Short Film Reflection

In Cellulum Short Film

Script:
For this short film project my group consisted of Ryan Burnett, Anna Sarol, Lily Beckwith, Drew Conners, and myself. After reviewing the scripts in our group, we finally chose Drew's script to produce. This script was called In Cellulum and had a darker and ominous plot line. In his script, it focused on one boy who seemed trapped and contained in a small room until he finds a way out. The boy then exits his "cell" to find himself at home with his family only to return to feeling trapped again latter. This script is a settle metaphor for depression and feeling contained in ones thoughts and feelings of uncertainty in life. We chose this script because it had a very interesting style and we thought we could really develop a cinematic film through it.

Process:
Pre-production-
In pre-production for this film we began by reviewing the original script and brainstorming ideas on how we can develop the concept further and make it more reasonable to the locations available. After the script was finalized, we began story boarding and then assigning production roles. For this project, Drew was the director, Lily was production designer, Anna was the costume designer, I was directer of photography, and Ryan was editor. However, throughout production these roles shifted around and Lily became the director and my edit of the film ended up being used. Latter, we began casting. We had a lot of conflicts with casting and finding a boy that could be available enough for us to film. We ended up casting Hayden Morgan as the lead boy and using Lilies parents as the parents in the short film. Once an actor was finalized we were able to prepare a filming schedule that contained two in class filming days and one Sunday shoot.

Production-
Production for this film was very rushed and we had several conflicts in the process. The members in my group all had very busy schedules and the only available times to film were during class and briefly on a Sunday. On our first day of production, Lily and me worked to film Hayden in the first and third acts of the film. We were able to work fairly smoothly, but we were only able to film with him for one class period at school. The next day, we shot with Liam Shearon who acted as Hayden's hands and he allowed us to film more close ups for our film without Hayden on set. The last part of production was filmed on a Sunday with Hayden, Lily, and I. On this day, we were able to film Hayden exiting his room and eating with Lilies family. We were able to film very well together and we got all the necessary shots before it got too dark outside.

Post-production-
In post production we had several conflicts. Ryan was editor at the beginning, except Drew and him worked together to organize the clips and removed a lot of the shots I took initially because they didn't like there perspective. I then went on to edit my own version of the short film to get more practice as an editor and to be able to show my own cinematic perspective of the film. Ryan had a hard time getting the film to 5 minutes and he had to turn it into more of a PSA. I was able to get the film to 5 minutes and show the plot a little more so we presented my edit instead.

Role:
In this film I was the director of photography and editor and I helped a lot in producing. Overall, I learned a lot about filming through this process. I haven't touched a camera on set of a video project in so long that I was very unfamiliar with the function of the Canon DSLR's. This project really gave me the opportunity to learn how to operate the camera, as well as how to illustrate a scene more creatively and to create an overall mood through specific perspectives. I specifically learned a lot of technical skills in this project. I now am very comfortable working a DSLR and I definitely want to work behind the camera more. I also learned a lot about using premier pro. Editing a short film takes a long time and I was able to be very organized and productive throughout the editing process. I also learned a lot about how music and sound effects play a role in a video and how they can add so much to the overall quality.

I didn't just learn technical skills, but also professional skills through this project. Since my group was so short on time, we really had to work to get the actual filming done on time. Lily and I took initiative in guaranteeing we had all the footage and that it was usable by the day to begin editing. I also had to learn to work with different people. Although, my group had lot's of conflict, we were still able to produce a film that showed a story and contained three acts. The majority of this project was created by Lily and me and we had to focus on project management and organization to make sure we finished on time.

Differences:
If I was to do this project again, I would want to work with different people and chose a script that had a little more depth to it. I think the script we had was good, it just needed to contain a few more deeper concepts that we could elaborate on more to create a longer film. It was also very stressful only working with one other person in guaranteeing the project got done, so I would wan't to make sure I would be working with people that would get stuff done for the project.

Same:
I would keep the same working with Lily. We were able to collaborate really well together and worked very hard to make sure every thing was completed.

Experiences:
This project has taught me lots of lessons that I can take onto the next project. This project really taught me that I enjoy a variety of production roles and that being cinematographer is something I want to spend more time working on. I also learned a lot about myself as and editor and I want to spend time editing more so that I can work to develop my skills more and to become faster at producing high quality work.

Conclusion:
Overall, even though my group faced lots of challenges in the production of this video, I learned a lot of valuable lessons about myself and my roles in video production. I hope to take the lessons I have learned into the production of our feature film so that we can produce an amazing film that highlights the many talents of e-Communication students.