Evaluation

For RED ONE we decided to make a documentary type film because, as a crew of three, we usually set out to do factual based films of different subject matter.
We knew that we couldn't cover too big a topic in the time we had, so we decided to make a short piece based on the interests of my housemate, Max, who is a "secret musician."
We looked at different videos discussing different approaches and styles we could do the feature in. We watched some clips on YouTube of other musicians giving interviews about their music, hoping it would give us a little bit of direction and inspiration.
We decided to have Max's own vocals playing through the film as the primary soundtrack. This meant that we had to use the sound booth for the first time in order to get a good quality recording, which is something I am glad we finally learned and can utilise in the future.
We got some cutaways of Max int he booth, as well as along the street we live and in his uni class, making his ceramic guitar.
We filmed the interview twice; the first time we decided was too dark, and his interview answers seemed too vague to stitch an interesting edit together, so we re-filmed it, this time with two LEDs and made sure we probed him for better answers. It helped that he had done the whole interview process the first time, as he seemed a lot more relaxed the second time round.
The editing process was pretty simple once we had gathered all that we needed. Lucy did the edit, as she usually does, and had it finished in less than a week.
I think the end product turned out fairly well. Max is definitely a vibrant enough character to have made an interesting subject, which was important as people tend to look at a persons status in order to place a value on their stories, which is why we thought making a small feature on just a small aspect of a random and "average" person's life.
We did experiment and try out new things during RED 1, like the use of the steadicam,the AF100 and the soundbooth. We weren't sure how strictly we were supposed to stick to our "typical" film making ways, but we see every film as an opportunity to progress and learn new skills, so we decided to incorporate the new equipment into this project.
For RED TWO we worked separately, which was an idea I was both excited and nervous about. I find, when you work in a crew, you have to settle on an idea and it may not be an idea that you entirely have your heart in. It's usually a compromise by all parties and a mix of ideas that can stray from the personal and initial point you were trying to make/put across. Having said that, working as a crew and having people to bounce ideas off of can be very productive and useful when it comes to thinking outside the box.
I was excited at the prospect that my restrictions would be limited to my own imagination and not having to go through the process of explaining and selling an idea to the rest of a team, which is something I am really not very good at. Though the freedom was exciting, the nerves came from the idea that the film would be an exposure of entirely myself, which is quite an intimidating and unnerving thought, to say the least.
We went to Dan our lecturer for some sort of guideline; a theme we could all stick to and then compare the end products at the end. Dan gave us the work "exploitation" to base our films on.
Coming up with initial ideas is really where I fall down during the process of film making. I find it really hard to get the ball rolling and tend to question my own ideas rather a lot. One of the first things that came to my mind was how we "little people" are exploited by corporations and companies to line their pockets.
I did want to try my hand at experimental film making, and my first idea was going to be based on this idea, showing various images being represented as innocent and friendly for us to later find that the things we presumed to be so friendly were actually quite dark and sinister (as a representation of how, with a camera and words, we can be led to believe that a product or an idea is something it actually isn't). I liked the actual idea, but I wasn't sure exactly how I would go about doing it in an experimental type of way. I kept the idea at the back of my mind, thinking of ways I could make the idea translate into a film.
I decided to just sit and watch some adverts to spark some sort of inspiration. I decided on several adverts which I found to be particularly exploitative and manipulative of their audience. I decided I wanted to make my own version of the adverts, each one subtly exposing ways in which companies use media to their advantage in trying to convince the audience to but their product. The first shot was of the cereal box, which in the turning on of a light, gets transformed from a dirty, beaten and broken box, into a clean, white setting with some colourful text to brighten it all up. This was to represent how companies can make something look like whatever they want it to, as they're completely in control of what they show and how they show it, which I thought would be a good introductory shot. The second advert was for a bottle of mouthwash, based on the Listerine advert on the TV at the moment. Everyone has their own interpretations of media, but to me, the Listerine advert seems to use "scare tactics" by suggesting that the viewer may have gum disease and that their product could be the cure. Though subtle, such suggestions could spark questions and worry in the viewers mind, eading to them buying the product "just to be safe". I decided to approach this one in a much more obvious and bold way by using the same basic structure, but going way over the top with it by suggesting that by not using the product you could potentially die.
The third advert was based on small loans companies (mainly Wonga). I thought it was interesting how they used puppets, instead of real people, and old people puppets at that. My guess was that it was probably down to the fact that it's harder to look at a puppet and think it as untrustworthy as we do with real people. Especially a puppet that looks like an old person, as old people hardly seem threatening, but more vulnerable and may make us think about our grandparents, who we love and trust.
With this one, I decided to recreate the advert with my own poorly made puppet, but have ridiculous dialogue but at the end casually expose the reality of the company and it's goals - to make money from you. Many companies make out that they care about you and want to help you financially, but in reality, they are just there to make money from you by exploiting an individuals desperation and naivity.
I would, by no measure, say that I am happy with the film I have produced for RED TWO. I am happy with the idea I was trying to convey, as it is something I feel quite strongly about, but I'm not content with the way I conveyed it. I think the film lacks substance and structure and isn't what I had imagined it to be. This probably comes from the fact that my main scene, the banker scene, didn't make it in to the film as certain circumstances, such a schedules not syncing up and not access to the right equipment at the right time led to not being able to shoot the scene, though I had an actor and script lined up. it certainly came out a lot different to how I had initially imagined. Having said that, it was a fun process to go through. It involved a lot more thinking than RED ONE did and was certainly more challenging. I think the fact that I really didn't want to show my film reflected that I had put a lot more of myself into it as a film, exposing my personal ideas and feelings to a room of people, which is quite a nerve-wracking experience. There was certainly a massive difference in, not just the two products as a whole, but the processes in which I had to go through in order to make them what they were. The RED TWO film was something I would never have really considered making before this project.
I am so used to representing things as they were, like with the documentaries, I found it very difficult to produce a film that represented things as how I see them personally. It has certainly helped me reflect on what it is I want to achieve as a film maker, and the opportunities that film making can behold.