Critical Evaluation

I have thoroughly enjoyed this module as I was thinking about going in to Art Directing in my third year and now after building a set and designing, plus doing other relevant work, it has boosted my confidence to go in to this specialism.

For my personal project I created a Post Apocalyptic horror/ drama /Fantasy piece. Post Apocalyptic films are my favorite genre and I write a lot of stories in my spare time on this genre and so I wanted to bring one of those alive to an audience.

The inspiration for my piece came from various sources. Firstly, The Road (McCarthy, C 2009) was a major contributor as the visuals of this film are captivating and out of this world. In my head the setting for my piece was the setting of The Road. Another Inspiration derived from the game Bioshock (Hellquist, P 2007) for the basis of my character. In this game the main character, Jack, is able to gather ADAM, a liquid extracted from slugs deep below the sea, which allows a person to inhabit powers of various damage. My character Coban has the power to emit electricity out of his fingers, which allows him to survive. Another game that inspired me is Fallout 3  (Pagliarulo E, 2008) this game is set in the future in a dystopia setting, the character must survive harsh environments, monsters and cults. The idea for the zombies and radiation sickness came from this. Even though I used these as background inspirations my idea was solely my own and I created events and location from my own imagination.   

From the feedback I was given, I was asked to create a small synopsis about the background of this world as the audiences are immediately put straight in to the sequence. With this I created a small synopsis and cut out all of the dialogue to make it flow and I believe this helped quite considerably.

I like my sequence and think it’s quite imaginative but I think a lot of people may not grasp it, I believe I added too many elements that make it quite confusing and too big for a 500-word proposal. If I was to create my piece again I think I would keep to the same genre but instead of introducing powers and zombies, just keep it simple and focus on one mans journey through an apocalyptic world where he faces various perils connected to this setting. This way I can build up the character so audiences would have an understanding of him. It would also give me room to introduce the apocalyptic world and be more creative and imaginative with this setting.

As my idea is rather bewildering I found it difficult to think about what SFX and VFX should be used. However, this allowed me to do a lot of in-depth research. I envisaged that the scene would take place on a location containing an old abandoned building in a secluded location. Or the set could be built piece by piece but this would be costly and very time consuming.                                                     Props would have to be created or found matching the genre, such as a destroyed car, litter, skeleton remains, broken house ware etc. The scene would have to involve a lot of green screening to get the look of the background such as collapsed buildings and smoke, this would be added in post. The fire effects in the background would also have to be made outside of the set then applied in postproduction. The electricity coming from Cobans fingers would be made in Adobe After Effects using motion tracking dots so its easier for the editors to track where the electricity should be coming from, the scene where he emits the electricity would be put in to After Effects and then the electricity would be aligned the light and shadow would be added so the electricity didn’t look cheesy.

Makeup would be used heavily especially on the wandering dead, blood pouches would be used when the dead are hit so blood spurts out, these are generally easy to make and not too costly.

Another use of VFX would be when one of the characters gets thrown off of the building. The use of rigs and pulleys would have to be used to mirror the exact movement, a stunt double would have to be rigged up and then thrown backwards on to a safety mat.

In the group exercise we were tasked to think of ideas involving the un-canny that can be incorporated in to a 5-minute scene. We all worked together to pool ideas and think about which ones were more feasible to create than others.

In my group we came up with the idea that the character would float from a bed then walking over to a mantelpiece where a doppelganger of him is stood. The character would then knock this miniature version of him off of the mantelpiece and then squash him with the book. The character would then move over to a door where smoke would be produced from the keyhole. 

I came up with the idea of squishing the character with a book then blood pumping out of its pages. In my 300-word proposal I had an event where blood runs from the walls. Also, a humanoid is dragging itself along the floor clawing to get to the female character. 

Both of these elements were incorporated in to the film, which I was pleased about.

In terms of participating with the set I helped wallpaper the walls, I also painted the flats and stapled various materials and objects to the walls to give it the look we wanted.                                                                                                                                           On a separate day I assigned myself as Prop controller. Most of the group was busy with their tasks so I set about finding some props and assigning what should be used and what shouldn’t. Some of the props were damaged so I tried fixing these the best I could. I also created two mannequins using the material and props that were available.  I enjoyed this very much, I like searching and connecting the items to the genre of the film. This made me think about Art Directing even further.

Overall I would say that the workshops I attended were very vital and inspiring. I have never built a set before and it was good practice getting to know what would be used and the proper procedures that have to be in place. I was a bit dismayed that the set room was so small and is the only room for university use. I would like to have seen more flats available and a wide range of props we could us. I didn’t think it was fair that our tutor had to supply us with the equipment.

The woodwork tutorial was also very inspiring as it allowed us to see what was on offer to us incase we ever want to create something, for example we created a join for a flat to make it secure. The tutor showed us the procedure to creating this and how to properly use the tools. It was essential to come along to this because now I am enrolled within the workshop so I can use it to my benefit whenever I want.

When it came to filming the piece I was the first Director. It was good practice because people had to listen to me and I was to instruct them if I wanted something changing. I told Paul (the actor) where to look and what facial expressions he should practice to which he complied. I also told the cinematographer whether I thought the shot was too zoomed in or wasn’t centered enough. It was also good to look at the through the camera so little things could be changed to make it look appropriate. In this role I felt confident and enjoyed taking part.    After this I also took part as AD (Assistant Director). I didn’t understand at first what this person was supposed to say or do but our Tutor gave us a briefing. The AD is to check that all the cast and crew on set are all ready and in their positions making sure everyone is quiet on set just before filming starts. This role was quite easy but I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about this as I was with the Directing role but it was all good practice. In this session I also learnt a few camera techniques and the use of lighting and colour matching from the cinematography group, which was an added bonus.

Overall, I think the piece was a success. We didn’t have a lot of time to perfect everything but what we did do was very creative and educational. I learnt that framing and using lighting is very essential and shouldn’t be a speedy job. I mostly enjoyed decorating the set and trying to make sure that anything that looked shabby or out of place was made perfect. This piece made me learn how time is crucial and to make something perfect things can’t be rushed and a lot of planning and talking should take place before hand.

As a group I think we worked perfectly. We set up a group page and shared our ideas; everyone had their input as to what they wanted to see on the set whilst others agreed to bring in some items that could be used to match the theme.

If I were to outline the negatives I would say if we had more time we could have neatened up the set quiet a lot. Some of the paint was missing and the wallpaper was very lumpy. I also thought that we were limited with the amount of materials to use, such as the Lino which only covered a portion of the bed, the part that was missing had to be covered up by something else which didn’t look brilliant.

I also thought that the second scene where the character witnesses a monster shaking side to side was too rushed and a lot of it didn’t come across as I first envisage. However, we achieved what we wanted to achieve and even though it was rushed I certainly learnt a lot about creating effects and using green screen. It was also good to use the programs Adobe After Effects and MAYA to create some of the more intricate effects. I struggled with MAYA but I tried my best and have an idea what it’s used for.

In this subject I feel my strengths are being able to work coherently within a large group. We all listened to each other and took turns creating the set so we all had an equal part. I have also learnt quite a considerable amount that I feel confident to achieve now if I ever needed to create a prop or visual effect for a piece of work. I feel I have improved on my writing skills compared to the first pitch I created, I believe this module has taught me to think outside the box a lot more in terms of looking at varied artists outside my knowledge that could inspire my work, but also how to create effects with a low budget. I think my blog is also a major strength as I've outlined and detailed every weeks worth of work. I have looked in to and expressed my opinions on the artists given to us to research but some of them I didn't find interesting so I replaced these with artists that I find inspiring.

Things I think I need to improve on is being confident more whilst being in a large group, some members seemed to take control and it took other students to tell them, I thought I should have raised this concern to begin with rather than sit back.  I would have also liked to create my own version of the finished work on Adobe After Effects and MAYA, but I wasn’t consistent with my time managing and things were getting stressful at the end of university. I also think I should have had more faith in the proposals and tried to create something that was feasible but interesting, even working outside of my interests to see if I could have created something new, rather than safe guarding myself keeping to the same genre. All of this has been a learning curve for me and I defiantly feel more knowledgeable and confident.