes went on the scene number and takes got muddled and to add more of an obstacle, the scene take visuals stopped being used. After seeing how overwhelmed by this I was, Lilli sat with me and helped me by labelling the sound files whilst I labelled the video ones, In hopes that this would help me match them up easier. 

 

Initially, this brought a resolution to my issue, but after adding the clips onto the timeline to start working on the rough cut, I found that some of the clips would sync at the start of the clip but not the end, making the editing process more frustrating. After having this issue I decided to message our director Stella, she suggested a solution to this issue, she would sync up all the clips she could, and send them to me to cut together. Once Stella had done this it alleviated that pressure instantly, the task felt less overwhelming and I was able to get something together to make a rough cut for the showings on 18th April. 

After the rough cut reviews, the feedback of the edit was well received, my group and the director were happy with how I had cut it together, the colour grading and the aspect ratio, but there was still things to finalise before the deadline and showings on 26th April. I needed to colour correct the final scenes of the film, like earlier mentioned, we started to lose light in the later part of the production day which effected the exposure of the shots, it was also in post production that I noticed a purple effect on these final takes, after discussion with our tutors we believe this could have been the ND filter being turned on by mistake during filming. Another issue faced with these scenes was the lack of scene takes and continuity, when cutting from shots, I struggled to line up the actors actions and mannerisms with the previous take, meaning that I was able to make less choice in shot changes within these final scenes, further to this, the transition from the scenes filmed before lunch and after lunch was inconsistent, as the actors walked in alternating directions. This resulted in the ending looking rushed and inconsistent. Despite these issues, Stella was happy with the dark colouring later in the film as it fit her vision and helped shape the change of tone in the scene later in the film. 

In conclusion, there were many obstacles faced with this production and I feel it isn't my strongest work, but considering the issues faced, I am however proud of what I produced, Ultimately, my group were all happy with the end product which is the most important thing. In hindsight I would have been more pressing on the importance of the camera sound and need of consistent scene takes, after learning how vital these factors were in post production. Another issue I think could have helped was only having one filming day, if we had another day to shoot we could have taken the time needed to get enough types of shots. Lastly, despite some of the crew doing a location recee a week before production, I think next time we shoot we may need to go to the location a few times to get a feel for the environment and avoid any issues like we had with the man with the boat.