One crit down, one more to go. With today, the most frightening 2/3 weeks of this course so far have passed, thank god!
The project was, in theory, the first instance of group work. It allowed us to work with fellow practitioners to create a project that showed off all our specialisms and showecased a blend of our ideas.
The main enemy was time. Due to struggling with the Principles of Computer Graphics module, and the start of Digital Publishing, it was late into December when we realised that we had to change our concept. This gave us just over a month, including the Christmas holidays, to prepare. I used this time to streamline the concept and write the script, the final draft of which came in at 8 pages.
Due to a degree of inactivity in the group, the film project became something of a solo project, in order to simply get it done: had we had more time, we probably could have coalesced as a group.
The first flaw of the film is its duration: a hectic all-night editing session, where as much content was cut and thinned out as possible, left the film at 5:12; 3:12 longer than the duration set out in the brief. Although no way as long as some of the shorts out there, a length of 5 minutes moves it out of the usual material watched by the target audience, who want to see short, entertaining videos that are able to convey the purpose/narrative in 2 minutes.
Of course, more content can be cut, but this highlights a second failing: the script. At 8 pages long, it should have been evident that film would be near impossible to condense into 2 minutes. And, due to the writing style I used, it was not compartmentalised into different chapters/zones, that made sense on their own, out of the context of the whole film. By the time it came to filming, it was far too late to change the concept, and as a result we blundered into the dark, knowing that we would be unlikely to match the 2 minute constraint.
The film also suffered from a series of, not crippling, but noticeable inconsistencies with the footage: different white balances, colour palettes. It made work in post-prod much harder, and left the film feeling far less polished and professional than it could have. Audio also suffered, but the recorded music soundtrack helped to cover that to a degree.
however, looking back, I believe the writing to be solid (not blowing my own trumpet :P) The idea of a cheeky, audacious and outrageously talented thief made for a good yarn, and although there may have been plot and logic holes, such as sleeping in his victims house, if executed well, it could be carried off without raising story-killing questions.
pneumatictuna 