Evaluation

One large part of this project was related to the teamwork element and the conglomeration of all the different elements of work that were put together to create this video.  The organisation part was quite vital due to this and personally I believe I kept to the schedule and all parts of my work were uploaded and completed on time and to a high quality. Some of the things I worked on for the group include the Risk Assessment which I changed the template to fit it's requirements better and I completed it to a high quality. Another responsibility that I held was the Costume list and parts of the mindmap which again were finished and added to the team folder in time for the rest of the group to see and double-check with any changes they would like to include. Overall, however, teamwork was difficult due to artistic differences and opposing views that clashed when thinking about the final project. Also, last-minute changes to the shot list and different ideas being added during filming meant that some shots lacked enough takes and others were abrupt and ruined the pace of the overall scene due to being unplanned and rushed. However, the timescale was easily achievable and other elements didn't have to be rushed as we had enough time to complete all areas of the project, such as having time to record add ons to the scene such as Foley and ADR. 

In addition to the s that I was responsible for, I was the person who had to record the audio for the project and operated the boom microphone that was on the set. Unfortunately, due to other groups recording at the same time, the plan to use a windshield on the boom couldn't be applied so recording audio was very difficult with the film set that we were working on. The stairwell was reverberant and another group was also recording at the same time as it was one of the best times to record on our schedules and we hadn't realized we clashed. This meant all of our audio was not to the quality that I would be satisfied with using alongside the footage we had recorded, which overall, was a good/high quality. No matter how close I got to the actors, it wouldn't change all the reverb and background I received on the boom microphone so I had to find another solution. This is where before the recording, our group decided to plan to do ADR no matter what so we had time to plan for this if it came down to it. This became vital due to the recording environment we found ourselves in. However, one problem that came up with ADR was the differences in lines and the speed in which they were said. It differed, quite drastically, in places so the syncing up of the audio was challenging and, in only one instance, was impossible. This then meant further issues in the Audition mixing of the sound so the solution (even if the not the best) was to take a snippet of the set recorded audio and tune down the reverb to help with making it sound coherent and to the same quality as the ADR recording. This worked to a point, but overall sounds like it fits, only sounding a bit off if you search for it directly. In the end, the audio came out well and the mixdown sounds professional enough for me to be satisfied with the work I've done compiling the ambience, foley and ADR into the final product shown in the screenshot below. 

In the picture on the right, there are details on how I could improve the video element of this project. Taking this feedback, I went and adapted some of the qualms I had with how the videos flowed together in the timeline by cutting and adjusting different parts. One of the major changes I made was cutting a shot entirely due to it being an abrupt change from the previous scene as well as being out of focus and not fitting the overall aesthetics of the film. It was the first medium close-up to close-up shot and therefore didn't fit with the other shots in the scene so it interrupted the flow and took you out of the immersive experience. This is all on top of it being jarring and out of focus, so I changed it for a shot of the actor walking down the stairs with their back facing the audience, so it seems like he said the line whilst walking down the stairs.  Also I just generally took a lot of timing looking at the transitions and flow from each shot so that nothing stalls or holds up the high tension scene. Cutting areas so that a shot was faster or slower that it previously was as well as fading out the last shot to black to make sure it doesn't feel stretched out and boring so it ruins the final shot of the sequence. Overall, majority of the shots were done professionally and to a high quality that is conveys the atmosphere we wanted to create for the film, especially when the detectives are confronting each other on their different views of the situation they have been placed in. 

In addition to my previous comments on the camerawork, the last-minute decisions that went into the shot composition meant that editing became more difficult because (as mentioned before) jarring transitions between shots meant that it broke the flow of the scene. Before filming, we did plan and set up a shot list that helped keep the continuity due to the forethought that went into it, but the rash decisions that went into changing the shots we were using meant that many lines were said multiple times at angles that were unnecessary or not filmed enough so they varied greatly from the previous shot. Finally, as I said before, I had to cut certain shots due to them being out of focus or meant that continuity was lost in the overall scene. 

The conglomeration of all of this work led to my final product that, even though different from the initial vision, worked as a scene and develops the story running through. It can easily be followed along to by a third party who doesn't know the context of the scene within the film. Certain adjustments I made improved the final quality of the scene such as adding an adjustment layer that altered the colour of the shots as well as adding music to hide the small changes I had to make to the audio and finishing off the scene to create a more professional feel to it. The transitions between each shot flow and make sense in the context of each other and the story runs through clearly. The sound mix also took a lot of adjustment, but overall it did turn out well with the sound effects fitting and the ambience grounding the scene. The footsteps, especially with the fast pace of one character jumping down the stairs, was initially quite challenging, but in the final sound mixdown, it fits perfectly and really adds to the scene. Finally, each word can be heard clearly and the voice acting eventually worked out with the ADR fitting the actors' voices. 

Overall, I am satisfied with the final outcome of the video and project as a whole. I have acquired a lot of new information that has been not only beneficial to the course and project, but to skills that I wanted to improve for future career endeavours. However, some elements that I would do differently would include: speaking up about concerns regarding the changes to the shot composition, delaying recording until we had a windshield for the boom microphone as well as finding a way to implement the use of a lavalier to boost audio, re-check the focus of every shot to make sure they were all done to a high quality and finally, taking more time in recording each shot and recording how many times they were each done.