Final Major Project: June 2015

How did you arrive at your idea?

My idea began life as a war drama as war drama as I wanted to make a film similar to

to my favourite film fury, I then wanted to add a hacking twist to this, as I wanted to have some serious fight scenes during the film, however the war aspect of the film would of been very expensive to produce, this combined with the fact that my survey showed not many people wanted to see a war film eventually led to the war side of my FMP being dropped entirely, I then researched deeply into anonymous and decided that a hacking drama was the best route for my FMP, and so, Game of Codes was born.

How effective was your research in informing your idea?

It was incredibly effective, as it allowed me to completely redirect the direction my idea was going and find a route that would fit the results of my survey results, I was then able to fashion a decent idea, about a hacking drama.

How did you develop your idea into a Finished Media Product?

I first went out and found locations plausible for my FMP, I then wrote the script and drew up a storyboard so that I could began to plan when I would film, the idea changed slightly in this penultimate stage of pre-production but not much. I scouted the locations two or three more times so that I could get a of idea of how the characters would feel and how they would react to the sequences that would play out there, which bring me onto the final stage of pre-production, planning.

How did you plan your media product?

Whilst visiting and revisiting my locations I found which were suitable and easy for my actors to get too, I also acted out the scenes on location so that I knew where everyone had to stand in each scene, I then asked the actors what times they were available and I began to plan out when I would film each scene, in fact filming short snippets of multiple scenes quickly became the norm as actors could often only spend an hour or so of their spare time, how ever, certain scenes like when Ryan meets the hooded figure needed to be filmed in a continues stream to avoid a disjointed feel trough out the FMP, eventually the timings where set, the equipment gathered, the actors informed of what they would be doing and locations acquired, I was no ready to start production.

What were the milestones identified in your plan?

The first and biggest was to plan everything out so I knew exactly what I would be doing along with my cast, and where we would be doing it and also what times I would require certain locations for as well as certain actors.

My second milestone was too have filmed everything before the start of the half term, as this would be the easiest time to get all my actors in one place to film.

My third milestone was to have finished editing and finish off the last few pieces of written work I was required to do before the June 5th deadline.

Did you deviate from you original plan?

Yes, I had to change a couple of actors last minute, although the first change of actors was before the script was written so I had time to change the characters personality to fit the new actor I had playing them, the second actor pulled out on the day of filming so I had to quickly find a replacement for my original actor.

I also had to deviate from my script slightly by removing some scenes and replacing them with new ones or just removing the scene all together, in one case I had to add in a short scene explaining how I got my bag in the final fight scene, this wasn't in the script of storyboard but it fixed a major continuity error I had not seen whilst visualising my idea.

What were the reasons for these deviations?

The first actor pulled out due to personal reasons and the other did not feel up to being in front of the camera, preferring instead to be one of my camera operators.

I had to deviate from my script and storyboard for multiple reasons, the biggest being the fact that the forum doesn't allow cameras inside our outside of it, this virtually derailed a 3 - 5 minute scene which I had to reconstruct into a 30 second sequence which I merged with the following scene.

I also had to fix a small continuity error I had not foreseen whilst writing the script or creating the storyboard, however as soon as I noticed it I quickly added in a short clip which easily fixed the continuity error, I also had to remove one scene as it just looked too comedic for a serious drama about the secret life of hacking.

What elements of your product were the most successful?

The start of the film is quite good, it sets up the main characters as I intended, the title sequence and end credits took a while to animate but they worked well in the end, the hacking element works well as it gives the ability for a very intricate plot that can twist and turn, giving the impression of a short film where anything can happen. The anonymous references also work well, as do the NSA references (the NSA website is visible in one of the scenes) tie into the hacking world well, allowing the viewer an idea of the world in which the characters are inhabiting.

What elements of your products do you feel needed further development?

I feel the hooded figure could of had a more developed character, as most of his character is shrouded in mystery, perhaps Ryan's past and his connection too Elliot could of been explained a bit better, as Ryan's motives aren't clearly explained, nor is it clearly explained how he knows Elliot.

the reason Ryan travels too hadleigh castle could also be explained a bit better as well.

What elements of your product would you change, and why?

I probably would of removed the hacking of the US military/NSA as this was only a small part of the plot line in the finished product. I would also make it more clear what happened to Ryan after he past out as this is fairly confusing as too how Ryan got into the room with the man who we learn is recruiting for an organisation (again I could of explained this character better). I should of focused more on the hacking side of the film than I did in the finished product.

Overall, how satisfied are you with your final product?

I am quite satisfied with my final product as it does tell the story as I wanted it to, and most of my actors portray their respective characters very well, the editing was pretty good, it can be jittery in places but over all is quite good, the film puts across its story well whilst also retaining a decent plot and storyline.

What have you learnt through completing your final product?

To manage my cast more thoroughly, making sure they have a set time they are available to film that they shouldn't need to film, I've also learned to cast more carefully, choosing actors who fit their characters rather than choosing actors because they are easily available.

I have also found that footage must always be reviewed, audio must always be checked and the weather can be incredibly unreliable when planing filming dates a few weeks in advance, but the biggest thing I learned was that I must always double that check that I am allowed to film in the locations I've chosen and that I have permission to do so.

What would you do differently if you repeated the project in the future?

Give myself longer to film and edit, so that I can reshoot any serious errors that I came across whilst in editing, I would also ensure the right actors had been cast to the right acting roles.

Final Major Project

Thursday, 4 June 2015

Game of Codes final edit

Game of Codes (FMP) evaluation