Evaluation of Depict! task

The Task

For the beginning of my BTEC media course, we had to create a depict. This is a short film, lasting 90 seconds, to be entered in a competition; https://www.depict.org/ We were not required to enter it into the completion but instead create something that could potentially be entered. There were not many requirements, save the fact that it had to be seconds and that you couldn't use any copyrighted characters.

The Idea

From watching the previous Depict! videos, I began to accumulate ideas. I wanted to do something dramatic, similar to that of a trailer. Ideally my video would be sad, but still have that cliffhanger fell to it. There would be loud music, and it would make you feel excited to watch it. I think because of this, I wanted to do a video that was about death, with a lot of symbolism and hidden meaning. One of my favourite ideas was one where somebody says "(The dictionary definition for death)" and then says something that is both ambiguous and metaphorical. During this the lights would eb dark, and there would be piano music in the background that would build up and then suddenly stop when the person speaks and then walks away as the soft music starts up again. It would be very dramatic, but that'd be the style of it. I had many other ideas after this, but none were as compelling.

Despite this, however, my group wanted to do a comedy and after listening to a talk by a director, I eventually agreed. The original idea was to do a group of blind superheros, and then have this one guy who has one eye and can see as a superhero. I however, thought this was a little offensive and so steered the group away from this. We ended up sticking with the bad superhero idea, going from a guy who's in a coma dreaming he's a superhero to all the possibilities and controvertial pitfalls of a 'straight jacket'. Eventually we ended up settling with the idea that a guy sees a superhero on TV and then says that he 'could do that' only to fail during the montage, ending with him jumping off a cliff and ending up in hospital, where the original superhero is seen checking his pulse.

Planning documentation and processes.

With our paperwork, there was a lot to be done For example the storyboards, shot list, location recees, location releases, talent releases, prop and costume list, risk assessment and then the production schedule. I did pull my weight, but ended being a bit of a dictator when it came to it. I bossed my group around a lot, and ended up shouting quite a bit. This was because I would get frustrated easily when people didn't understand things as quickly as I did. However this was unfair, and I have made an attempt to change it.

Finished work Vs Planning

Our planning does reflect our finished video, and it did help with the filming. Due to the production schedule, we did finish filming on time, though it was very difficult to stick to the exact times. Surprisingly the shot list was the most useful and we ended up using it alot, for all the paperwork and for the editing. Overall I think our planning contributed to make for an organised film, even if the time executing the planning wasn't as organised.

Favourite moments.

0:33

This is one of my favourite bits, as it is quite funny. Whenever we watch the video or even get others to watch it, I always end up laughing at this scene. Though it is probably one of the most cliché bits of the entire piece, I think it just gives the 'film' a bit of raw comedy.

1:26 

Due to Daltons acting and just the overall feel of this scene, I can honestly say that this is one of my favourite bits.  I think it came out exactly the way I imagined it, a mockery of the 'fake identity' that is an element of many superhero movies.

Worst Moments. 

0:04

This scene came out quite wrong. I think it was because it had to be rushed or maybe even the fcat the location doesn't seem good enough. Either way the scene seems sloppy and if it had made any sense chronologically, I would have liked to put it somewhere else.

0'48 

In terms of humour and usage of lighting and camera angles, this scene isn't that bad. However, at the very end, there is a continuity error. The tripod is visible in the scene. I know this can sometimes happen in real movies, but this really annoys me, and so for me is the worst scene.

 Most enjoyed factor.

The thing I enjoyed the most about the depict! project, was the plot design. I adored coming up with all the ideas and writing them down in a big sprawling mind map that was a mess, but it was an acceptable mess. There was a lot of possibility for this project, and while I don't think it was wasted, there were lots of other Ideas that I would have liked to try.