March 11, 2009

We had to screen our films today. Our group was done with everything and did some final touch-ups in the first period of the double lesson. We changed the font size of the film and made some minor changes. the ending was changed a little by making Medora walk a little longer before the film ends. We made sure everything was rendered. I thought the film was quite good and we exported it from Final Cut Pro to Quicktime Movie Player. Then we moved it into the drop box so it will be ready for the screening. The poster was made by one of our fellow classmates - Leis Ho and I thought it was very nice (as shown in the image above). However, one of the flaws was that we forgot to credit the sounds, which was a pity as we had remaining time to do so but none of us remembered until we had to screen it.

Screening

Our film was first to show and I was kind of nervous and excited. However, it was lagging as we used the HD camera, Quicktime movie player was not fast enough to load everything, thus the lagging problems. It was quite effective to the audience as they were a little shocked and understood the plot. I felt we did quite well but if added the credits of the sounds, it would have been better.

Natalia (Xiang Yi, Louise, Elliot, Ashley)

I thought the lightingcould have done better to achieve a mysterious effect. The sounds were a little messy and could have added a lot more as it did not sound too "Film Noir". The camera shots were appropriate and it would be better if there were not too many sudden cuts, this can be achieved by referring to what we have learnt about continuity editing.

Pulse (Ella, Adrian, Sarah, Catherine)

I thought the plot was quite good and I learnt some steady and good camera work from this. However, the blaring of the computer was not quite effective as the figures were not clearly shown and it seemed a little fuzzy. I thought the sound was quite well as they changed from indirect to direct sounds (song recording --> song blaring from iPod earphones).

Strategem (Jing-Ting, Joyce, Camille, Justin)

I thought the acting was quite well. However, as the dialogues were a little muffled up, it could have been better by recording voiceovers, etc. The plot could have been better if there were more tension.

Plunge (Julien, Jeffrey, Hannah, Chris, Raphael)

I thought the cinematography was nicely done and the plot was quite good as well. There was tension created with the water dripping. However, I thought the sounds could have been better if the scene of Julien getting water did not sound too empty, maybe music?

Overall, I felt honored to be in our group and I learnt a lot from the screening. It felt great to be able to see all our works after all the hard work. Today, I strived to be "thinkers" while helping as a group to encounter problems with the ending of the film; as "communicators" when communicating well with each other; "principled" as we held our own responsibilities and worked as a group; and "reflective" of our film and what I have learnt and achieved in the filmmaking process. It was a great experience working with Medora, Andy, and Henry as a group to create a "Film Noir" production - "The Broken Beautiful". I learnt so much from them and along the way while doing some research and watching film noir examples. It was a rewarding project as we worked hard and collaborated well amongst the group. (IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!!)

(see evaluation for a longer reflection on my own role as a cameraperson)