Fiction Adaptation - Critical Evaluation

Having come to the end of our first term being back at university, i can honestly say i've absorbed a variety of technical an theoretical attributes that have contributed massively to the final piece of this unit. 

   
Pre-production
What worked and i was later thankful to myself for, was my preparation on my shoot days in terms of planning out a storyboard and having a shot list. This kept structure throughout the day and sped up the process of actually filming. I felt organised throughout the entirety of pre-production, and once i got my concept i found it natural in what direction i was going with it. 
Initially the concept was a bit frail and didn't have much of an arc, but with persistence and finding that running theme, i was able to attach another layer to it which created within it a subtle narrative. 
I feel some things could of gone better in the preparations, possibly doing more research on the poem, so that i'd have a much more greater understanding as that is absolutely pivotal in an adaptation of anything, to know 100% what the source material is trying to convey and its origins. 
At the end of it though, looking back, i'm content with how i managed my time and prepped shoot days, i've taken a lot away from this experience.


Production
All the shoot days went relatively smooth, i was extremely happy with the footage i recorded and how efficient i was gathering it all. It was definitely due to the work put in beforehand with all of the preparation achieved which set the tone really for the rest of my production, in terms of being ready and set. 
However there is still always room for improve and i feel that if i was that little bit more prepared, i could of actually filmed on just one day instead of over two. I think this could of easily been accomplished if i would of prepped just that little bit more and if i gave the weather a bit more attention. I lacked general common sense of the first shoot day as i completely forgot the sun setting stupidly early and lost precious time because of that. Also, even though i was able to get some great looking shots, i still need to refine my skills with the Panasonic DVX 200s. They're great cameras but i still don't fell 100% comfortable with one of them, so maybe i need to take one out in my spare time and have a play around. 
Again, there're things that what i set out to achieve, had been, but on the whole i can see looking back now that there is still a lot more learning to be done in terms on theory and practical.


Post-production
The edit was the part i was dreading, i knew it was going to be the sound that would make or break the video and to find juxtaposing sound designs that worked was going to take me some time. What i also wanted to try and incorporate into it was some style of soviet montage editing, i was thinking intellectual, or possibly some rhythmic as well. I'm not sure if i captured it but the scene where i cut from the water drop to a drop of water splashing on the leaf with a huge 'bang', was my attempt at the rhythmic montage, i'm not too convinced i had achieved it. I was happy with the general flow, but i appreciate the feedback off Mike in that there was a kind of lack of cohesiveness, however i felt the awkwardness of a mishmash of shots quite useful for the narrative especially in the middle section of my film. 

I'm still not sure on the end sequence, the quotes from the poem, i'm not sure if it ruins the entirety of it as it doesn't really fit my aesthetic that i was going for, or just that its an exposition of the poem which i really wanted to steer clear of in the first place. 

The conflicting noises were also a risk but i felt my reasoning behind it justified the decision, i felt the ambulance sirens definitely had more of the desired effect i wanted than the gun shots. I was happy with the flow of the heartbeat throughout as i felt that carried the piece in a slow progression towards the end very harmoniously. 

Obviously there were a few issues with the edit and i didn't really give myself a lot of time as the trip to Manchester didn't allow me so. I feel looking back on the finished edit, with that extra time, maybe look more into the sound design of the piece, focus more on that. To also make think more about the composition's cohesiveness, fluidity and shot selection. 

Overall though i am pleased and pleasantly surprised with how the finished edit has turned out. I can say for the first time that i'm actually kind of satisfied with myself in terms of the work that has been produced. 

What have i learnt
There were some effects utilised that i've never actually used before e.g the mirror tool, manipulating that was very satisfying an especially with the result i got out of it. 
I've also became more aware of how important time management is, and how costly it can be, so going forward i know now that preparation is the key to success. 

Having a small kind of understanding of soviet montage editing from last year, i felt it was vital to look over those editing methods again as they have useful ways in evoking emotional responses. You can create tones an emotions with what you place next to a certain image and i did try to project that into my work, but i'm not fully convinced it worked. 


What skills could be developed
There are a ton of things that could be further developed, i want to be 100% comfortable with the cameras, i want to use the lighting equipment more to be able to use them to convey contrasting emotions an evoke responses. Also throughout the majority of my composition there wasn't a great deal of camera movement and i know how effective it can be, in terms what the emotional response it can create, unfortunately i just couldn't carry back all the equipment plus a dolly to Manchester. I think as well, i possibly need to begin to start putting money into my projects, to fork out for taxis so i can get all the equipment i need to actually carry out what i had initially planned to.

Conclusion
Overall at the start of this unit i was apprehensive and unsure what to make of all the sonnets, i felt isolated and had a serious lack of creativity flowing in the cognitions. Though as the weeks progressed and research began it became apparent pretty quickly that i had a concept that would allow me to be creative and still have a subtle structure to it. I'm pleasantly surprised with how it has ended and i'll have a lot to take away from this unit in terms of all the production aspects.